$29.99SpaceEngine The whole Universe, one to one
Fly from Earth to the far edge of space at your own pace, landing on worlds no one has seen before.
Is SpaceEngine worth it?
SpaceEngine is worth it if…
- you want to unwind by drifting through space at your own pace, with calm music and nothing chasing you
- you ever wondered what the universe actually looks like, not the sci-fi version
- you like games with no objectives, where stopping to stare is the whole point
- you write sci-fi and want a place to find your settings
- you can accept that it is closer to a planetarium than a traditional game
Screenshots
The whole Universe, at real scale
SpaceEngine models billions of galaxies, nebulae, stars and planets, every one at its true size, and it lets you travel between any of them seamlessly. Click a faint dot in the sky and you are there. Pull back from a pebble on a beach, past the Solar System, past the Milky Way, until trillions of galaxies shrink to a field of sparks. Known objects come from real catalogs; the uncharted regions are filled in by procedural generation that follows actual astronomy, so what you find feels like it could be out there. Because it is a simulation rather than a game with a plot, nothing is staged for you: the scale itself is the show.
Landing on worlds nobody has seen
Every planet you come across has procedural 3D terrain with detailed textures, generated by your GPU as you approach. Atmospheric scattering, eclipse shadows, animated auroras and comet tails fill in the details. One honest note: planet surfaces are more about sweeping views than things to find on the ground.
Time, physics and flying
Time is a control here, not a backdrop. Accelerate it and the orbital motions of a thousand worlds play out before your eyes; reverse it, or jump to any date you like. Fly toward a black hole and the sky bends and loops around you in ways no screenshot prepares you for.
What can you actually do in it?
Is there anything to do besides looking?
Yes, though looking is the heart of it. You can fly spacecraft with Newtonian physics, land on planets and walk their terrain, search for objects by name, browse a scalable map of the Universe, and save or share locations. There is a built-in Wiki with details on what you find, and time control lets you watch orbits, eclipses and constellations change over thousands of years.
Do you need to know astronomy to enjoy it?
No. Interactive tutorials walk you through the controls, and moving around is as simple as clicking an object and going. If you do know astronomy, the catalogs and the physical details of every object will keep you busy; if you do not, the built-in info system teaches as you wander.
Does it work in VR?
Yes, with native Oculus support and SteamVR headsets including the Valve Index and Vive.
