No Man’s Sky is in its 10th anniversary year and still getting major updates, but after hundreds of hours, even the most dedicated traveler needs a change of scenery. The tricky part is finding games that capture what actually makes NMS special. It’s not just “space game.” It’s that specific combination of landing on a planet you’ve never seen, gathering resources to build something that feels like yours, and that quiet pull of “what’s over the next hill?”
That feeling is harder to replicate than most lists suggest. Half the games people recommend as NMS alternatives focus on combat or story and miss the exploration loop entirely. So I’ve kept this list tight: five games that genuinely scratch the same itch, each for a slightly different reason.
1. Astroneer — The Closest Match
Platforms: PC, Xbox, PS4, PS5, Switch | Price: ~$30 | Co-op: Up to 4 players | Steam rating: Very Positive
If someone asked me for a single game that feels most like No Man’s Sky, Astroneer is the answer without hesitation. You land on a colorful alien planet, gather resources, build a base, research new technology, and eventually hop between planets in your solar system. The core loop is almost identical to NMS, just wrapped in a different art style.
What Astroneer does differently is the terrain manipulation. You carry a tool that deforms the ground itself, letting you dig caves, build ramps, and reshape entire landscapes. It’s incredibly satisfying in a way that NMS’s mining beam never quite matches. The building system is also more freeform, encouraging creative base designs that feel personal.
The trade-off is scale. Astroneer’s solar system has a handful of planets compared to NMS’s quintillions. But each planet is handcrafted enough to feel distinct, and the progression from struggling to survive on your starter world to launching rockets between planets is deeply rewarding. If you play NMS primarily for the base building and planet exploration, Astroneer is your game.
2. Subnautica — The Best Story-Driven Alternative
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch | Price: ~$30 (frequently on sale for $10) | Co-op: No (solo only) | Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (97%)
Subnautica swaps space for an alien ocean, but the feeling is remarkably similar. You crash-land on an unknown world, start with nothing, and gradually build your way from a life pod to a sprawling underwater base with submarines and advanced tech. The exploration is driven by genuine curiosity: every time you dive deeper, you find new biomes, new creatures, and new reasons to keep going.
What sets Subnautica apart from most NMS alternatives is the story. There’s a real narrative pulling you forward, with mystery, tension, and moments that genuinely surprised me. NMS has improved its story significantly with the Artemis Path and Worlds Part II lore, but Subnautica’s narrative is woven into the exploration itself in a way that few games achieve.
The big caveat: Subnautica is single-player only. If co-op is a priority, this isn’t your pick. But if you love NMS for the sense of discovering an alien world piece by piece, Subnautica is arguably the best version of that experience.
3. The Planet Crafter — The Hidden Gem
Platforms: PC (Steam, GOG) | Price: ~$24 | Co-op: Up to 10 players | Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (95%)
This is the pick most lists miss, and it’s the one I think NMS fans will be most pleasantly surprised by. The Planet Crafter drops you on a barren, hostile planet with a single mission: terraform it into a livable world. You start in a wasteland. Over the course of dozens of hours, you build machines that generate heat, oxygen, and atmospheric pressure. You watch moss appear, then insects, then trees, then entire forests.
The magic here is the visible transformation. In No Man’s Sky, you visit planets. In The Planet Crafter, you create one. The first time it rains on your planet, a world that started as a lifeless rock, is one of the most rewarding moments I’ve had in a survival game.
The gameplay loop will feel immediately familiar to NMS players: gather resources, craft equipment, build a base, expand your reach. It’s made by a tiny French studio called Miju Games, and they’ve been consistently updating it since launch. A “2.0 Update” with new biomes, third-person mode, and graphical improvements was announced in March 2026. Co-op supports up to 10 players, which is generous for a game of this scope.
At $24 (frequently on sale for under $15), it’s a steal. If you’ve ever wished No Man’s Sky let you watch a planet come alive because of your work, The Planet Crafter delivers exactly that.
