What is the best space exploration video game of all time?

Space exploration games have taken players to the far reaches of the universe. Which one offers the ultimate cosmic adventure?

1. 1
   Outer Wilds

   The 2019 mystery set inside a 22-minute time loop across a handcrafted solar system, celebrated as one of the most profound gaming experiences ever made.
2. 2
   No Man's Sky

   Hello Games' 2016 procedurally generated universe with billions of planets, transformed by years of free updates into one of gaming's greatest redemption stories.
3. 3
   Kerbal Space Program

   The beloved physics-based 2015 rocket-building simulator where players must engineer real spacecraft and navigate actual orbital mechanics.
4. 4
   Elite Dangerous

   Frontier's 2014 massively multiplayer galaxy simulation with 1:1 scale Milky Way to explore, trade in, and fight across.
5. 5
   EVE Online

   CCP's landmark 2003 MMO featuring a player-driven galaxy economy, massive fleet battles, and emergent political intrigue spanning two decades.
6. 6
   Starfield

   Bethesda's 2023 open-world RPG set across a handcrafted galaxy of 1,000+ planets, delivering the studio's most ambitious worldbuilding.
7. 7
   Star Citizen

   Roberts Space Industries' 2013 crowdfunded universe that surpassed $1 billion in funding, promising the most detailed space simulation ever attempted.
8. 8
   Mass Effect

   BioWare's 2007 trilogy-launching RPG that set the standard for narrative space opera in games with unforgettable crew relationships.
9. 9
   FTL: Faster Than Light

   Subset Games' 2012 roguelite that made spaceship management and crew decisions feel tense, meaningful, and infinitely replayable.
10. 10
    Homeworld

    Relic Entertainment's 1999 real-time strategy classic set entirely in three-dimensional space, pioneering a genre and telling a heartbreaking story.
11. 11
    The Outer Worlds

    Obsidian's 2019 satirical space RPG combining classic Fallout DNA with dark humour about corporate colonialism across the Halcyon star system.
12. 12
    X4: Foundations

    Egosoft's 2018 deep-space economy simulator offering unrivalled complexity in fleet management, trade, and station building.
13. 13
    Wing Commander IV

    Origin Systems' 1996 space-combat epic starring Mark Hamill, blending live-action cinematics with dogfighting in a morally complex narrative.