Games set in space can feature planets and aliens and even be educational.
Space, the final frontier, is an exciting and suitably vast theme for games to explore. Little wonder then that games designers have come up with plenty of titles which focus on the solar system, its planets, and beyond. Some of these games are educational in nature, while others are just for kicks. Many space games are for either a PC with Internet access or a video game console, though some do not require a computer.
Solar System Board Games
Board games allow a number of players to be entertained while learning. You can create a simple space board game using only cardboard, coloring pens or pencils, counters and dice. Draw a map of the solar system onto the cardboard to create the game board, with each planet and a number of squares marked on the board. The game also requires a question bank; research a number of questions about each planet beforehand and write these on game cards. Players begin at one side of the board and roll dice to see how many squares they travel each turn. If a player lands on a planet, he has to correctly answer a question about that planet before he can move on again. The winner is the first player to reach the end of the solar system and the other side of the board.
Console Action Games
A number of action games available for console gaming systems are set in space. These games are typically set in the future, and place players in the role of soldiers or explorers on alien planets or spaceships, trying to accomplish a mission while staying alive. For instance, in "Dead Space 2," players must survive the horrors found in a city built on the rings of the planet Saturn, while in "Fire Warrior," gamers control the Tau, a fictional alien race out to defend their home planet from intergalactic intruders. These games often use a first-person perspective.
Flash Games
These online games are playable for free through a web browser. Flash games tend to be simple, utilizing basic or cartoon graphics and easy-to-learn controls. "Starship 11," for example, tasks the player with piloting a space vehicle past hazards in space to reach its goal; hit an obstacle such as a wall and the ship crashes. In "Space Escape," the player flies a jet through the stars, but must carefully navigate to avoid crashing into objects.
Strategy
Many space games are strategy-based, with the player controlling a faction or species and attempting to survive and prosper in a galaxy. Players typically have to manage resources, develop technologies and defeat rivals to succeed in this kind of game. In "Alpha Centauri," for example, the player must oversee the colonization of a distant planet, while in the "Starcraft" games, the player leads one of several alien races into battle for control of a region of space.
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