Unending Galaxy

Space simulation games have a pretty solid fanbase and they are quite difficult to get into, because they are not very beginner friendly. However, with enough effort and the right amount of motivation, everyone can see the beauty of space travel and get interested in warp drive engines, nebulae, alien species, and various other such mind-bending stuff.

Unending Galaxy is more than just a space simulator, because it also tries to copy the X series when it comes to economy and trade. Thus, besides the fact that you get huge maps to explore and a variety of exotic planets to admire, your goal is to make a living by trading goods between different systems. If that doesn’t suit you, then you can always smuggle drugs, although you must be prepared for the life of an outlaw.

There’s no story or campaign to follow, which means that you just have to choose one of the few available maps and try to survive it. The goal is to get as rich and powerful as possible, because there’s not much of an endgame to it. While it is incredibly difficult to get rich, it’s very easy to die, especially if you start attacking random pirate ships navigating the cosmos.

Although the overall maps are quite impressive, you don’t get to fly freely from one end to the other, which is rather disappointing. Instead, you have to use the warp gates that are available in every system, and then choose the desired destination. Speaking of which, there are plenty of AI ships roaming the galaxy, all of which seem to go about their business as usual. You can even hire your own AI-controlled vessels and slowly build a large fleet of spaceships to do the trading for you.

From a technical point of view, the game is in two dimensions, which means that the exploration bit is not as exciting or as good-looking as it is in the X series, or any other 3D space sim for that matter. However, as long as you can get lost in the mechanics and the gameplay works for you, it shouldn’t matter how pretty or how ugly the game looks, at least in theory.

All things considered, Unending Galaxy is certainly something you need to try for yourself, especially if you are a fan of the genre. However, don’t expect the same refinement as in the more well-established titles, because this is still a rather low-budget clone.