In 1903, the first plane was flown. In 1939, the first jet aircraft was flown. In 1969, the United States landed on the moon. In less than 66 years, the human race went from flying a mangled piece of tarp, into a metal fortress that can escape gravity. Space is man’s final frontier, and the limits in the future are endless. We will hopefully be able to land a man on Mars and By 2077, conquer the solar system. At least that’s what Space Engineers do; conquer the solar system.

Space Engineers is a game where players become as the game title states: Engineers in Space. From building space stations or bases on Mars, tiny mining ships, or galactic cruisers to see the stars, Space Engineers allows the player to create anything they want. It’s much like Minecraft mixed with the Kerbal Space Program, but with real world physics and more parts to play with. Basic ships require Oxygen, Ion Thrusters, Control Panels, and much more. Another new development that makes this open sandbox game more exciting is the ability to code your own programs in the game.

The game’s main drawback is not the creativity and the amazing ability players have to create their own solar system, but instead much like the problem of No Man’s Land – there is no final goal. There is no ability to fulfill the dream of conquering the universe, for man is alone in the dark void of space – unless you dare go into the multiplayer realm where bugs are continuous and Griefers lay waste to amazing contraptions. However, in the grand scheme of things, the developers have started implementing missions and sessions which allow for Role-play/Mission capabilities. In the future, they have hinted at developments which will give the universe more substinance in terms of a finishing goal.

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The Indie developers from Keen Software House have done a good job with the game in Alpha or early access mode, a relatively new concept on Steam which allows players to interact with a game in development, and help the developers find bugs and plan new additions for the future. Almost every week new material and tools came out for the players, which reveals how committed the developers are to the game.

Recently, the developers have slowed down on churning out new editions and finally put the game in Beta mode, worrying some players that new designs and programs will not be created for users to toy around with. Nevertheless, it shows a new resolve under the leadership of KSH. Instead of having tiny two week updates, there will be larger dual monthly ones.

I’m fairly surprised how this early access game has been able to grow from a small group of three hundred players to a community of one million. The best part is, I’ve been able to grow with it throughout much of its stages, and it reminds me about who we are as people. We all have our differences, plagued by wars and by boarders, however; once you zoom out to space, Earth becomes a community of one people, without differences. Space may be empty, but it makes us whole. That’s the impact of this game whether we realize it or not, and it’s strangely comforting. Hopefully others see this revelation too.