5 mobile games that let you explore space like No Man's Sky
No Man's Sky hasn't exactly turned out to be everything it was promised. Though its core concept of exploring an unimaginably vast universe of different planets is an intriguing one, the execution has left many PS4 and PC gamers feeling like they were not entirely satisfied with the result.
But hey, there are theories out there in the scientific community that there are actually an infinite number of parallel universes that exist. In gaming terms, if one isn't to your liking, you can simply go explore a different one.
None of these games will allow you to wander through a nearly limitless expanse encountering totally new worlds and lifeforms at every stop, but given what some people are saying about No Man's Sky, maybe that's not an entirely bad thing.
I've been told it's never good to assume, but I'm going to go ahead and suggest that you may have heard of FTL at some point. It's everything that No Man's Sky is not, and by that I mean a critical darling. Though it doesn't focus on exploration, it's certainly spiritually related to No Man's Sky in the way that it tests your wits by making space totally unforgiving. There might be more tense spaceship management sims, but I can't name them if there are.
Vendetta Online
FREE!
Surviving in space without many resources is hard. This is something that No Man's Sky actually does a decent job of getting across at times, and Vendetta Online seems to agree. You can do a lot of the same things in this game, including trading and getting into battles with much larger spaceships that turn out to not be such good ideas. But you live, you learn. Or die and learn, as the case may be.
Out There: Ω Edition
$4.99
Count this as another game that reminds you that space is less like the cool stuff of space operas and more of a grueling test of survival. It's almost like a more pessimistic version of No Man's Sky, because at least in that game you'll generally find what you need to keep living. In this one? Not always. Try it anyway.
Galaxy on Fire 2™ HD
FREE!
You know this is an old game because it has an 'HD' version. Now? Well, all mobile games are more or less inherently in HD. Anyway, you don't have the same infinite universe to explore here, but you can do a lot of the same activities, including mining and getting into space battles. That should count for something.
$2.99
This could also be considered a spiritual sibling to No Man's Sky, except in a negative, "this isn't quite what we expected" way. That's what happens when you do two Kickstarter campaigns and still don't put out quite the game you were presenting. Nevertheless, if this is the first time you've ever heard about that, there's a good chance you may like this game. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.