Games that primarily take place amidst the final frontier should look cinematic, or at the very least, eye-catching. Nowadays, even lower spec consoles like the Nintendo Switch can shell out some seriously stellar graphics. But this was the late ‘70s, ages before anyone uttered the words “high-definition” in regards to video games. Sure, there are a few stars peppered in the background, but a plain black backdrop doesn’t take up much file space (pun heavily intended). Visuals: Back when arcade games first hit the scene, space was a natural backdrop, because for the most part, space resembled endless night. Following this rule doesn’t actually dwindle down the massive selection, so here are some of the things considered when we picked out the best space games. If you’re looking for terrestrial experiences, look elsewhere. A space game is any game that takes place in space. What is a space game? For the purposes of this roundup, we’ll keep it simple. Best Overall: “Among Us” - Best Exploration: “No Man’s Sky” - Best Strategy: “StarCraft II” - Best Arcade: “Jamestown+” - Best Shooter: “Halo Infinite” - Best “Star Trek”: “Star Trek: Online” - Best “Star Wars”: “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” How We Picked the Best Space Games

There are, however, plenty of fantastic games that burn bright like a dying sun, spanning some of today’s most popular genres. The galaxy is vast, so it only makes sense that the amount of games in the space genre be equally endless. More than four decades later, the cosmos still provides a backdrop for many of the best video game franchises.

This sort of fabled lore is hard to fact check in pre-internet times, but regardless of this story’s veracity, Taito’s shoot-em-up wasn’t simply a game, it was a pop-culture phenomenon. Legend states that when “Space Invaders” landed in 1978, the arcade space shooter was such a popular space game, it caused a coin shortage in Japan.

Space game for macbook with one ship