Top 30 Best Story-Driven Space Games for PC

As children, almost all of us wanted to fly to space, but only a few managed to make that dream come true. In this top list of space games for PC, we will look at projects that not only offer such an opportunity but also tell captivating stories about heroes and ordinary people.

In Chorus, you take control of a spaceship with Nara on board, who was once part of the Circle cult. She begins to doubt the community's ideals and escapes to a remote part of the galaxy, but the Prophet invades there too. Now, the girl must regain her lost abilities and stand up to the cult leader.

Most of your time will be spent completing quests, which can be divided into several categories: clearing the location, navigating obstacle courses, and protecting a friendly ship. Rituals add variety to the gameplay, allowing for more effective elimination of foes.

Chorus truly unfolds closer to the middle of the game: both gameplay and story become more and more dynamic.

Breathedge is a humorous space survival simulator. The story follows The Man trying to survive after a liner crash and return home with an immortal chicken.

Humor is what sets the game apart from its competitors. However, it can sometimes be crude and is usually built on the protagonist's stupidity. Otherwise, you'll be gathering resources, crafting tools, and expanding your base. A new feature is oxygen, necessary for ventures into open space.

Filament is a puzzle game on a spaceship where the entire crew mysteriously disappeared, and the power went out. The main character needs to figure out the cause of the malfunction and find out what happened to the employees.

All puzzles are based on the children's game cobweb — threading lines through posts that light up upon contact with them. As you progress, the difficulty sharply increases, turning a child's play into something hardcore. The game has about 300 levels, but most of them can be skipped to progress through the story.

Filament is a game with a straightforward story and challenging puzzles. If you're looking for a real challenge, it's worth a look.

Genesis Noir tells the adventure of No Man, who enters a hotel room and sees his beloved being shot by a stranger. Instead of a bullet, a newborn universe emerges and stops space and time. The hero has no choice but to jump into it and prevent the tragedy.

The game's main feature is its surreal noir style, accompanied by jazz music. Throughout the game, you will encounter numerous puzzles, where knowledge in astrophysics and unconventional thinking will definitely help.

If you are a true art connoisseur, have a background in astrophysics, and love jazz — try Genesis Noir without hesitation.

Tacoma is a linear walking simulator on a spaceship that has suffered a tragedy. The main character must reconstruct the chain of events that led to the disappearance of the entire crew.

The story's foundation is the relationships between people. You will observe their recreated holograms, read dialogues, and analyze any data that could help with the investigation. Special attention is given to the atmosphere: every corner of the ship is filled with something that can tell you about the people who lived there. The game has virtually no puzzles, allowing you to fully concentrate on the story.

Thanks to its simplicity and intriguing story, Tacoma is designed to appeal to both novice players and those familiar with the genre for a long time.

The Turing Test is a puzzle game set in a scientific complex on Jupiter's moon. Accompanied by an AI named Tom, the main character sets out to search for missing colleagues.

The game strongly resembles the Portal series in spirit: the main female character, a mechanical companion, enclosed white rooms, and a device that solves most of the tasks. It doesn't bring anything new but smartly combines familiar mechanics and settings.

Were you thrilled after playing Valve's project but found it too short? The Turing Test might be an alternative for a few evenings.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is an RPG set before the events of Borderlands 2. It tells the story of Handsome Jack's rise to power and the establishment of the Hyperion Corporation.

Different from the numbered entries in the series, the game is set not on the post-apocalyptic wastelands but on Pandora's moon. This setting introduces mechanics such as oxygen and low gravity, which bring a fresh perspective to shootouts. The quests remain true to the series' best traditions: go there — kill, fetch this — bring that.

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is still very much Borderlands, but in a slightly different setting with a couple of new mechanics and characters. It sheds light on some lore questions, so it's worth getting acquainted with the numbered parts for a full understanding of the story.

Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander combines several mechanics: turn-based RPG, base building, and team management. You are tasked with reviving an abandoned space station and stopping a hostile alien race that wants to enslave Earth.

The story is delivered through dialogues with representatives of different races and factions, featuring various response options and decent humor. The gameplay is divided into several parts: space and ground battles in the form of turn-based RPG, base management similar to Fallout Shelter, and team management, where you'll need to train and assign officers.

