More CHEAP Space Games for the NEW YEAR

A follow-up video feature more cheap space games from the latest Steam Sale. Most of these videos have been recommended by viewers in the previous videos comments section. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to make the suggestions!
0:36 Empyrion: Galactic Survival
1:51 Space Engine
3:00 Starsector
4:41 The Outer Wilds
5:54 Hardspace: Shipbreaker
7:24 FTL: Faster Than Light
8:40 Endless Space 2
9:36 Star Wars: Squadrons
10:39 Dyson Sphere Program
If you would like to help support my channel, please check my Patreon page: / obsidianant
Any support is massively appreciated!
Music
Epidemic Sound
#spacegames

[@iAmDiBBz]

the starsector shout out is by far the most deserving. such a underrated game. its so dam good and ALOT OF MODS. from faction mods, 4x mods, misc mods. texture and effect mods.... the 2 devs deserve all the free promo they can get IMHO

[@teamfiasco3948]

100%

[@999jay999]

where can I find info on the best mods to use ?

[@teamfiasco3948]

@@999jay999 from the main starsector website, it will lead you to a forum where the mods are, they have a compilation post and each mod has it's individual page.

[@mikharju]

It is my top 1 game of all time right now.

[@Anthony_Cika]

@@999jay999 Fractal Softworks Forum has a Mod Database available. it's regularly updated and curated. And by regularly I mean that the 0.97a patch just dropped and The mods page was being updated within minutes with the hotfixes from the various mod developers.

[@NstHarlequin]

Starsector is simply an amazing game

[@Maddock_]

Hey hey people.

[@BorealBlizzard]

​@@Maddock_Seth here...

[@teamfiasco3948]

Completely agree, underrated and under re-presented. Easy to play, hard to master, plenty of mods also

[@Lampoluke]

Fuck yeah. I started playing in september and am still hooked. Thanks jewlord

[@Lampoluke]

Fuck yeah. I started playing in september and am still hooked. Thanks jewlord

[@MGoogle3146]

Even though Starsector is in early access, it's essentially a completed game. The dev regularly engages with the community and adds new content.

[@Enceos]

Starsector is a passion project, just like Dwarf Fortress and Kerbal Space Program. You don't have to wait for the 1.0 release on Steam to play it.

[@OreoGamingGeek]

WHOOOO! ABOUT TIME that Starsector was looked at by the king. Here's hoping you take a closer look in the future, even if only for your own personal edification, it is clearly one of the most amazing space adventure games out there.

[@TheTwerp]

Star Sector has consumed so much of my life lately. It is a truly remarkable game.

[@zxbc1]

Every few years Starsector consumes a large chunk of my year.

[@Scimarad]

Great to see Empyrion on here finally!

[@Aerthran]

He took years.. I was always wondering why he just keep skipping it.. Empyrion is as good as Space Engineers..

[@KamleshMallick]

Can’t believe this “space game channel” has ignored Empyrion all these years.

[@brianmi40]

@@Aerthran Having played both, I like it better. Less complexity to the chain that is crafting in SE. it just needs a helper weapon to be able to attack POIs in single player.

[@brianmi40]

@@KamleshMallick Agreed, it was an embarrassment to Elite Dangerous and No Man's Sky for a long time with walking around and crafting long before, or in greater detail (still). With some of the upcoming AI love, it could easily be huge.

[@dcoolllx]

0:40 Empyrion 1:54 space engine 3:00 star sector 4:42 the outer wilds 5:59 hardspace shipbreaker 7:28 FTL: faster than light 8:44 endless space 2 9:40 star wars squadrons 10:40 dyson sphere program

[@OldManPaxusYT]

yeh, i don't get why he doesn't add the 00:00 ...."intro" to turn on time stamps 😟

[@StoneLegion]

Empyrion + Reforged Eden is where it's at!

