You’ll need an Epic Games account to claim both titles and the Epic Games Launcher to download and play them. Kerbal Space Program is Squad’s acclaimed simulation title where players control an alien race known as Kerbals. Their goal is to build a rocket and successfully launch it into space, taking realistic physics and aerodynamics into account. Kerbal Space Program 2 launches on February 24th for PC via Steam Early Access.

Aiko’s Choice is a standalone expansion for Mimimi Games’ Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. Starring Aiko, the kunoichi, who must deal with enemies from her past, it features the return of the base game’s cast in three new main missions. There are also three difficulty levels and three “interlude” missions to complete. Check out our review here for more details.

It’s been announced that Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S this Fall. An exact release date hasn’t been confirmed. On PS5 and Xbox Series X, the game will run at 1440p, while on the Xbox Series S, it will target a 1080p resolution. There’s no word yet on what frame rates the game will be targeting.

The game will have full mouse and keyboard support as well, while apparently, the “additional system memory on these consoles results in a more stable game experience and allows for an increase of part count on player’s crafts and contraptions.” You can also expect upgraded shaders and textures.

Kerbal Space Program Enhanced Edition will cost $39.99. If you already own the game on PS4 or Xbox One, however, you can upgrade to their respective next-gen versions for free.

NOTE: This feature contains spoilers for every game that is mentioned. If we begin talking about a game you don’t want spoiled, skip ahead to the next entry.

WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER

Wolfenstein as a series has never been afraid of flights of fantasy, and The New Order, in typical Wolf fashion, has plenty of that going on as well. To secure lunar launch codes, BJ infiltrates a Nazi base on the moon, killing Nazis, destroying drones, and even donning a spacesuit and walking on the moon’s surface. It’s one of the game’s best missions that serves to exemplify how far-flung the series can get with its stories (in a good way).

Our primary consideration while formulating and ranking this list hasn’t been to judge these games as complete experiences, but rather to focus primarily on their sandbox mechanics, and their strengths as sandbox games.

Kerbal Space Program

What happens when you need to not only build your own spaceships and rockets but also fly them, while training a crew of Kerbals in the process? That’s only the beginning of Kerbal Space Program as players embark across the universe, touching down on different planets and creating bases. Or they could remain in space, creating huge stations and locating anomalies. With three different modes, like Science Mode for discovering new technology, and Career Mode for managing your very own space program, Kerbal Space Program has it all.

METROID PRIME

Nintendo’s seminal Metroid series has always seen us explore wondrous and unearthly alien vistas, and Metroid Prime was no exception to that rule. As the game that took the series to 3D, in fact, it presented us with more starkly realized alien landscapes than any game in the series has before. Tallon IV is a beautiful, desolate planet haunted by the remnants of the Chozo, and as you dig deeper into its secrets, you find threats hitherto undreamt of. There are many reasons to play a game as stellar as Metroid Prime, but the star of the show is the world it has you explore – few outer space games have achieved a setting as rich or as well realized as Metroid Prime did.

Kerbal Space Program’s commercial version launched all the way back in 2013 and had one major expansion, before coming under new ownership with Take-Two Interactive. Now, after more than six years since its release, the game is primed to get a second expansion, titled Breaking Ground, which is due out at the end of this month. It’ll include new experiments and Robo Ship Parts.

The game, originally conceived as an educational tool and then adapted into a commercial released aimed at all ages, has had several updates since that release, and with Breaking Ground, you can add more creativity to your craft, have more materials to collect and study, and set up a space station to monitor over time on the surface of a celestial body.

You can set up science stations with seismometers and weather stations to collect new data, while there’s also a new space suit for you to try on. Also being added are new surface features like mineral formations, meteors, craters, and “some even more curious planetary features”, which you can collect with a new Rover Arm.

Kerbal Space Program is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The expansion will be live on May 30^th and cost $15, unless you purchased the game before April 2013, in which case you can download it free of charge.

Bloodborne

Veterans of From Software’s Dark Souls series were in for something different with Bloodborne. Though combat was mechanically similar, it was faster with the ability to side-step along with dodge-roll. Shields were pretty non-essential, Visceral attacks were awesome and sometimes, attacking foes to regenerate lost health was the best option. For those who’ve never played a From Software game, Bloodborne takes time to properly get a hold of (especially the bosses) but it delivers a rich story, fully-realized world and excellent combat.

Squad’s Kerbal Space Program is now officially owned by Take Two Interactive, the publishing giant behind Grand Theft Auto 5 and the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2.

Given the usual concern that comes from a big publisher acquiring an IP, Squad announced the news and assured fans that it would not mean much change. “The important thing to know is that this big news doesn’t change much for the KSP community.

“Squad and the current development team is still here and we’re hard at work on KSP and its future updates, but now we are fortunate enough to do so with the help of an experienced publisher like Take-Two, and we couldn’t be more excited and happy to see where our conjoint collaboration will take KSP forward.

“The team at Take-Two are big fans of KSP, who have been persistently knocking on our door trying to work with us for a long time. They share your passion for the game and we’re really eager to see what Squad and Take-Two can do together for Kerbal Space Program moving forward.”

Kerbal Space Program had its start in 2011 when it launched on Steam Early Access. It made its way to Linux, Mac, PC and eventually Xbox One and PC in 2015 when it left Early Access. What are your thoughts on this development? Let us know in the comments.