Category: Sci-Fi

Honkai: Star Rail

Honkai: Star Rail is a turn-based, multi-platform sci-fi gacha RPG that pairs sleek anime presentation with the kind of polish you normally expect from premium JRPGs. You join the Astral Express and hop between worlds, tackling local crises while investigating the dangerous Stellarons that keep turning up at the center of major disasters. It is developed and published by HoYoVerse, the studio behind Genshin Impact, and it shows in everything from the cinematics to the UI to the overall pacing of the early game.

Publisher: HoYoVerse
Playerbase: High
Type: Sci-fi Gacha RPG
Release Date: April 26, 2023
Pros: +Premium-grade presentation across visuals and audio. +Strong, fully voiced main story. +Memorable character art and animations. +Cross-platform play with cross-save. +Easy to learn combat with real tactical depth.
Cons: -Designed as a solo-focused experience. -No meaningful character appearance customization. -Exploration and world interaction are lighter than Genshin.

Dune Awakening

Dune: Awakening is an open world survival MMO set on Arrakis, a brutal desert planet where staying alive is the first real objective. It leans on familiar survival staples like gathering, crafting, base building, and hostile environments, but places them in a persistent online world designed for large-scale player interaction and long-term progression.

Publisher: Funcom
Playerbase: High
Type: Open World Survival MMO
Release Date: June 10, 2025
Pros: +Survival sandbox mechanics blended with MMO-style persistence. +Strong use of the Dune setting and themes. +Available on PC and current-gen consoles.
Cons: -UI and menus feel designed with controllers first. -PvE variety can feel thin, with repeated enemies and activities.

Tower of Fantasy

Tower of Fantasy is a free-to-play, cross-platform open world sci-fi fantasy RPG that blends anime style visuals with real-time action combat. You create your own character, collect powerful weapons tied to Simulacra, and roam a shared world packed with story quests, exploration, and co-op activities.

Publisher: Level Infinite (Tencent)
Playerbase: High
Type: Mobile RPG
Release Date: August 11, 2022 (Global)
Steam Release Date: October 19, 2022
Pros: +Robust character creator with lots of style options. +Strong presentation with sharp visuals and memorable music. +Snappy combat built around swapping weapons. +A satisfying loop of story missions, exploration, and side activities.
Cons: -Gacha-driven progression for many top weapons and Simulacra. -Co-op exists, but some multiplayer offerings feel limited compared to full PC MMOs.

Phantasy Star Online 2

Phantasy Star Online 2 is a hub-and-mission action RPG where you deploy from a central lobby to take on instanced quests against the Darker threat. It emphasizes responsive, combo-driven combat, party play, and the long chase for better gear, with plenty of style and customization for players who like to fine-tune both builds and looks.

Publisher: Sega
Playerbase: Medium
Type: MMORPG
Release Date: July 04, 2012 (JP), May 27, 2020 (NA)
Pros: +Weapon swapping mid-fight keeps battles dynamic. +One character can learn and level multiple classes. +Combat looks and feels fluid thanks to strong animations. +Robust character creator with lots of options.
Cons: -Progression leans heavily on repetition and farming. -Menus and navigation can feel awkward and dated.

Sector’s Edge

Sector’s Edge is a free-to-play, online first-person shooter that blends tight arena gunplay with a fully destructible voxel sandbox. Every match revolves around using blocks as a resource, you can quickly throw up cover, carve new angles through buildings, or open entire routes through the map to outplay the other team.

Publisher: Vericidium
Playerbase: Medium
Type: 3D Voxel FPS
Release Date: October 30, 2020
Pros: +Easy to pick up and play for casual sessions. +Voxel destruction feels satisfying, with solid block behavior. +Straightforward controls and readable systems.
Cons: -Rounds can feel samey, and match length can drag. -Not many maps to rotate through. -Inconsistent hit registration and recoil feel. –Matchmaking balance can be frustrating.

Next Island

Next Island is a 3D open-world sci-fi MMORPG planet within the wider Entropia Universe, built around a real-cash economy rather than a purely fictional gold system. Instead of treating currency as a typical MMO reward loop, the game ties its Project Entropia Dollars (PED) to real value, letting players trade, buy, sell, and potentially cash out, which changes how progression, risk, and even basic hunting feel compared to standard theme park MMOs.

Publisher: Next Island LLC, MindArk
Playerbase: Medium
Type: 3D Sci-Fi MMORPG
Release Date: December 10, 2010
Pros: +Strong visuals for its age. +Real economy makes trading and crafting meaningful. +In-game currency can be converted to real-world cash. +Open-ended sandbox structure with lots of freedom. +Multiple viable playstyles.
Cons: -Pay-to-win pressure through deposits. -Slow early progression if you do not add funds. -Grinding can dominate the experience.

Gods and Idols

Gods and Idols is a free-to-play MMORTS that puts you in the role of a fledgling deity competing for control of a living, persistent universe. Instead of focusing purely on base-building, the game leans into cosmic-scale powers, letting you reshape worlds, trigger catastrophic stellar events, and weaponize space itself as you expand your influence through followers and fleets.

Publisher: Viking Tao
Playerbase: Low
Type: Strategy
Release Date: December 12, 2016
Pros: +Create and alter planets, stars, and space itself. +Distinct premise with god-focused strategy systems. +Large, persistent universe built for long-term conflict.
Cons: -Very small studio behind the project. -Player population is largely inactive.

Spacelords

Spacelords (formerly titled Raiders of the Broken Planet) is a third-person tactical shooter with a noticeable twist, it pushes you to lean on stealth and melee as much as your firearms. Set on a harsh alien world, the game revolves around dangerous missions in search of the fabled Aleph, playable either solo or in co-op, with an additional asymmetrical PvP option for players who want something more unpredictable.

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Publisher: MercurySteam
Playerbase: Low
Type: Shooter
Release Date: September 22, 2017
Pros: +Campaign supports solo and co-op play. +Distinctive 4v1 multiplayer concept. +Combat blends tactical shooting with stealth and melee choices.
Cons: -Very small active community. -Controls can feel awkward and unrefined. -Progression leans heavily into grinding.

The Infinite Black

The Infinite Black is a cross-platform sci-fi MMO for Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, and iOS that mixes tactical space skirmishes with a player-driven economy. It leans into sandbox systems, letting you chase bounties, raid alien-infested sectors, earn achievements, outfit ships with new gear, run trade routes, and get involved in the social chess match of alliances, espionage, and territorial conflict.

Publisher: Spellbook
Playerbase: Low
Type: MMORPG
Release Date: August 2011
Pros: +Open-ended sandbox structure. +Welcoming, tight-knit community. +Lots of ships, modules, and weapon options. +Developer presence and interaction with players.
Cons: -Basic presentation and visuals. -Methodical pace that can feel slow. -Better suited to dedicated, competitive players. -Later support appears to have faded.

Galaxy Control

Galaxy Control is a top-down, sci-fi base-building strategy MMO built around the familiar loop of harvesting resources, upgrading a home base, and raiding other players for loot. If you have spent time with Clash of Clans or DomiNations, the broad idea will feel instantly recognizable, but Galaxy Control leans into a space theme and a more hands-on unit drop system during attacks.

Publisher: FX Games Media
Playerbase: Medium
Type: Mobile/PC Strategy
Release Date: August 10, 2016
Pros: +Polished, StarCraft-like visual style for a base raider. +Manual troop placement adds tactical choices. +Strong emphasis on PvP and squads.
Cons: -Interface feels primarily built for touchscreens. -Monetization can tilt outcomes. -Build and upgrade timers can be slow.