[@Gregorovitch144]

Starsector is simply brilliant. It has real time twitchy 2D combat that is both unique and amazingly deep, really fun once you get the hang of it (the better you get at it the more fun it is). There is tremendous ship variety and even greater weapon systems variety meaning there are many, many approaches to fleet composition. It's exploration is excellent. Similar to X4 in the universe starts from a fixed position every game but it evolves in all sorts of different directions from there which taken together with the fact you can play it several different ways means it has surprisingly high replay value. It also sports a number of popular major overhaul mods. It been in development, effectively EA, for many years and plays solid as a rock. The EA is all about expanding the game and adding features, not fixing (no-existent) bugs. Starsector is a real gem and I would not hesitate to recommend it to space game fans. Buy, play, enjoy.

[@kade89x]

Empyrion has so much potential. Vanilla game play is ok, but I can say after 2500 hours in the game, the Reforged Eden mod is the only way to go, without it the game would've died long ago

[@numberonedad]

not having played it it looks like a grown-up expanded astroneer, which should be brilliant

[@SnowNinja]

Just started my first adventures into empyrion and got the reforged eden mod too. Coming from space engineers with 1000 hours, I'm excited for a new survival to immerse into!

[@YeaaIJusShiddedOnEm]

I want to get into it so bad. I don’t even mind the hyper-complexity or the jank or the bad graphics… but I just absolutely can not STAND the walking speed. I know it’s the pettiest thing ever… but the walking speed is so fast it absolutely infuriates me 😂😂

[@kade89x]

@@YeaaIJusShiddedOnEm once u get into space theres not much walking involved except when doin POIs, so theres that lol

[@Britonbear]

I have almost 4000 hours and the great majority of that time has been in Reforged Eden. I would have agreed with you until recently but I saw Ravien (one of the authors of RE) on Discord saying that 80% of players never play anything other than vanilla.

[@Zool.]

Thanks to you, I bought X4 Foundations + all DLCs. The greatest decision ever. I'm sure I've found my favorite game in about 8 years. I haven't had this much fun since the glory days of Elite.

[@josephconstance8223]

If you a loving it try this X4 Star Wars Interworlds the best star wars game ever and it s free it you have the x4

[@martinmalone6324]

same played all the other x's never this, was a bit sceptical with performance and bugs, but its great now. great purchase.

[@mandalore41]

I can vouch for the X4 Starwars mod. Love starting out with a shuttle that I won in a pazaak game and doing odd jobs to afford my own station and eventually build my own Empire

[@purpletacos4609]

This is the way@@mandalore41

[@PDR_Dini]

I've being playing it nonstop sinse monday, I am unable to stop, game is running right now building up money whyle I fail to sleep lol

[@genxlibertarian9656]

shipbreaker is one of the most relaxing and chill games ive ever played. also great soundtrack.

[@BigJaseNZ]

Until they ruined it with the story, horrible characters and writing, and unskippable cutscenes and audio logs. The early access was a lot more fun.

[@corsonebula]

X4 Foundations and the Empyrion are the kings of space - o7

[@resurrectedstarships]

Empyrion FTW - more fun than space engineers or nomansky! And you can play with buddies!

[@Fallub]

So many hidden gems. Empyrion is my personal favorite. Thanks for the video.

[@D3athAng3l1977]

Starsector is an absolute gem

[@Loqque]

Starsector is a must-try game. Enough said.

[@AtlasGaming4k]

Empyion is a game that is ahead of many AAA games. I’ve loved it for many years and it’s sad it never broke through. It lets you REALLY build ships. Both capitals and fighters in a way no other game allows.

[@gameburn178]

I wonder why games like this don't get bought up by bigger developers/publishers and give them new life/bigger platform. It's got to be cheaper to buy something like this than start all over (I'm thinking of you Starfield.lol)

[@octahedron2064]

starsector is insane

[@ezarhon1002]

Cheers Obs. I am so surprised you haven't played the heck out of Empyrion. And you call yourself a space gamer....sheesh!

[@tk72231968]

With over 2100 hours in Empyrion Galactic Survival to date, I can fully recommend that game. It was significantly updated 12/13/23, and I was actually playing this earlier today to check out the new goodies. Lots of great mods are also available, along with downloadable blueprints for player created bases, ships, and hovercraft.