Despite the routine nature of the actions, the game remains intriguing with its story until the very end. It's worth playing for anyone fond of indie projects.

Crying Suns is a mix of RPG and roguelike that puts you in the role of a space fleet admiral. You will navigate through the galaxy and uncover the reasons behind the fall of a powerful empire.

At the beginning of each chapter, players are given a choice of ships and officers, which can be found on explored planets. The gameplay is interspersed with encounters with NPCs and events that deliver the story.

Among other games similar to FTL: Faster Than Light, Crying Suns stands out with a decent story, making it well worth exploring.

STASIS is a point-and-click adventure game set on a drifting spaceship. The main character wakes up from cryosleep to find that all the crew members are dead. He must figure out the cause of the tragedy and escape from this graveyard as far away as possible.

The game keeps you on edge almost all the time, as you never know what might be lurking around the next corner. It's worth noting the soundtrack by Mark Morgan, which significantly enhances the grim atmosphere. Apart from that, it's a standard adventure game with all its pros and cons.

If you're looking for a game with a dark atmosphere, challenging puzzles, and a quality soundtrack, then STASIS is definitely worth checking out.

Observation tells the story of a girl who, for unknown reasons, finds herself alone on a spaceship. She awakens an AI named SAM, whom we get to play as, helping the heroine survive.

The game's main feature is that the player feels more like an observer rather than the main character. SAM is incapable of showing emotions or making decisions on his own. He is more like a tool in the girl's hands. Most of the gameplay involves carrying out her orders, such as configuring routers or unlocking doors.

Observation is worth checking out for anyone tired of the standard perspective from the main character's point of view. It offers a unique new set of emotions.

Still There tells the story of an introverted main character. He works as a lighthouse keeper on the edge of the galaxy and performs the same routine tasks every day. But one day, he receives a distress signal from a girl who is alone on a drifting spaceship. The hero decides to overcome his fears and try to save her.

Unlike other games in the point-and-click adventure genre, the puzzles here are noticeably more difficult. You'll need to work with numerous microchips, rearranging chips and jumpers. A multi-page manual will assist in this, which won't be easy to master right away. But if you just want to enjoy the story, then you can skip the puzzles.

Still There is suitable both for those who have a mathematical mindset and love solving puzzles, and for those who want to enjoy a great story about love and loneliness.

Samorost 3 is another game in the point-and-click adventure genre that tells the story of a Gnome who decides to fulfill his dream and fly into space.

The first thing that strikes you is the unusual visual style, which is likely to stay in your memory for a long time due to its uniqueness and detail. From the design of the characters to the environment — everything seems to be transferred from the developers' dreams. You will meet amazing characters, solve unusual puzzles, and simply enjoy the unique soundtrack for each location.

XCOM 2 is a turn-based strategy game, a sequel to XCOM: Enemy Unknown. In a world where alien invaders have won and totalitarianism reigns, you will develop the young XCOM corporation to organize resistance.

The gameplay can be divided into several parts: turn-based ground combat, base management in the style of Fallout Shelter, and team management. The game can pull you in from the first few minutes, as it constantly requires something from you: clear a blockage, gather resources, complete another quest. This creates a cycle that can repeat for a long time. So, you definitely won't get bored.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is an adventure game in the Lego Star Wars product line, covering the plot of the six episodes of the Star Wars saga.

The game features a large number of characters, ranging from Jedi to droids. Each class has its own unique abilities that will help with defeating enemies and progressing through levels. It's worth noting that there is no voice acting and lengthy cutscenes, so gameplay will take up most of the time.

If you love the Star Wars universe, then Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is destined to be one of the best projects in your gaming experience.

The Swapper is a puzzle-platformer that tells the story of a scavenger who arrives at a deserted space station. The protagonist explores it trying to understand the reason for its abandonment.

A distinctive game mechanic is the ability to create clones of the character, which will help with solving puzzles. You will move forward through the station, while exploring atmospheric locations. The soundtrack deserves special attention, allowing you to fully immerse in the loneliness and doom.