4. Outer Wilds — Pure Discovery, No Crafting
Platforms: PC, Xbox, PS4, PS5, Switch | Price: ~$25 | Co-op: No (solo only) | Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (95%)
This is the wildcard pick, and I’m including it specifically for NMS players who care more about the exploration and discovery than the survival loop. Outer Wilds has no crafting, no base building, and no resource management. What it has is the single best sense of discovery in any game I’ve played.
You’re a space explorer investigating a solar system trapped in a 22-minute time loop. Every planet has secrets, and every piece of information you uncover connects to a larger mystery. The planets themselves are jaw-dropping in their design: one is hollow and crumbling, another is a pair of twin worlds exchanging sand through a column of gravity, another hides an entire forest inside a seemingly empty void.
The reason I’m recommending it here is that Outer Wilds captures the feeling of “what is this place?” better than almost any game in existence. It’s the same feeling you get when you land on a particularly weird NMS planet for the first time, except Outer Wilds sustains that sense of wonder for its entire runtime. It won BAFTA Game of the Year, and the 95% Overwhelmingly Positive Steam rating from nearly 50,000 reviews isn’t hype. It’s earned.
Play it blind. Don’t read guides, don’t watch videos. The less you know, the better it works.
If that first-landing feeling is what you’re chasing, our beginner guide covers how to make the most of it.
5. Starfield — The Big-Budget Option
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S | Price: ~$70 (frequently on sale) | Co-op: No (solo only) | Steam rating: Mixed
I’m going to be honest about this one. Starfield is the most divisive game on this list, and its mixed Steam reviews reflect that. But I’m including it because it does scratch a specific part of the NMS itch that the other games don’t: the feeling of being in a massive sci-fi universe with hundreds of planets, factions, and stories to encounter.
Starfield has over 1,000 explorable planets, base building, ship customization, and RPG progression. If you’re the kind of NMS player who enjoys visiting space stations, trading with aliens, and following quest lines between systems, Starfield delivers that at a AAA scale with much deeper narrative and character interaction.
The honest downside: Starfield’s planets are emptier than NMS’s, exploration feels less organic due to loading screens between areas, and the game lacks the seamless planet-to-space transition that makes NMS feel so fluid. The base building also doesn’t match NMS’s flexibility. But if you want a space RPG with genuine narrative weight and don’t mind a more structured experience, it fills a gap the other games on this list don’t.
Quick Comparison
Want the closest NMS experience? Astroneer. Same loop, different art.
Want exploration with a great story? Subnautica. Solo only, but unforgettable.
Want to build a planet from scratch? The Planet Crafter. The hidden gem on this list.
Want pure discovery and wonder? Outer Wilds. Nothing else like it.
Want a AAA space RPG? Starfield. Bigger scope, different structure.
New to survival games in general? Here’s how to pick your first one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most similar game to No Man’s Sky?
Astroneer is the closest in terms of gameplay loop: alien planet exploration, resource gathering, base building, and hopping between worlds. It’s smaller in scale but matches the feel better than any other game on this list.
Is there a game like No Man’s Sky with a better story?
Yes. Subnautica and Outer Wilds both deliver stronger narratives than NMS. Subnautica wraps its story into a survival-exploration framework, while Outer Wilds is built entirely around unraveling a mystery through exploration.
What is The Planet Crafter and is it worth playing?
The Planet Crafter is a survival-crafting game where you terraform a barren planet into a livable world. It has a 95% Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam from over 54,000 reviews, supports co-op for up to 10 players, and costs $24. It’s one of the most underrated games in the genre.
Is Starfield a good alternative to No Man’s Sky?
It depends on what you value. Starfield offers deeper RPG mechanics, better character writing, and a more structured experience. But it lacks NMS’s seamless planet-to-space transitions and the exploration feels less organic. If you want space-RPG more than space-sandbox, Starfield works.
Are there any upcoming games like No Man’s Sky?
Light No Fire, from Hello Games (the studio behind NMS), is the most anticipated. It’s set on a single procedurally generated planet the size of Earth, blending survival with cooperative exploration. No release date has been confirmed, but it’s in active development.
