My list for best sci-fi games has grown too large again, and so I'm splitting it off again.
This list only includes games whose primary action is off-planet, or which feature exploring an unfamiliar planet, or which feature interplanetary travel prominently.
A laugh-out-loud game that is half a simulation and half a thrill ride. You play a convict used for matter transfer experiments under the eye of the saurian Dr. Sliss. This is a TADS game.
A polished, mid-length game about raising money to free your twin. Novice-friendly but still complex. One of Pacian's best games.
3. Floatpoint by Emily Short (2006) Average member rating: (101 ratings)
MathBrush says:
One of my two favorite Emily Short games (the other being Glass). You are trying to reconcile Earth with a distant colony that is pretty alien. The recording and playback features (which some players have apparently missed before) are the best feature of this game.
4. Rover's Day Out by Jack Welch and Ben Collins-Sussman (2009) Average member rating: (55 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A unique game; you play as a woman and her dog, which are actually symbolic representations for a ship and a rover.
5. Fail-Safe by Jon Ingold (2000) Average member rating: (114 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A game set on a spaceship, with a twist. My favorite Jon Ingold game.
6. The Weapon by Sean Barrett (2001) Average member rating: (37 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A one-room game where you try to disarm a "Halo"-like weapon on a spaceship.
A beautiful game about space exploration. Short, linear, easy, and focused on feeling and emotion, especially the emotion of wonder. Similar to his fantasy game Bigger
8. Creatures Such As We by Lynnea Glasser (2014) Average member rating: (95 ratings)
MathBrush says:
Choice script game with a beautiful story about a tour guide on the moon who is addicted to an intense zombie RPG.
The sequel to Andromeda Awakening has all of the best parts of the first game, but fixes all of its mistakes. It's a very worthwhile game. One of the best.
10. The Axolotl Project by Samantha Vick (2013) Average member rating: (47 ratings)
MathBrush says:
One of the very best Twine games of all time. Three acts, an inventory, extensive map, well-done conversation menus, lots of searching things. You are researching alien salamanders on the moon, working for a shady corporation. Things go wrong.
11. Planetfall by Steve Meretzky (1983) Average member rating: (118 ratings)
MathBrush says:
The favorite Infocom game of many players, due mostly to Floyd the robot. Not my favorite, due to big, sparse map and red herrings (classic Meretzky game; I prefer Moriarty or Lebling or Blank).
12. Distress by Mike Snyder (2005) Average member rating: (22 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A shipwreck game. Short, 10-room game with some constraints, but incredible setting and great writing, story. I didn't think I liked it at first, but I keep thinking about it.
13. Starcross by Dave Lebling (1982) Average member rating: (51 ratings)
MathBrush says:
Planetfall's darker older brother. Investigate a creepy abandoned space station.
14. Life On Mars? by Hugo Labrande (2015) Average member rating: (17 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A short thriller using heavy text effects. One woman is stranded on Mars with her guilt.
15. Fragile Shells by Stephen Granade (2010) Average member rating: (51 ratings)
MathBrush says:
Excellent shortish escape game. You are an astronaut with a concussion on a space station that is ripped in half.
16. Changes, by David Given (2012) Average member rating: (17 ratings) MathBrush says:
Well-written and implemented game about an alien world where you take on various forms. Survival of the fittest!
A interstellar hero travels through his house and through a Mos Eisly-like alien town to save someone in need.
21. The Orion Agenda, by Ryan Weisenberger (2004) Average member rating: (15 ratings) MathBrush says:
After some bureaucratic form filling, go to a damaged monitoring station that is secretly surveying a pre-space flight civilizarion
22. The Legend Lives!, by David Baggett (1994) Average member rating: (5 ratings) MathBrush says:
The last Unnkulia game is much more mature than the others, but is a bit uninspired. Travel throughout the galaxy to stop a virus from taking over the internet.
23. Seedship by John Ayliff (2017) Average member rating: (49 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A short but deep webgame finding a colony planet. Simulation.
24. Zeppelin Adventure by Robin Johnson (2018) Average member rating: (12 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A great parser hybrid game about exploring a post-apocalyptic robot city.
A space comic-style game with intense puzzles. There are three main stages, each requiring a great deal of work.
26. Ürs by Christopher Hayes, Daniel Talsky (2018) Average member rating: (22 ratings)
MathBrush says:
Rabbits in space. Illustrated, quite heavily.
27. Lux by Agnieszka Trzaska (2018) Average member rating: (21 ratings)
MathBrush says:
An extremely complex twine space game that features hours of gameplay and some hidden surprises.
28. 4x4 Galaxy by Agnieszka Trzaska (2020) Average member rating: (16 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A long Twine game based on a 4x4 grid of planets, involving trade, combat, and other RPG-style aspects.
29. Chuk and the Arena by Agnieszka Trzaska (2019) Average member rating: (18 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A comedy by the same author as Lux and 4x4 Galaxy, this is a big space comedy where you, a small and weak alien, must combat vicious gladiators in a corrupt arena to save your moon.
30. Skybreak! by William Dooling (2019) Average member rating: (15 ratings)
MathBrush says:
One of the best ADRIFT games out there, this is a huge space adventure with multiple character classes, storylines, skills, and planets.
31. Enceladus by Robb Sherwin (2019) Average member rating: (12 ratings)
MathBrush says:
A werewolf is loose in space!
32. The Martian Job by M. Darusha Wehm (2018) Average member rating: (2 ratings)
MathBrush says:
Nebula award-nominated choicescript game. Get back into crime for one last big heist on Mars.