If you enjoy games with a focus on atmosphere and psychological depth, then The Swapper is definitely worth checking out.

The Outer Worlds is an RPG inspired by Fallout: New Vegas. The main character, who is on a colonial ship, is awakened by a mad scientist. Now, he has to start life on a planet dominated by corporations.

The main feature of the game is its satire on everything and everyone. It mocks corporate culture as well as clichés of science fiction works. For example, the Mass Effect series for having a huge number of boxes in locations. The environment, filled with small details, deserves a separate mention. Thanks to the leveling system, the game can be completed in many different ways.

Besides not being afraid to poke fun at everything, The Outer Worlds remains a quality RPG. If you enjoyed Fallout: New Vegas, then it is definitely worth playing.

The story of Prey unfolds in a space research complex studying the Typhon — an extraterrestrial life form discovered back in the times of the USSR. Experiments are conducted on the protagonist, but one day he realizes that his entire life is a lie. Now, he is determined to figure out what's happening.

A key feature of the game is neuromods, which are designed to enhance the human body. Their selection can even impact the storyline. It's worth noting the high variability of gameplay, created both by your arsenal and unconventional thinking. There are many ways to solve a single task in the game, thus maintaining intrigue for a second playthrough.

Prey can be recommended to all fans of science fiction. An intriguing plot and captivating gameplay will leave a lasting impression.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection — Halo 3 concludes the main trilogy about the adventures of Master Chief. The Covenant enters a civil war, in which the Elites, allied with humanity, stand against the main part of the hegemony. The Brutes have taken the place of the Elites as commanders in the Covenant army.

The game consists of chapters, each of which introduces something new to the gameplay. One level features large-scale battles with military technology, another — zombie shooting in a narrow tunnel. At one moment, the game can become a horror, in another — make you cry because of the death of one of the important characters. As you can see, there's definitely no room for boredom.

Halo 3 is a must-play for anyone who is fond of the universe. However, to understand the storyline, it's better to familiarize yourself with the previous parts.

Alien: Isolation is a survival horror with stealth elements. According to the plot, the main heroine goes to a space station to retrieve the black box of the ship where her mother served. But it turns out that an alien life form has infiltrated the station, and now her main task is to survive.

The game stands out with an atmosphere of retrofuturism straight from the original movie, which the developers excellently managed to convey. You feel your helplessness, as the pistol and shotgun will only really help against the deranged staff. A special tension is created thanks to the Alien's unpredictable AI, which generates unique routes.

Alien: Isolation is one of the highest-rated games in the Alien series, so fans of the universe should definitely take a closer look.

In Outer Wilds, you take on the role of an explorer who sets off into space but finds himself in a time loop. To escape it, you will need to navigate the solar system and learn more about the world.

Even though the planets are quite small, they are filled to the brim with mysteries, notes, and characters that tell more about the lore. Almost each one has moments that won't be fully understood on the first visit.

Be prepared to be amazed by Outer Wilds. And to do it often.

The plot of System Shock unfolds on a space station in the distant future, which has been taken over by SHODAN — a malfunctioning AI. The main character must navigate through crowds of enemies, while learning the reasons for the malfunction. The ultimate goal is to destroy the deranged computer.

As in any good RPG, you are provided with a wide selection of weapons, diverse enemies, and variability in gameplay. Don't forget about the puzzles, which become a real challenge at the highest difficulty. As for SHODAN, she is one of the most brilliant villains. Even GLaDOS was inspired by her image.

System Shock is a cult game that became a progenitor for many modern projects. It is recommended for everyone who loves space and cyberpunk. Moreover, a remake has recently been released.

Star Wars Jedi Knight 2 — Jedi Outcast tells the story of Kyle Katarn, who has renounced his lightsaber and the Force, fearing to succumb to the dark side. After another mission, Kyle's beloved dies at the hands of Desann. Now he intends to reclaim his lightsaber and avenge the dark Jedi.

Unlike Jedi Academy, here you won't get your lightsaber right away. The emphasis has shifted from action to atmosphere and competent storytelling. The few lightsaber duels turn into thrilling challenges, and acquiring any ability feels like a real event.

