Little Bang: Universe Sandbox 2 On Steam Early Access
Play space-god
I like to think I'd be a respectful god. I wouldn't go poking around inside your head or turn you into a heifer. I might, however, be tempted to dick about with cosmic powers and portents. What will you think when I plop another Moon into the night sky, drop a supernova behind Pluto, or extinguish the Sun? Y'all had better hope that, if I ever achieve godhood, I'm too distracted by Universe Sandbox ² [official site] to notice.
Rebuilt and expanded in a new engine, the cosmic simulator sequel last night launched on Steam Early Access. Come check out these cosmic calamities:
Universe Sandbox ² (no, i don't know why it's not 2) is very much a sandbox, focused on letting you play with the cosmos as you please. It simulate gravity, climate, colossions, and a variety of cosmic phenomena, relying on you to come up something to do with that. How quickly would Earth be swallowed by a black hole near Mars? See for yourself. What would happen if a dozen Moons crashed into Earth? Bad things, I'm sure you'll find. What shape does a solar system of gas giants and asteroids take? Go check! It's got a huge selection of objects to set up, and you can fiddle with their attributes, changing size and mass and age and all that to suit your needs.
Developers Giant Army have been selling alpha access for a while, but now it's available direct through Steam Early Access for £18.99. Over "at least another year" of development, they plan to add basic life simulation, missions, and more. The usual Early Access disclaimers apply, especially given the devs' fickle history.
Creator Dan Dixon had once planned to offer the sequel free to everyone who bought the first game, but as the game grew - as did its development team - and time wound on, he changed his mind. The original was created on a wonky abandoned engine, while ² started over on Unity. I can understand going back once he realised quite how much work ² would be, but still, remember plans aren't promises and neither's inviolable.