I’m having *way* too much fun with an pre-release game, Kerbal Space Program. If you’ve ever played something like Microsoft Space Simulator … it’s nothing like that .
Kerbals live on planet Kerbin, which is a planet much like Earth, and they’ve got rockets much like ours, but absolutely no rocketry experience. Design rockets, launch them, orbit, land, crash, explore, build. There is a game in the works, but for now the alpha release seems to be an awesome sandbox.
That’s my first rocket design. Two stages, with an explosive decoupler. Well, it’s the first that made it into a stable orbit…
… Low Kerbin orbit. And I forgot the parachute. The orbit will decay in a few weeks, so I’ll need to go rescue the Kerbin pilot pretty soon.
I’m serious, it’s not just story-telling — you can disembark, spacewalk, and climb into another rocket if you bring one up alongside. People have built entire moon bases by ferrying parts from Kerbin to its primary moon, Mün.
This game is deep.