If most Star Wars games seem like mindless action to you — definitely play Star Wars Jedi Knight 2 — Jedi Outcast.

Homeworld tells the story of the Kushans, whose home world was destroyed in retaliation for developing hyperspace jump technology. They must overcome numerous difficulties and return to their ancient home.

For the RTS genre, the game was truly revolutionary. The main innovation is the three-dimensional battlefield. It offered great variability in unit deployment and made battles more spectacular. Also, in Homeworld, there is only one mothership that produces combat units and serves as a base. Attention to detail, such as the docking of harvesters with the carrier ship, deserves special mention. At the time, it was indeed astonishing.

For hardcore RTS players, the game is a must-try. At least for its historical value.

The plot of Halo: The Master Chief Collection — Halo: Reach once again tells about the confrontation between humanity and the Covenant. This time, the battle is for the planet Reach.

As with the third part, here you will find a great variety in absolutely everything: many types of weapons, enemies, and levels. The military technology, which efficiently eliminates all living things, remains as well.

If you've played through the previous parts of the series, then Halo: Reach is not to be missed. It is bound to provide exclusively positive emotions.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is an RPG based on the Star Wars universe comics. The story unfolds during the era of the Old Republic and tells the adventures of Revan and his companions.

The main difference from other Star Wars games is the turn-based combat system: you can queue up actions and attacks. There's a leveling system that directly affects the character's abilities, such as hacking terminals or special strikes. The world consists of several planets, each filled with numerous quests and characters with their own stories.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic excellently captures the Star Wars atmosphere. It's a must-play for anyone who loves the universe.

Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators combines several genres: RPG, turn-based strategy, and text quest. The story tells of a relatively peaceful time when the Dominators — semi-intelligent robots — appear. They behave very aggressively, so you'll need to fight back.

The main feature of Rangers is the large amount of text. The story has many branches, so choosing responses wisely is important. The game offers a wide range of activities to distract you from the main gameplay — turn-based strategy. The galaxy map is impressively large, so exploring it will take dozens of hours.

Thanks to its scale and depth, Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators will keep you engaged for a long time and leave you with extremely positive emotions.

Dead Space and Dead Space 2 are a duology of games in the survival horror genre. The story of both parts tells about engineer Isaac Clarke, who is sent to the ship Ishimura. There, he discovers extremely aggressive mutants, and the main task becomes to escape. Later, he has to return to this ship, while trying to cope with nightmarish visions.

The atmosphere constantly keeps you on edge, and sudden screamers can scare even a seasoned horror fan. The tension is added by the fact that the creatures are extremely resilient. To finally kill them, you need to not just shoot in the head, but dismember them into as many parts as possible. The arsenal, which mainly consists of engineering tools, helps with this.

The games from the Dead Space duology are highly recommended for anyone who loves horrors. They can be considered some of the best in the genre. Moreover, a remake of the first part was released at the beginning of 2023.

System Shock 2 is the sequel to System Shock, set on an infected spaceship. The main character wakes up from cryosleep and is ordered to stop the spread of the infection.

The main difference from the first part is the presence of classes and skills. As they are upgraded, the combat tactics can change significantly. The arsenal of weapons expanded, and new types of monsters were added. Otherwise, the game did not undergo significant changes, but the developers worked well on refining existing mechanics.

System Shock 2 has significantly transformed compared to the original. Like the first part, it remains a cult classic, so it is a must-play.

Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 — a duology of RPG games about the heroic adventures of Captain Shepard. He must earn the recognition of alien races and save the galaxy from destruction several times. Assisting him in this quest are a diverse group of companions he gathers along the way.

Throughout both games, you will engage in numerous dialogues and logs, complete captivating and not-so-captivating quests, explore planets, and, of course, form relationships. The combat system, while not revolutionary, complements the gameplay well.

Mass Effect is truly a vast universe that can engulf you for a hundred to a hundred and fifty hours. Here, you will find discoveries and emotions that not every new game can provide. If you want to touch upon a classic, do not hesitate for a second.

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In this top, we have looked at games that are considered among the best. If we missed anything, we would be glad to see additions in the comments. Also, do not forget about the fresh The Callisto Protocol. And... smooth landings on far-far-away planets!