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1. Last Horizon
- Release date: November 18, 2015
- Developer: Pixeljam
Sometimes, a game can do quite a lot with so little. Last Horizon is such a game. It tells the story of a far-flung future where humanity has done what they do best and destroyed their home planet. As potentially the last human left in existence, you have to take a long journey across the stars to find and seed a new world in the hopes that humanity will continue to exist.
The controls for this game are simplicity itself. You have a thruster, and can rotate your ship right and left. Your goal is to leapfrog your way across the universe, landing on planets to refuel your ship, gather oxygen, and use ore to repair any damage. It takes a careful touch to land safely, especially with gravity and planet-side hazards working against you. All in all, this comes highly recommended as a game for anyone looking for a mindful experience, especially if you’re a fan of Lunar Lander at all.
2. Cosmonaut
- Release date: July 31, 2015
- Developer: Chasing Carrots
From a meditative journey across space to a comedic strategy title about making as much money as possible. Cosmonautica is a space sim that tasks you with building and managing your own spaceship and crew. Your general goal is to run a successful ship, but to do that you need money which can be made from taking on jobs, trading goods, or even attacking and stealing from other ships.
There’s a story mode to keep you occupied as well, with a tongue-in-cheek style to the dialogue and a slightly unhinged robot parrot to keep you company that alone qualifies this as one of the best space mobile games out there. There’s a lot of depth to Cosmonautica, and you can end up spending hours playing before you know it. The only slight downside is that the game requires a decent-sized screen if you want to make the most out of it.
3. SimpleRockets 2
- Release date: November 8, 2018
- Developer: Jundroo, LLC
Changing tact completely now, SimpleRockets 2 is all about crafting space-worthy vessels. This simulation has you construct your very own rocket ship and then successfully pilot it in a variety of different missions and challenges. You have a lot of control over how your ship looks and functions, but the game is also aiming for realism, so you need to make sure that your spacecraft actually makes sense.
There’s quite a barrier to entry with this one, it must be said, but it’s totally worth breaking through said barrier. It can be quite complicated to both build and fly your spaceships, but if you’ve ever wanted a game that goes into an intense amount of detail relating to astrodynamics, then you’re not going to find a better game on mobile than this.
4. Crying Suns
- Release date: September 19, 2019
- Developer: Alt Shift
If you’re looking for a darker take on a space exploration game, Crying Suns should be right up your street. The game has a lot of similarities to titles like FTL: Faster Than Light because your main goal is to leapfrog your way across a dystopian universe, sourcing fuel and dealing with enemies and other ships. The main advantage here is that you can play this one on the go, and it has a bit more of a story than FTL.
Crying Suns can be incredibly unforgiving, featuring hexagonal-tile-based combat sequences where you directly control your shipboard weapons and inter-ship fighting craft at the same time. Still, because it’s turn-based, at least you won’t have to panic about making your moves quickly, and you can always shove your phone back into your pocket if things get a bit too frustrating for you.
5. Star Comman
- Release date: May 2, 201
- Developer: Star Command, LLC
For something a bit more cheery and cartoony, Star Command is a must-have space mobile game. Not only are the brighter and more detailed sprites a bit easier to see on your smaller phone screen, but the light-hearted tone and simple gameplay make it easier to dip in and out of on a whim.
As a captain in Star Command, you have to make decisions about the running of your ship, as well as what happens during various adventure encounters. As you take on enemies and complete story objectives, you’re rewarded with three different colors of tokens that you can spend on upgrades to your ship and hiring crew. This system keeps things super simple, even if it also means that combat takes a bit of time before it works up some energy.
