The Best Open-World Games Where You Can Travel Between Planets

Hey, nobody said that open-world games need to stick to a single planet. As the concept grew, developers started to push and redefine the concept of sandboxes, creating playgrounds that used to be inconceivable just a few years prior. While they are still relatively rare, we nowadays have quite a few open-world space games that let you explore different planets, most of which come with unique ecosystems, missions, and general vibes.

If you have ever found yourself looking towards the stars with wonderment, then these forthcoming titles might be able to satisfy that desire to explore other worlds. There really aren't all that many games that qualify for this discussion, but the ones that exist are generally fantastic.

Mass Effect Andromeda, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, and The Outer Worlds have been left out since they aren't 100% open-worlds.

9 Star Wars Outlaws

A Streamlined Planet-Hopping Adventure

Most open-world games spread across multiple planets tend to be hands-off, with players being mostly free to go where they want and do what they please. With a story-driven campaign, Star Wars Outlaws is a different type of experience than every other title in this article, and it lacks the expansive sense of scale; however, the game still lets players travel to 4 gorgeous planets, including iconic locations like Tatooine.

While most of the worlds feel like mini-Ubisoft open zones, they have a unique identity that makes them fun to behold and, at times, explore. Traveling between planets isn't that exciting, though, just because it is primarily a cinematic experience. Star Wars Outlaws isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it is relatively polished, has a solid faction system, and fun traversal via speeder bike.

8 Starfield

Multiple Procedurally Generated Planets To Explore

Although it isn't entirely an open-world title due to the player needing to sit on a loading screen between each jump from one planet to the next, Starfield still tries its best to feel as if it's an open universe for the player to explore.

This exploration gives the player the freedom to adventure across all sorts of star systems and the planets that come with them, providing the player with an assortment of planets to land on, with some of them being completely devoid of life, while others may have outposts for the player to explore. This gives the illusion of an open world, as players can explore these locations to their heart's content and create all sorts of outposts on them.

7 ​​​​​​​Star Citizen

An Early Access Space Sim Epic

Star Citizen is complicated. For some, it is the most ambitious project of all time that will eventually push the industry to new, unprecedented heights. For others, it is a mess that seems destined to never leave its alpha state. Honestly, both sides are valid in their own way, and I would only recommend the current version to folks who are fully aware and perfectly fine with an experience known for bugs, crashes, server performance issues, and patches that might elevate or break things. The game's cost can get expensive, too, especially if you want to pick up individual ships.

For all its flaws, Star Citizen does a brilliant job of making its different worlds feel unique from each other, from Hurston's industrial dystopian vibe to ArcCorp's full city planet scope. The travel between planets is also seamless, with no cutscenes and manual landings, leading to moments that can be both tense and awe-inspiring. In terms of pure space sim immersion, Star Citizen is among the very best, as long as it is not bogged down entirely by poor performance.

6 Empyrion - Galactic Survival

A Sandbox Survival For Making Planetary Settlements

Sandbox titles are incredibly popular when considering space exploration. Besides allowing players to freely explore the open-world map of space, they also encourage their ingenuity to run free as they create all sorts of outposts on the various planets they travel to.

Empyrion - Galactic Survival is a great open-world game for those looking for a title that allows them to adventure across space, attempting to survive on some of the harshest planets they visit. Each planet in Empyrion - Galactic Survival is sure to not feel the same, as they each come with not only their own unique fauna and flora but also interesting alien life to uncover.

5 Astroneer

Adventure On Strange New Worlds

Players looking for a game that not only allows them to adventure between planets but has a cutesy, bright art style should look no further than Astroneer. Players can learn to survive this strange solar system alone or with friends as they automate their way to victory, surviving on these various planets filled with all sorts of mysteries.

Since players can freely explore in Astroneer, players can expect each planet in this solar system, when they finally start exploring elsewhere, to feel just as peculiar as the original, making for a wondrous open-world experience across these challenging biomes.

4 Space Engineers

Engineer Spacecrafts To Travel Across Planets

While its name may be Space Engineers, which would suggest that players will spend the majority of their time in space, they can explore elsewhere in this sci-fi sandbox title. Once you have created your durable spacecraft, you can use this shuttle to explore the different planets of the solar system.

Building is one of the prime activities of Space Engineers, making the various planets players can land on the perfect experimental grounds for players to test out their building skills and make a variety of outposts on them. Not to mention needing to explore these various planets of the open world to get the materials needed to build even more and become a skilled Engineer in space.

Space Engineers 2 is in early access.

3 Elite Dangerous

Deliver Goods Between Planets And Much More

Even massive multiplayer games like Elite Dangerous let players explore an expansive universe. In this space epic, players are free to travel how they see fit and take part in all sorts of activities. One of the most popular jobs that players seem to adore has them traveling in their spaceship between planets and space stations, delivering goods.

Players aren't confined to their spaceship either in Elite Dangerous, as many of the planets they visit can also be stepped upon. Although space traversal is the game's main selling point, planets have more to offer, with missions, trades, combat bases, and more.

2 Outer Wilds

A Story About A Solar System Stuck In A Time Loop

Although sharing a similar sound name to The Outer Worlds, Outer Wilds is a completely different game, and that extends to pretty much every other title in this article. This story-driven adventure is a must-play for any player who enjoys space travel and loves a good, cryptic mystery. Although confined to a single solar system, this is all a player needs to enjoy the vast sandbox of the Outer Wilds.

Players find themselves stuck within a time loop across these various planets and must find a way to break the time loop and hopefully save their friends in the process. They will have to zip between the planets looking for answers to uncover the mysteries of this extraordinary solar system. Outer Wilds leaves you to your own devices, encouraging players to learn and adapt based on their experiences.

1 No Man's Sky

An Open-World Space Exploration With Always More To Do

When No Man's Sky was first released, players had high expectations that were quickly destroyed. However, Hello Games worked on winning back their community to turn No Man's Sky into one of the greatest open-world sci-fi titles.

No two planets in No Man's Sky ever feel the same as players take their ship – which they can now fully customize – and fly between not only various planets but also an infinite number of solar systems, as long as they have the materials to make the jump. With each planet having its own unique resources depending on the biome, and plenty of ways to make the perfect outpost, it's no surprise that No Man's Sky is one of the best games for this open-world space exploration.