Editor’s note: This originally appeared on a very old blog of mine, which no longer exists. I have reposted and backdated this post so it appears in the archives.
Last week I saw a new game appear on Steam, Universe Sandbox. I was immediately drawn in not only because I have a little thing for stars and planets, but also because I saw a new sandbox game to try out. Immediately I went to the official website and tried out the demo which gave me access to premium features for 60 minutes and unlimited access to basic features. After playing for over a week, I have finally made a conclusion on the game, Universe Sandbox.
Universe Sandbox is a game unlike others that I have seen before. At first glance it may look like a simple game, but after looking into it deeper you will notice that it is pretty complex. Universe Sandbox is simply a simulation of our universe. It has all the planets, moons, etc that you would expect in the universe. You are able to simulate what the universe should be like in 10 minutes, 10 days, 10 years or even 10 million years from now. That may sound interesting, but there is much more to this simple little “game”.
Not only does Universe Sandbox allow you to simply generate our universe, it allows you to play with it to almost any degree you want. Do you want to send 10,000 asteroids to plummet into Earth? Go ahead! You can do everything from that to even adding a brand new galaxy to the universe. You are able to simulate just about anything.
Not sure you can create an interesting simulation in our universe? Universe Sandbox has over 70 pre-installed simulations for you to play with and get ideas from or modify. The simulations range from the moon orbiting Earth to galaxies merging into each other. It is very exciting just to watch these simulations.
On top of just watching the simulations you can toy with them to make them do whatever you want. For instance, I made Earth the biggest object in the universe and just watched hell break loose. Planets broke their orbits and slingshot around Earth. Some stayed in orbit, some flew off to who knows where.
I could continue this review by talking about all the fun simulations that I did, but I recommend that you go check out the demo version of Universe Sandbox right now. This “game” is very interesting and is sure to entertain anyone. Once you are done with the demo, you can buy the game off of Steam for the low price of $10. Trust me, if you get hooked on the demo, you will want to buy the full game. =)
