The most popular space simulation games

Space simulation games, as the name suggests, are all about flying a starship in the vastness of space. The gameplay usually involves one or more of the following activities: space combat, space exploration, trading commodities, taking missions, piracy, crafting, mining asteroids, etc. Some of the most popular space sim series are Wing Commander, Elite and X-Wing / Tie Fighter.

Sort by:

Wing Commander

DOS1990freeware Origin Systems

Wing Commander 1 is a space combat simulator video game; the first game in the Wing Commander series. Wing Commander 1 was developed and published by Origin Systems in 1990. The game was created by Chris Roberts and beca...

Elite

DOS1987freeware Firebird

Ascii Sector

Windows 10/11LinuxDOS2007freeware

Ascii Sector is what happens when someone takes Privateer, removes the graphics, and replaces them with pure ASCII and sheer willpower. It’s open-world space sim meets roguelike: you trade, fight, explore, get stabbed in sha...

Star Wars

DOS1988 Atari

Space Rogue

DOS1989 Origin Systems

Space Rogue is a science fiction RPG developed by Richard Garriott's Origin and desined by Paul Neurath. Space Rogue combines a 3D space simulation with a top down view RPG gameplay. As a space pilot you can hunt bou...

Frontier: Elite 2

DOS1993 Frontier Developments

Frontier: Elite II is a classic space simulation and trading game released in 1993, developed by David Braben and his company Frontier Developments. Frontier is the sequel to the pioneering 1984 game Elite and is often considered ...

Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator

DOS1992 Vektor graphics

Star Wars: X-Wing

DOS1993protected LucasArts

Elite Plus

DOS1991 Realtime Games

Elite Plus is an enhanced version of the classic space trading and combat simulator Elite, released by MicroPlay in 1991 for MS-DOS. It was designed as an update to the original 1984 game, improving graphics, performance, and over...

Wing Commander: Privateer

Windows XP/98/95DOSMac OS1993protected Origin Systems

Deep space: Operation Copernicus

DOS1986 Lerner Research

Wing Commander: Armada

DOS1994protected Origin Systems

Wing Commander: Armada is space combat simulation game developed by Origin Systems and released by Electronic Arts in 1994 for DOS. Wing Commander: Armada is part of the Wing Commander game series and was published before Wind Com...

Iron Seed

DOS1994freeware

Star Crusader

DOS1994 Take-Two Interactive

Star Crusader is an abandoned science fiction first-person 3D space combat simulator, developed by Take-Two Interactive and published by GameTek in 1994 for both DOS and Amiga platforms. In the game, you must choose which side to ...