I recently tried Kerbal Space Program and while it is in its default option not the most beautiful game on the market, it certainly belongs into the category interesting.
What is the game about?
Well, that isnt so easy to tell actually.
It is kinda a sci-fi, physics, spacecraft building simulation sandbox game. Sounds horrible, I know.
You run a space agency (such as NASA) on an alien planet called Kerbal.
You can hire Kermans as pilots, engineers or scientists, build a spaceport with different buildings that help you getting your Kermans up into the Orbit.
Inside your Hangars you can build rockets, aircrafts, landers and rovers from different parts that you have to combine in a way that is effective enough not to fall down to Kerbal instantly.
And that is where it starts to get tricky.
Building a rocket is easy... building a rocket the flies stable and does not explode in mid air is somewhat more challenging, building a rocket that can reach orbit and maybe even other planets is where the game gets challenging.
The game itself has 3 game modes.
A simple sandbox mode where everything is unlocked by default.
A scientific mode where you actually only need to take care of collecting scientific data.
And a carreer mode (which I started to play) where you also have to earn money in order to finance your space program. Building require upgrades, science has to be done, every launch costs you money because of fuel and all the debris you create.
Kerbal is heavy physics driven.
Getting into orbit means that you have to consider many factors such as the air pressure which has influence on the aerodynamics of your craft, gravity, mass of your ship, fuel, structural stability and the ability to control your ship under all these influences.
I started with the many tutorials that the game offers just to notice that I didnt really understand them correctly when I was trying to get into the carreer mode.
Maybe that was because not enough was explained, maybe it because the game developers tried to be funny instead of informative, maybe its even a matter of personal translation problems. I dont really know.
Actually I am meanwhile at the point where I believe this is a game where you learn by doing many mistakes. Yeah. That is what this game is about, making mistakes.
You should not expect to build an effective spacecraft on the first try... not on the 2nd try... not on the 10 try. Maybe after 20-30 tries you will figure out whats wrong (just like in real life) and then you have learned enough to face the next problems.
Sounds frustrating but since you get better with time it starts to get addicting.
My first rockets were extremely ineffective and partly very expensive.
Meanwhile I am at the point where I am trying getting simple designs done and then improve them bit by bit, instead of building the biggest monster rocket just to get into orbit.
The costs of my flights are lower now, my launches are more secure and I am getting more payload into space while reaching out further and further.
I have done 5 Mun Landings so far and while it was very tricky for me in first place to get my Kermans to the Mun and also back, I woulndt call that a big problem anymore. I meanwhile even ship tourists to the Mun and earn money this way.
The game has much more to offer than just that. Ive so far only been scratching the surface.
Ive not build a space station yet, my aircrafts are not able to reach the upper atmosphere yet (or even get into orbit), I dont have a shuttle yet, I have not visited other planets of that solar system yet, I have not starting any mining operations in space, I have not build any outposts on the other solar bodies. But all of that seems to be possible.