[@Creadeyh]

Endless Space 2 is so unknown, nice to see a mention. I'd go back to it if there were more of a player base, it's a shame there's almost nobody playing it compared to Stellaris, they're very different games

[@4tech69]

Endless Space 2. Excellent game.

[@commentarytalk1446]

Starsector, FTL, Cosmoteer are all great little indie space games with a lot of charm in their own specific ways. All immensely playable using a simple presentation. If anyone wants to go down the traditional roguelike rabbit-hole, deeper with spacegames after FTL, then "Approaching Infinity" may well be your destination to the stars!

[@yumazster]

I played Empyrion in the early days, glad to see it came sucha long way. Will revisit now.

[@tartiflette6428]

Starsector + mods consumed 9 years of my gaming life before I finally wanted to move to new things. It is truly special. It was essentially finished in 2018 and now each year we get a free expansion.

[@XHobbiesPrime]

I have been binging Astrox Imperium, a single player Eve Online type game. On sale right now for 6 bucks.

[@jonathanj.3695]

Space Engine and Elite Dangerous seriously need to team up.

[@tobep7964]

starsector is awesome, dont know why they arent on steam

[@Deathbunnygirl]

Just the video I was looking for to start the new year!

[@MattBKn]

The intro for Star Wars Squadrons and Dyson Sphere Program are swapped. (i.e. you are talking about Star Wars Squadrons which is the game being played in the background, but it says Dyson Sphere Program; and then when you are talking about Dyson Sphere Program which is the game being played in the background, it says Squadrons).

[@MrDertien]

Instead of Star Wars Squadrons, take a look at Tie Fighter Total Conversion project which now runs in VR as well and brings back the complete TIE fighter campaign with all its missions as a free mod for X-Wing Alliance. A very affordable game these days.

[@NoTimeLeft_]

I love that FTL 7:35 is on this list. It's been a huge inspiration for me and my game. It's still a ways away but I have taken much inspiration from FTL and brought it to modern standards. Maybe one day it would be shown on this channel that would be a dream come true.

[@viewtifuljoe4412]

^_^ I am having a real hard time in FTL (I play on normal with the extra stuff disabled) and was wondering if there was a video your recommend or could give me advice please. I have only made it to the 3 sector during any of my playthroughs.

[@NoTimeLeft_]

@@viewtifuljoe4412 reddit is great place for info. But really, part of the joy of FTL is learning what works for you.

[@MrSoiree]

Another excellent list thanks. Starsector, FTL (this was my first ever steam game), and Hardspace shipbreaker gave me many hours of entertainment

[@richardhobson7724]

I think you may have cause the infamous hug of death to the Starsector website! ;) Saw your mentioning in the video and decided I should go see if there was any update to the game I needed to download, but site is down.

[@Enceos]

I think there was a major update in spring this year.

[@harskaralex8742]

Starsector is great!

[@blackmesacake5361]

These look great!!! Cant wait to play em

[@CasualAndyGaming]

I bought Starsector in 2014, I'd forgotten about it. I no longer have the PC I downloaded it too, I wonder if I can find my original purchase e-mail.... see how it has changed in a decade.

[@Bishop1664]

+1 for starsector, dont be put off by the 2d graphics and lack of steam, and check out the mods for it!

[@souldry]

Starsector has literally become one of my absolute favorite games ever.

[@cameronmilligan]

Thanks for the recommendations! Definitely going to check out space engine vr and X4. I love Elite but maybe X4 might have the narrative side that’s missing from it. Also Squadrons in VR is a load of fun. Even playing against bots/AI is a load of fun and super immersive with HOTAS and VR.Feels like living out a childhood dream as an x wing pilot!

[@impuls60]

Squadron was insane in VR when it came out and the servers were buzzing!

[@dominic.h.3363]

There are some older 4X games I keep returning to to this day. One of them being Sins of a Solar Empire. It's really light on the RTS elements, so it's a good sci-fi game requiring less investment than your average 4X game. One of the qualifiers for me to want to return to an old game is the attention/time it requires from the player to invest. I haven't replayed Witcher 3 ever, because half-assing it isn't playing it, and I don't have 30 hours to dedicate to it in one go. So games like Sins of a Solar Empire are good attention grabbers and make for a fun time on the side.

