Space Engineers, the sandbox engineering simulator, has made contact with Steam Early Access. Players who dive in now will be able to suggest improvements as developer Keen Software House approaches the game’s official liftoff.
Exploring Space Engineers is a lot like exploring space, in that you’re not really sure how things work until you watch a terrifying movie see for yourself. Players take on daring missions like the maintaining of space stations, constructing ships, and generally trying not to blow everything up.
When frustrations peak, the game can also be played as a tactical shooter, but Keen Software expects players “to avoid engaging in direct man-to-man combat and instead use their creativity and engineering skills to build war machines and fortifications.” So in other words, if you’re going to fight, do it once you figure out how to build an awesome weapon.
The forces of gravity and electricity are realistically implemented while building with the game’s provided blocks, so it seems like you’ll need to think your crafts through instead of just building shoddy abominations. PC owners can currently launch themselves into Space Engineers’ universe for $14.99 and will gain access to the full version once it’s released.