20 AAA Beating Space Games In 2025 - The Indie Resurgence

Following on from the current state of AAA space gaming, here are 20 indie titles that are reshaping and revitalising the space game genre. Some of these are available right now, and a few are due to be released later this year.

0:00 Intro
1:02 X4 Foundations
2:10 Qanga
3:56 Jump Ship
5:32 Hunternet Starfighter
6:53 Remnant Protocol
8:03 Falling Frontier
8:57 Starminer
9:57 Project Vespari
10:53 Citizen Sleeper 2
11:49 Exodus
13:29 Starship Simulator
14:45 In The Black
15:54 Beyond Astra
17:29 Annihilate The Spance
18:35 Space Engineers 2
19:52 SpaceCraft
21:34 Beyond the Stars
22:56 Capital Command
24:18 Fragile Existence
25:47 ERA ONE
26:49 EVERSPACE 2

Music by Epidemic Sound

[MrCamkyle]

Starsector? Honestly one of the best space games I have ever played!

[climatecypher]

You gotta give OA a huge round of applause for such great editing and pacing. Really well done mate.

[danilooliveira]

while there are a LOT of great games here, X4 is the only space game that offers everything... well, almost everything, that I want in a space game. it doesn't help that half of the games on the list feel more like proof of concept than a full fledged game.

[Schoolship.]

X4 #1 in 2025. I like that it's single player offline and there no connectivity necessary. They actually let you buy the game and own it outright and simply play it 100% with no strings. If you're a silly consumer and you buy on steam instead of the much better gog, they even offer a patch on their website so you can run the game forever after without steam.

[taiidaniblues]

I would call Exodus a triple-A game. They have A-list voice acting, veteran devs from AAA studios, and a multi-media universe including a novel. It is a huge development project.

[ROCKFISHGames]

Amazing list! Thanks for including us on it! The more space games, the better!

[tomsko]

“I-War 2: Edge of Chaos” has been my go-to space sim for 20 years now. I haven’t found anything that can still impress me every time I load it up.

[ThatRichGuy]

Starsector is a masterclass of a game! And the modding can make it 100x better if you like.

[Tanvaras]

1200+ hours in X4 really enjoyed that game, the others listed are all excellent options as well. Good space game video!

[NotThatBob]

Have to wonder how many of these games will be completed. Very nice to see the number of games in development. But for me, X4 Foundations has it all imo. Empire building, quest completions or just mining and exploring. I've yet to see a game like it at it's scale. For Space RPG, the Mass effect Trilogy was and still is the best. Very nice list ObsidianAnt. Cheers

[PilotMan]

I think Nebulous: Fleet Command would be a good addition to this list

[cml]

I am really looking forward to Falling Frontier and Spacecraft. I have been following their development for a while, and they are looking quite promising. You can really see the passion that the devs have for these massive projects.

[Ashmodai]

X4 definitely has its flaws (weapons/AI/...) but overall it's probably still the best "do-everything-space game" ever.

[codeyfox]

You're one of the most valuable channels out there for space game discovery and recommendations. I know this video's theme was "beating AAA" but I have to mention that Ostranauts is looking better and better every month.

[JimPekarek]

So glad you covered Starship Simulator! It's still very early, but it's the only one I'm actually excited for

[Hex_Fox]

I have tried Quanga when its demo first dropped. Even in the bare bones state it was super impressive despite its incomplete nature. It runs super well on most computers and has a wonderful sense of exploration be it you taking the sky trams, ground vehicles, or a starship. I can not frett enough, everyone should at least give it a try!

[luxlopez]

Thanks for all the great games you present here, most of which I didn't even know. My Steam wishlist has just gotten a bit longer. It's incredible how good indie games have become, while AAA games are getting worse and worse. Long live the indie market
By the way, I really have to continue with X4, it's such a great game

[aclock]

X4 has a learning curve higher than Eve, insane game.

[Lindorm]

Exodus, Falling Frontier and Star Miner are on the top of my play list.

[douchebags]

What a shame that you didn't include Space Reign. It is a hybrid of Space sim and RTS. No other game like it on the market right now really, with the Expanse vibes.