[@hughmac7423]

Cool list of games.

[@MrDertien]

There is nothing 'early access' about Starsector. It is a very polished game with a very solid foundation of mods, and has been so for at least the last 8 years. It is quite a bit deeper than a lot of AAA games out there (those include X4 and ED). Don't expect to run this on a toaster either.

[@trivalentclan-mizar9591]

the Outer Wilds is a great space story, it has a deep story line instead of a series of trivial quests seen in some games.

[@enthusiasticamateur8516]

Dyson Sphere Program is a must play

[@leandrohsilveira]

Outer Wilds was the most memorable gaming experience I had recently. It is unique. Play without spoilers and guides, try to figure out puzzles by yourself. Completing the game this way is VERY rewarding.

[@jaysonjota]

Starsector is a masterpiece I am glad it is mentioned here

[@toiletpapermerchant9310]

So far Ive done 3 playthroughs of Empyrion single player. But it was only Vanilla, i think i should try reforged eden, but im not sure if its Single player friendly....

[@kade89x]

it is! and if you run into a "feature" you can skip past it to carry on. lol

[@rpersen]

TFTC - Tie Fighter Total Conversion. ‘Nuff said.

[@GreatGreenGoo]

Starsector is one of my favorite games OF ALL TIME

[@Sternraum]

Starsector is a hidden gem. Great genocide simulator!

[@CAPHOTO1961]

Be sure to check out the Tie Fighter Total Conversion mod for Xwing Alliance, the mod is free and Xwing Alliance is like 3 dollars.

[@Nico_2k19]

After pllaying Eve-Online for over 15 yrs, I would love something along those lines for consoles since I dont have a PC anymore 😢..

[@commentarytalk1446]

There is one game that is "EVE Single player" - forget what it's name is but it's a solo indie dev but I think it's also PC too. Thought you might be interested to hear of this if you can goggle search it.

[@Haplo699g]

Squadrons in VR was the game I wanted ever since I was five, rocking back and forth in the rocking chair doing the Death Star run with Luke! LOL

[@lefty59th18]

Hi! You mixed up Dyson sphere and star wars titles in the video. Thanks for the news!

[@ObsidianAnt]

Thanks for letting me know!

[@pickle7769]

Haha that’s crazy. He saw all the comments and made a whole new video. Love this guy.

[@lucassmith4524]

Starsector will surprise you. It's very very good. It is not like the other 2D space games.

[@GamerPhilosophy]

Can't help but agree, these games are special. Full of soul and an obviously passion projects refined to a masterpiece. 💞✌😊👍

[@Timmy51m]

FTL and Squadrons is where it's at, what you're getting for less than a couple of quid each is outstanding. Homeworld remastered collection is 2 quid, Mass Effect Legendary is 5 quid at the moment, immense bargains. Guardians of the Galaxy is 12 quid. Most other things just have their regular discount we see multiple times a year. If it ain't slashed just keep waiting is my moto lol.

[@nilocblue]

FTL is a cult classic, an icon, which inspired its own game genre, and many have tried to replicate its success.

[@Rebar77_real]

Hardspace Shipbreaker has a VR Mod too(not vorpex)! 🍻 Great part two Mr. Ant.

[@kadincochrane]

if obisidanant didn’t post these videos, I’d be endlessly hunting thargoids forever, thanks ant!

[@BariiAlyn]

I'd love to see you have a go at Starsector.

[@HCforLife1]

Empyrion is amazing

[@MichaelDBruce]

I can highly recommend star sector. It's got good progression, great mods and has enough for people that like combat, exploration and the ethical quandary of utilizing ai.

[@brianmi40]

Empyrion is SO CLOSE to being a fantastically great game. It really just needs some helper weapons so that a SINGLE PLAYER can go attack the POIs. Sort of how 7 Days to Die has turrets that you can drop down when raiding a POI. But it's a tremendous value with the crafting striking the right balance and not off the deep end like Space Engineers in complexity.

