Games like Kerbal Space Program
If you like Kerbal Space Program (simulation, space and physics), these 10 games are similar in what you do and how you play. They go from most to least similar.
SPORE™
- In common: creating and long sessions
- Difference: less thinking
When you fancy designing creatures and ships and exploring space, where you can keep playing after meeting the goals.
Oxygen Not Included
- In common: long sessions and building
- Difference: more management
When you have hours, a clear head and want to untangle complex systems.
Stellaris
- In common: long sessions and thinking
- Difference: more story
When you have hours and want to write your own space opera.
Cities: Skylines
- In common: long sessions and building
- Difference: less exploring
When you want to build something big at a relaxed pace. Watching your city grow session after session keeps you hooked for weeks.
Against the Storm
- In common: building and thinking
- Difference: more management
When you want to build and manage without committing to a weeks-long game: each settlement is one session.
BeamNG.drive
- In common: creating
- Difference: less building
When you want to tinker freely with cars and physics, with no goals and no rush.
shapez
- In common: building and thinking
- Difference: less exploring
When you want to optimise without pressure: you can leave it and pick it up whenever you like without losing anything.
Don't Starve
- In common: long sessions and exploring
- Difference: less creative
When you have an afternoon ahead and fancy a survival challenge where every run teaches you something.
RimWorld
- In common: long sessions and building
- Difference: more story
When you have a long afternoon and fancy managing: each session writes a new chapter for your colony.
Timberborn
- In common: long sessions and building
- Difference: less exploring
When you want to build calmly and watch your dams transform the landscape.
How we pick them
We compare the tags the Steam community gives each game with our own classification: what you do (action, story, building…), the difficulty, how long sessions last and whether you play alone or with others. Nobody pays to appear.
About Kerbal Space Program
You run the space programme of some enthusiastic little green creatures. You design rockets part by part and the orbital physics is real: your first attempt will explode, your tenth will reach the Mun. You learn astrophysics without noticing.
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