Starfield will bring space closer to players later this year. Although there are still some months ahead, those who are dying to explore the unknown don’t have to wait because there are tons of games that allow you to experience space in different ways.
Bethesda is famous for its outstanding work on the Fallout and The Elder Scrolls franchise. As a specialist in role-playing games (RPGs), Starfield is expected to be another masterpiece when it releases in September 2023.
Related: When does Starfield release?
When it comes to RPGs in space, you won’t find many names that have the typical customization or open-world featured in Bethesda games, but there is a list that comes close. Here are the best games for players to enjoy while waiting for Starfield.
Best space RPGs to play while waiting for Starfield
Outer Worlds
Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, Outer Worlds was released in 2019 and is everything you would expect of an RPG set in space, except for exploring space itself on a spaceship.
This game has everything you could ask of an RPG: character customization, an open world, dialog decisions, several quest lines, and companions. Outer Worlds excels in the companion system.
You’ll find yourself in a society run by megacorporations after being taken out of cryosleep by an eccentric scientist who is also a high-profile rebel. Your quest to save the rest of the people under cryosleep will take you to different planets with their own cultures and problems.
Outer Worlds is available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. The sequel was announced on June 2021 with no release date so far.
Outer Wilds
Another game from 2019, Outer Wilds doesn’t look like your usual RPG, but its game mechanic makes it one of the most unique games you’ll ever play.
Outer Wilds puts you in the place of a nameless space explorer. You’ll be able to explore a solar system, find unbelievable worlds, talk with interesting aliens, and uncover the great mystery of the game.
Outer Wilds is available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
Dead Space series
In Dead Space, you’ll experience space in a completely different tone than the previous games mentioned. This game will show you the terrors that space can hide.
The first game of the series was originally released in 2008 but you can play the remake EA launched this year. In this survival horror game, you play as an engineer called Isaac Clarkein exploring a mining spaceship while fighting monsters and his own mind.
The remake gave a voice to the protagonist and included voice lines to insert Clarkein into the discussions with other characters, added more gore, and improved the zero gravity system of the original.
Dead Space is available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. You can also play Dead Space 2 and Dead Space 3.
Mass Effect series
In this third-person shooter, you’ll embark on a journey to save the Milky Way galaxy as Commander Shepard. Your choices will be important to dictate how your story will develop as you face an ancient race known as the Reapers.
Mass Effect allows you to customize Shepard’s appearance, and background story, and choose a combat build. You can raise your skill levels by completing both main and side quests, and you also can have companions. But it’s not an open world.
You can play the Mass Effect trilogy and the DLCs through the Legendary edition, all while enjoying a 4K remaster. It’s available for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
The Star Wars universe can be explored in an RPG game with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. You’ll play as a Jedi Padawan named Cal Kestis set five years after the events of Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
This game is much more linear and doesn’t allow for much customization, but you can live the dream and use the force against stormtroopers, and even customize your lightsaber to make it double-bladed.
An important mechanic in this game is parry—when you deflect an attack at the right moment. You’ll feel like a true Jedi as you deflect incoming attacks and use the force to send enemies flying.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
More RPG games in space
There are other options for games set in space that are older or from smaller studios but still deliver a great experience. Here are other space RPG games you can try:
- Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic
- Elite Dangerous
- Sunless skies
- X4
- Star Citizen
- Warframe
- Everspace 2
Related: The best Skyrim features we want to see in Starfield
Games in space that aren’t exactly RPGs
RPG aspects can be found in many different types of games that aren’t limited to the third and first-person experience or following a set narrative. Here are a few games that happen in space and don’t have the RPG mechanics that Starfield will have.
No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky might be known for the chaotic and disappointing launch back in 2016, but the game has continually received updates that have elevated it to an outstanding level of quality.
In this infinite open-world universe, you can live the life of a space explorer who can either follow the main story or just build a base on a planet, work delivering goods, fight against outlaws, or roam freely across planets discovering the different species of flora and fauna.
No Man’s Sky is an open-world survival craft game with multiplayer features that resembles an MMO because of the freedom and interaction with other players but can also be a single-player game at the same time.
No Man’s Sky is available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
Destiny 2
Destiny 2 is an MMO set in space with a dash of fantasy elements where you can build your character the way you want from the looks to the playstyle and explore an open-world map while fulfilling your role as a Guardian.
Guardians are the protector of the last safe city on Earth. You’ll have to protect humanity as alien races attack in a battle between Light and Darkness.
Since this first-person shooter is an MMO, you’ll experience the role-play much more loosely when interacting with the world but will progress following the MMO structure. There are many RPG elements in Destiny 2 that fans of the genre will enjoy.
Destiny 2 is available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Citizen Sleeper
Citizen Sleeper approaches the RPG genre based on tabletop games. Players have to roll dice to determine the outcome of every in-game day by choosing how they spend through their actions.
You’ll play as a Sleeper, someone whose mind has been transferred to a robot and is controlled by a corporation. You’ll be able to explore a lawless station taken by the “ruins of interplanetary capitalism,” as the developers describe the game on Steam.
The gameplay revolves around reading the prompts of the actions and the conversations between characters, in a way that is very similar to Disco Elysium—an acclaimed RPG inspired by tabletop games.
Citizen Sleeper is available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
More games with RPG elements in space
You can experience life in space in many different forms of gameplay that go beyond the typical AAA RPG games. Here are other options for space games with RPG elements:
- FTL
- Stellaris
- Rodina
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew on VR
Related: Starfield multiplayer: Does it have crossplay, co-op, or PVP?
Games in space that are worth a try
Deep Rock Galactic
What happens when you combine axe-wielding dwarves and space? You get Deep Rock Galactic. Instead of mining the great Mines of Moria, you can explore the deep caves of the galaxy.
In this first-person shooter, you can play alone or with friends as a group of Dwarves that mine in procedurally-generated caves and battle against waves of aliens.
The aesthetic combines the medieval known aspects of Dwarves with the technological and surreal vibes of space. All while you “Rock and Stone!” with your friends.
Deep Rock Galactic is available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Space Engineers
Space Engineers is a game for builders but themed around space. Players can build space stations, and spaceships to use them to travel through the galaxy. Exploring planets and gathering resources to expand on your methods of surviving is integral to this game.
If you enjoyed building LEGO spaceships, this sandbox game might be up your alley. It also supports multiplayer so you can play with your friends.
Space Engineers is available on PC and Xbox.
60 Parsecs!
From the same creators of 60 Seconds!, fans can play the space version in 60 Parsecs! where they have 60 seconds to grab everything they can before the space station blows up and sends them off to the great unknown in an emergency shuttle.
Every decision count in this game and if you don’t make the right one, the consequences might be irreparable. The objective is to survive as long as possible and with the least amount of physical and emotional damage.
60 Parsecs! is available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Android.
