Space Station Designer is a construction and management game where you are in charge of building and expanding a network of orbital outposts in Earth and Lunar Orbit with the ultimate goal of building an ambitious megaproject: a 'Lunar Space Elevator'.
As the CEO of a private space company, you'll perform a wide range of activities including recruiting and managing astronauts, building and installing modules, providing commercial services, manufacturing commercial goods, acquiring and commercializing Industrial R&D technologies, accommodating space tourists, leasing modules, and a lot more.
The year is 1998. As an extremely accomplished and well-respected billionaire who made their fortune in the logistics and technology sectors, you’re well aware of the potential benefits that a permanent presence in space can provide. After meeting with many world leaders for several months and pitching your ambitious ideas, government officials from the United States of America (USA), the Russian Federation, the European Union (EU), and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) all want to partner up with you to setup a government-industry venture with the aim of expanding human presence in space.
Unfortunately, these four superpowers are not interested in working together. Will you partner with the US and receive a commercial goods transactions bonus and an extra influx of initial funds? Or maybe join the European Union and receive a permanent bonus on propulsion and research points generation? Partnering with the People’s Republic of China looks quite appealing, as they provide a significant manufacturing boost. And the Russian Federation prepares their astronauts for maintenance duties a lot better than the rest of the regions, so maybe that’s the best option?
After selecting a partner government, choose between three initial configurations of the Core Module, launch it into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and begin your journey. A typical month as the CEO of this venture will find you ordering modules, arranging resupply spacecraft, training astronauts, acquiring technologies from a vast tech tree, and manufacturing commercial goods that can later be sold in a dynamic market.
Once you’ve established a solid presence in LEO, expand your reach by opening further outposts in Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO), Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 2 (L2), and Lunar Orbit (Earth-Moon Lagrange Point 1). Every step along the way contributes to the development of the 'Lunar Space Elevator’ megaproject, which will open up a wide range of financial and scientific opportunities.
Space Station Designer features both a 'Campaign' and a 'Sandbox' mode, which provide the following features:
- Choose between four unique partner-nations, with each one of them providing different bonuses and perks.
- Purchase and install modules across a wide range of categories (electricity, cooling, structural, space tourism, research, manufacturing, Command & Control, etc).
- Manage the members of your astronaut corps, whose individual morale ratings are affected by the assignments they get and other external events.
- Discover and unlock technologies from a large tech tree comprised by over 60 technologies.
- Order space station modules from different types of contractors featuring unique strong points.
- Request and prepare resupply missions in order to bring consumables, raw materials and astronauts to the various stations.
- Experience random events that affect different aspects of your company.
- Assign astronauts to maintenance duties to keep the station fully functional.
- Provide Commercial Services and lease your modules to private companies to boost your revenue.
- Build and manage Earth facilities, which provide extra bonuses and the possibility of executing Continuous Improvement Programs.
- Setup complex production lines and produce commercial goods, which can be sold back on Earth.
- Fulfill a series of contracts to bring in revenue and increase your public reputation.
If you’re new to the game, we recommend starting with the ‘Campaign’ mode, which provides a series of objectives that will progressively introduce you to the game’s systems. If you prefer a more relaxing experience, the ‘Free Builder’ mode offers a large palette of modules and lets you experiment by coming up with your own creative designs.
The game also features modding support, and includes a series of mods that illustrate how to add new astronauts, space station modules and resupply spacecraft, including Skylab, the Apollo CSM, and the Space Shuttle.