[@lance7135]

I have really enjoyed a little game called Star Valor. Very awesome little top-down space trading roguelite. You can unlock various attributes, ships and whatnot for future playthroughs. There is an awesome custom weapon creation tool as well. Another game I have had a blast in is Jumplight Odyssey. Admittedly, that game is PAUSED as far as active development, but it is in a playable state. I think it's a hidden gem that would really benefit from anyone willing to invest in it - with the hopes that when finances are in place, they can return to developing that particular game.

[@Myterriers]

Space Engine is brilliant in VR.

[@Wafelkowiec]

When it comes to Starsector I'd compare its "early access" to Dwarf Fortress. It's full playable with multiple working systems. It seems devs simply can't stop tinkering with it. The biggest problem I have with it is lack of a client, you have to reinstall it each update (or you can just play it on the old version, as lack of the client keep your saves and mods unchanged)

[@cumunist2120]

The lack of a client can kind of be a good thing though as you can play a save as long as you like without having to struggle with reverting to previous versions and keeping all your mods compatible as they update just don’t update the mods or the game and you’re good

[@CynicalOldDwarf]

Did not know Dyson Sphere has combat now! That's good, when I tried it a couple of years ago it felt a bit dull.

[@SEPECAT3058]

I cannot recommend Endless Space 2 enough. It's the super sexy version of Stellaris. It trades Stellaris' versatile civilization customization for beautiful and sleek interface design. If you love sci fi artwork, ES2 will keep you satisfied.

[@cannibalholiday]

Duskers is a good one too :)

[@joseledelarue]

Endless scuadron star dyson😜

[@monostripezebras]

Another suggestion: Space Docker VR

[@ChrisFaulkner]

got star wars squadrons and dyson sphere mixed up.. lol :D good video though

[@scott-richards]

can recommend these games. missing tho from both videos, and i forgive you for it, is Avorion. it's plainly one of the best space games out there. another sleeper is Endless Sky. like Starsector it's top down, and is alittle more basic but has that fun factor and is free, at least was. enjoy your content bro, happy new year, cheers

[@jajwarehouse1]

Avorion was easily one of my all-time favorites before the 2.0 update, but now I struggle to find any enjoyment beyond the very early game stages.

[@scott-richards]

i don't know why 2.0 would matter. if like the old game can still play in Classic Mode. 2.0 just gave you more options and better UI. on lists of space games, it should be included.

[@jajwarehouse1]

@@scott-richards The Classic Mode still has the 2.0 style of blocked area commands to send captains off to do certain tasks for 20 minutes. I liked the ability to setup a chain of orders and have them repeat. I could move to any ship in the middle of a task to see what it was doing and were it was located. Now it is just a set and forget and hope things go well, and the area never seem to find the best available options for the given tasks.

[@scott-richards]

​@@jajwarehouse1 can't believe you like the old way. ships no longer need to be manually emptied, is alot less fuss in mining in salvaging. it's also not just 20 mins, you can set them up to do 4 hours plus missions and they auto send you the goods every 30 mins if remember. send an escort warship with them and they'll have no issues. always interesting to me to hear people say they like doing more work instead of playing. i'll never get it. sorry. peace out.

[@LukazChrom]

After what happend with Phantom Galxies ... I am almost ashamed to comment here 😅 But I humbly dare to remind of you "Hunternet Starfighter". It obviously took inspiration from Elite AND has VR. Maybe consider mentioning it in one of your videos 😶‍🌫 I (as a PvPer) am sure hyped for it.

[@soselek1544]

Cosmoteer and Space Haven are pretty good. Wayward Terran Frontier is a bit iffy but also great.

[@mohammadsamara5398]

Wayward have so much potentials but i struggled with it still need so much work but i'll revisit it later, on the other hand Cosmoteer is simply amazing itvs one of my favorite space games of all time, space haven is awesome too but it gone under the radar for most of players

[@OldManPaxusYT]

daaaang - why can't they all get together and make 1 or 2 REALLY REALLY epic ones?!!! I mean, i want the 1:1 scale whole galaxy of E.D. with some of the other features that we don't get in E.D. (like real beautiful, interesting planets and ship interiors, EVA etc)

[@DarkKnightNomeD]

Check out Spacebourne 2 !

