Games set in space sorted by release date

Science fiction doesn't always means space battles, space exploration, exploding stars, etc. In some games, though, the "space" element is heavily present. Space simulations, shoot 'em ups, RPGs are some of the genres where science fiction "space" games are abundant.

Most popular space games

Wing Commander

Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares

Spacewar

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Galaxy

DOS1981 Microcomputer Games Inc.

Andromeda Conquest

DOS1982 Avalon Hill

Astro Dodge

DOS1982 Digital Marketing Corporation

Astro Dodge (1982) is basically Frogger — in space. You control a tiny spacecraft tasked with dodging endless waves of meteors, space debris, and possibly your own questionable life choices. There’s no shooting, no exp...

Cosmic Crusader

DOS1982 Funatics Software

Cosmic Crusader is proof that sometimes simple is perfect. You’re a lone pilot defending space against endless waves of enemies, in a game that’s basically a love letter to classic arcade shooters. The controls are tig...

Starcross

DOS1982 Infocom

Video Trek 88

DOS1982 Windmill Software

Galaxian

DOS1983 Namco

Space Miner

DOS1983

Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator

DOS1983 Sega

Devastator

DOS1984 COMPUTE! Publications

Back in 1984, Devastator promised arcade-style action on DOS, which is another way of saying “prepare for blocky graphics and relentless difficulty.” It’s a shoot-’em-up where waves of enemies flood the scr...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

DOSMac OS1984freeware Infocom

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a humorous free text adventure game based on the novel of the same name written by Douglas Adams (if you never read it, shame on you!). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was designed by D...

Rendezvous with Rama

DOS1985 Telarium

Rendezvous with Rama is an interactive fiction (text adventure) game released in 1984. Telarium, a subsidiary of Spinnaker Software, was known for producing narrative-driven games based on popular literary works. This adaptation o...

Spacewar

DOS1985

Spacewar is one of the earliest digital computer games and is often considered the first interactive video game. It was created in 1962 by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen at the MIT. The game was developed on the ...

Star Fleet 1: The War Begins

DOSMac OS1985 Interstel Corporation

Star Trek: the Kobayashi alternative

DOS1985 Micromosaics

Deep space: Operation Copernicus

DOS1986 Lerner Research

In this 1986 DOS game, you're piloting a spacecraft in the year 2123, defending the United Planets from the Andromedan Hegemony. It's like being the captain of a starship, but with fewer crew members and more pixelated enemies. En...

EGA-Roids

DOS1986freewareremake Designer Software

Orbiter

DOSMac OS1986 Spectrum HoloByte

Psi 5 Trading Company

DOS1986protected Distinctive Software

Space Quest 1: The Sarien Encounter

DOSMac OS1986 Sierra On-Line

Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line, released in 1986. It was created by the duo of Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, who later became known as the "Two Guys from An...

Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy

DOSMac OS1986 TRANS Fiction Systems

Starflight

DOS1986 Binary Systems

Starflight is a classic space exploration and role-playing video game released in 1986 by Binary Systems and published by Electronic Arts. It is known for its innovative gameplay, as well as its open-ended approach to space explor...

Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021

DOS1987freeware Thinking Machine Associates

Welcome to the future, where space empires are managed entirely via text and colored dots. Anacreon puts you in charge of an interstellar civilization and lets you conquer galaxies with the graphical intensity of an Excel spreadsh...