Endless Sky

Lots of fun, good balance between realism and appeal, not overly detailed in any one area without expansiveness in another. For instance, the credits system is super basic, not really explanatory of currency conversions based on planetary resource models, but the credits simplicity allows for whole systems of stars' planets to offer appealing mystery gameplay, fighting off pirates and rebels on the way to larger and more mysterious trading runs and missions, without getting mired down in economic masterclasses of arbitrary complexity. The missions are really fun, and the trading system is balanced against the fighting system very well. The plugins and expansion system looks very inviting, as well.

This is worth checking out for yourself as it is free, but bear in mind you're really getting a *free* single player game, and it is what it is. As it stands, the game is largely focused on merchant gameplay, with combat existing mostly as a threat to that gameplay rather than a viable avenue for it; While you have to maneuver and aim your ship, which becomes more and more difficult the larger your ships gets, enemies have auto-aim precision and maneuverability and they fly circles around you, and even in a heavy warship you will be relatively eaten up in a short amount of time by even a couple of ships. So, in sticks with the merchant gameplay, you're most balancing a small 'daily' payment against the revenue you bring in, something that will be relatively unimportant once you realize "rush deliveries" give you a ridiculously large payout with pretty much no downside. Yes, you have to 'get to the planet by a certain date', but really there's not much point to lingering between point A and B to begin with; You land at a planet every once in a while to refuel your ship, and even if you forget to do this in a system with no planets, there's almost always a friendly ship nearby to refuel you. So, at the end of the day, this is you click on systems, waiting for your ship to jump, land on planet, collect payment, find next efficient combination of jobs, rinse and repeat. There's nothing more for your to do than grind money to get a "better ship", but this is simply relative, as you'll get a larger ship with more cargo space and better defenses, but it will be slower and, while you'll make more money for each job since you have more space, it will just make you want to tear your hair out. This is a fun idea, there's just no substance once your figure out the gameplay loop.

I really enjoy how open the game is, you can play it however you like but there is also good guidance through the early stages of this game. It is also VERY re-playable and offers a new expierience every time.

Captures the spirit of the classic Escape Velocity series, but with a lot of QoL improvements and streamlining (e.g. better jump plotting, and you don't need to buy fuel). Storylines are *fine*. There don't appear to be many different branches to follow, you basically either do a storyline or you don't (as opposed to choosing sides in a big conflict and having different options following that). Kind of a pro in that you don't have to miss out on anything in a single playthrough, but makes decisions seems a little superfluous.

Great game

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