[@jamegumb7298]

Finally bought Nebelous: not as simple as first thought.

[@ramboahoe]

Starsector is a very very good game. Strong recommendation from me at least.

[@mohammadsamara5398]

I don't recall if you mentioned Astroneer before but it's an amazing game one of my favorite games, And there's Stationeers too i got it a couple of days a go and i'm still struggling with its mechanics but it seems a good game and players like it on steam

[@OchoJarocho]

Im shocked "space haven" has not made it to your list yet, is a good game.

[@WarpedSpace]

One Day ~ WarpedSpace !

[@intergalacticGM]

I really wish you would have mentioned space engineers and Starship EVO. The latter is still in early access iirc, but it has a great potential, it deserves promotion.

[@saintuk70]

I forgot all about Squadrons - some let down there too. Just in case you do a third part.... Tie Fighter update is awesome, also X Wing Alliance update too... brings it all into the "modern" age visually and it really good.

[@CynicalOldDwarf]

Tie Fighter update? For Squadrons or the original DOS game?

[@saintuk70]

@@CynicalOldDwarf Tie Fighter rebuilt using the XWA engine. Squadrons is in the same place as Starfield for me.

[@rpersen]

Do you mean TFTC?

[@saintuk70]

@@rpersen I do

[@MrDertien]

@@rpersen Yes, Tie Fighter Total Conversion in VR. Fuck Squadrons.

[@andybrown4284]

Shipbreakers good with pretty chilled gameplay loop although the story is told by people blabbing at you rather than having conversations and once they start they will not shut up. Picked up star sector last year and have thoroughly enjoyed it, Wayward terran frontier has some similarities but the development speed is glacial. Combat in DSP arrived just before christmas and there's a second part coming, plenty of difficulty sliders to mess about with or just turn it off for the vanilla factory game experience. The default settings for the dark fog is fairly generous and mostly based off what the player is doing rather than proactively working against them, there's even a way to make things better or worse during a run as well.

[@tripattack]

i loved hardspace shipbreaker but i was always hoping they would expand on it with some DLC. Would have been nice to have some new game modes and ships to scrap and maybe even entire space stations etc. It's sad nothing new ever came out for it.

[@TheD4VR0S]

Have you done a video on Freespace 2 open ?

[@DrBunnyMedicinal]

Freespace 2: Best space sim ever. All the people endlessly talking about Freelancer don't even know what they missed out on.

[@CMDROldDuck]

Do you still do VR, Ant? A game I'd love to see you review is BattleGroupVR, where you command a fleet from the bridge of your flagship, with the battle raging all around you. I've had it on wishlist forever, but have yet to pull the trigger because I don't do that much VR these days. But if it's truly as fun as it could be (if done right), it might be the game to get me to pull the Oculus out of mothballs. Anywho, something to consider!

[@Ophelos]

Some more I would add are the following: Battlestar Galactica Deadlock, Homeworld, and Battlefleet Gothic

[@alphadraconis9898]

Quick PSA: Do not be put off Starsector not being on Steam, it’s a frankly amazing game with incredible depth and deserves more attention.

[@drvian5660]

To that list I would also add "Breathedge" and "Deep Sky Derelicts"

[@slick_96]

Check out Frontiers Reach. It's the most unique looking space game I've seen in a long time

[@Stinker4583]

"Haven't tried the multi player of Squadrons". The MP was the whole point and main mode of Squadrons, the singleplayer is just a glorified and tacked on tutorial for the multiplayer. I mean until this video I actually forgot it even had a singleplayer compaign.

[@LightsCameraJake]

Hey at 9:39 you made an editing mistake. You put the titles for Dyson Sphere in place where Star wars Squadrons should be and Star Wars Squadrons Title where Dyson Sphere should be! xD

[@ObsidianAnt]

Oops, thanks for the heads up