
Control, I'm Not Coming Back is a short and emotional narrative game about a lost astronaut searching for a reason to keep going forward while facing the emptiness of space. Inspired by the Hopecore aesthetic, it’s a story about positivism, friendship and our human connection with Voyager 1.
Revenue comes from in-game items and microtransactions, which our price-based model doesn't estimate. Copies below reflect the player base, not paid sales.
Media

About
Control, I'm Not Coming Back is a short and emotional narrative game about an astronaut drifting through the vastness of space, searching for a reason to keep going while struggling with the feeling that there may be no way back home. Inspired by the Hopecore aesthetic, the game explores despair, friendship and how we are able to move forward even in the deepest void of the cosmos.
After an accident leaves a young space cadet drifting alone in the void, his journey becomes an introspective and abstract encounter with the historic Voyager 1 probe, forming a bond that reflects humanity’s need to keep reaching towards new horizons.
Experience in-game montages with scene transitions in sync with the soundtrack. Changing the space around you to the rhythm of the music.
Explore diverse environments across many distinct visual styles, blending retro graphics, abstract spaces, and real-world footage into a constantly shifting atmospheric journey.
Short narrative experience focused on emotions and atmosphere.
Inspired on Hopecore aesthetics.
Voyager 1 as a companion on your journey.
Evocative and original scenery.
Montages integrated in the gameplay, with scene transitions on the beat of the soundtrack.
A story with branching paths based on your choices.
Genres
Stats
Languages: English*, Spanish - Spain*languages with full audio support
Engagement
Reviews
Themes across 200 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
Reviews
Beautiful game with a beautiful message. Sometimes all you need is to be reminded that things will be alright.
Beneath the game's simple presentation lies a story about humanity's place in the universe and the loneliness of entire civilizations. What stays most is the idea that we may not be the only civilization to send its hopes into the stars. Somewhere, for billions of years, messages like the Voyager Golden Records could be drifting through space, sent by civilizations that no longer exist. Whether anyone ever finds them almost doesn't matter. The act of sending them is, in itself, a quiet answer to the loneliness of the universe. The Space Oddity references are a nice touch. A tiny game with a surprisingly vast perspective.
Related
Related
Trends
Concurrent players on Steam, sampled daily since tracking started.
Hours played at review time, across 200 reviews with recorded playtime.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
A fun game about what it means to be human.
Masterpiece, I played this after reading Project Hail Mary and Pale Blue Dot (Carl Sagan)
Fantastic short little game. A must play for sure.
The aesthetic and everything else is amazing and its a nice message that is promoted throughout which i liked
"Ground control to Major Tom, commencing countdown, engines on." I love the reference to Space Oddity. This game is a very good experience, tackles some tough ideas in a really self-guided, at your own pace way.
Good things are coming, whether you like it or not.
I think I'm going to be alright.
I'm happy we're friends too, Voyager. A very hopecore game that feels like a theatrical play of 17776 with a pretty sweet message and lovely visual design. It taking nothing but 40~ minutes of my time to experience feels like stealing lol.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.