Best Open-World Games With Alien Ecosystems

Open-world games are generally synonymous with exploration and discovery. Encouraging players to visit areas of the map that are far from the beaten path. Some open-world games focus on exploration and survival. Others provide a traditional story-driven style of gameplay, with the free-roam map adding some extra depth.

Some sandbox-style games are set on alien planets, with unique and diverse ecosystems. Generally, this means the player needs to find a way to survive and thrive in a hostile environment, by exploiting local resources and using them to build the infrastructure they need to survive. Exploration and discovery become the backdrop of the gameplay, encouraging players to enjoy the immersive alien ecosystems these games feature.

7 Empyrion – Galactic Survival

Space Sandbox Survival

Empyrion – Galactic Survival takes place on alien planets, and offers some great sandbox survival gameplay. Every planet that the player decides to exploit has unique flora and fauna, and a procedurally generated ecosystem.

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Players can build bases, mine resources, and build vehicles in this space survival game. Ecological challenges need to be overcome if the player chooses to try and terraform a planet, which means completely controlling the atmosphere of the planet. Overall, this is a great little open-world survival game in the same vein as Space Engineers and others.

6 Journey To The Savage Planet

Humorous Space Exploration Game

In Journey To The Savage Planet, the player is put into the shoes of an intrepid space explorer and is sent to a dangerous alien world. The alien ecosystems are rich and diverse, cram-packed with strange alien life forms.

This is an often humorous game but with a surprising amount of depth hidden behind the humor. Exploration of the alien biomes is very rewarding, requiring the player to scan different alien creatures, study them, and catalog them. There are secrets to uncover, and, of course, the player must learn to survive in a dangerous alien environment as well.

5 No Man’s Sky

Impressive Procedurally Generated Planets

No Man’s Sky has an interesting history. Widely seen as one of the worst game launches of all time, it has now been accepted as one of the best space-based exploration games around. This is primarily due to the game being improved to an almost unrecognizable state compared to launch, and the regular release of free content.

In No Man’s Sky, players explore and adapt to alien planets, all of which have been procedurally generated. Players can discover animals and plants, and if they are the first to find them, they can even name them. With over a trillion star systems, it is unlikely that billions of planets will go unexplored by the time the live-service aspects of the game are halted.

4 Subnautica

Underwater Exploration

All the gameplay in Subnautica takes place beneath the waves on an alien planet that is almost entirely covered in water. Obviously, survival makes up a large part of the gameplay mechanics, as the player must ensure they have oxygen, and also power to run their vehicles and base structures.

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The alien biomes are exquisitely crafted. It is full of not only plant life but also a range of ocean life forms from placid, gentle herbivores to deadly predators that are a considerable danger to the player. Few open-world survival games place the player into such a well-crafted and detailed alien ecosystem as Subnautica.

3 Astroneer

Colorful Open-World Game

All the alien planets in Astroneer are procedurally generated. Players explore these planets, each of which has its unique alien ecosystem. The main gameplay loops consist of resource gathering, building bases to help the player survive, and ultimately terraforming the entire planet.

The player has the tools to completely transform the alien environments they are exploring, including completely changing the atmosphere. The alien planets are colorful, and the art style is often amusing. It might not be the deepest survival game based on an alien planet, but it works extremely well as it is, being fun to play.

2 Ark: Aberration

Fight Mutant Creatures

• Platforms: Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, iOS
• Released: December 12, 2017
• Developer: Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto Estudios S.A.S., Virtual Basement
• Genre: Survival Game

Not a full game in its own right, Ark: Aberration is an expansion for Ark: Survival Evolved. This expansion mixes things up from the base game and places the player on a new, dangerous alien planet with a radioactive environment that is populated by mutated creatures. The game also features huge cave systems for the player to explore.

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The alien ecosystem is stunning, with the various mutated creatures being very well-modeled and animated. Ark: Aberration adds a new layer of complexity to what was already an excellent game. It also introduces some new survival challenges that the player will need to get to grips with.

1 The Outer Worlds

Witty Roleplaying Game

This often funny roleplaying game takes place in a solar system populated with alien planets, each with its own unique, hand-crafted ecosystem. These ecosystems range from fairly benign jungle biomes, to wastelands that are toxic to the player. However, all the alien biomes are inhabited by dangerous creatures of different kinds.

With its excellent narrative and main storyline, The Outer Wilds is about so much more than just the exploration and survival of alien ecosystems. The player is given branching choices, and their decisions will have a long-lasting impact on the game, and ultimately will decide how the game ends.

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