Star Nomad

If you're looking for a VERY simple space sandbox, then this is for you. If you were looking for somewhat of a successor to a game like Escape Velocity (like I was, god I love that series), then keep looking.
Pros:
-The story isn't bad, and the text messages provide good perspective
-There's a sort of cutesy anime charm to the game
-Music is alright (but may wear on you)
-Price is right
Cons:
-Point and click to go... Cannot use the keyboard to accel/turn/stop/etc.
-Skill does not appear to be much of a factor in battles
-All of the ships look basic and uninteresting - simple geometry
-Everything just seems too simplistic; got boring very quickly
I'll probably never play this game again, but I can definitely see where others will enjoy it. I hope you do!

The Good
-For a space trader it is fairly easy top throw a half hour at here and there.
-upgrading is easy once you get the hang of it.
-lots of little details are pretty cool. Like people talking about the Iowa vs. The Yamato kind of clevar.
The Bad
-you tend to have to grind a lot at the beginning. Early on you basically need to find a safe route to either mine or trade until you can get some decent gear.
-no real faction choice to my understanding. I had a chance to join the pirates for a moment there but no real choice.
-the police in this game are insane: I am smuggling drugs and there are 6 ships right behind me destroying ships (potentially murdering people) for money and suddenly I am public enemy number 1? what this hell is in these drugs!?!
-almost no customization: you have almost no choice to upgrade your ship in specialized ways. You can chose to make your missiles hit harder or your beams hit harder and that’s about it.
-there is no choice to stand down your weapons or surrender. I am playing a smuggler not a murderer. I don't want to have a shootout with the cops until I can leave the system. I would rather stand down my own weapons and divert power to shields or speed to get away.
-space stations don't care about pirates or smugglers? Here I am being shot at by pirates I dock at a station and they just let them blow me up? By the same token I am running from the police because they spot me with drugs but the station just lets me dock? I can't fathom a universe where the ships have weapons but the space stations don't who is asleep at the switch?
Things I Would Change
-Give the ships 2 to 5 modification modals and add more than just missile power and beam power to it. It could have the weapon boosts but also extra storage adding an extra 4 slots, a temporary cloak costing power (preferably called a Fader :) ), extra shields, shield mods that increase effectiveness against beams or ballistic respectively, crew pods for extra crew (see below)
-more detailed mining add a scanner to increase the chances of getting certain resources over others.
-more weapon types please. We have an EMP that jams weapons can we have one that stalls engines? Maybe mine layers, how about a machine gun stile gun that fires smaller weaker beads of energy fires faster but hurts less maybe a tractor beam that slows and eventually stops ships to force a boarding rather than destroying ships.
-crew customization. Give each ship a crew capacity 2 to 6 each crew man can do different jobs on the ship such as work the engines, weapons, and shield to make the work better, the ability to navigate and increase maneuverability, or simply board/ repel boarders.
-random mission offers. Passing ships give me all sorts of messages (including quite often the cops telling me how to break the law and expunge my criminal record lol) I think it would be cool if ships randomly offered me a job to protect them or deliver something or even kill someone.
-gear/ships you can't buy. I would love to have experimental gear you have to find and earn rather than buy.
-buy hanger space. I have built up my bad ass ship just the way I like it. Now what? Story missions? Personally I would like to buy a hanger slot and start building up another ship. It would also be more realistic to me than them just handing me a new ship every time I blow one up.
-radar mini map. Down in the corner a tiny map that shows what ships are in the area upgrades and or crewmen could tag patrol ships or pirates or both.
All and all
all and all this game is fun! It could be more fun but it is fun, but at the end of the day I am happy with what I spent on it. I know the developer is working on a sequel so I hope they read this and take these suggestions to heart, but right now the game is fun and worth more than I spent on it.

I am torn on this game. Its grindy but very open world. The combat is still mixed in my mind. Insta killed or insta win happens a lot more then I would like. Mostly because shields only last for 2 seconds or less and take 5 or 9 seconds to recover. So battles are very fast.
I played a early version of this game and some things have changed. The reward for killing and other missions has been raised so you can make some money off of doing them. However buying and selling is still a good way to make money.
The graphics look nice and the game is easy to play. The game can be grindy. The developer is a nice guy. I might try a new game to see if some things were changed from the early build I played.
I still hate the insurance thing. To me it makes little to no sense. Its like buying a new car having it totaled and then not having enough cash to buy the add ons it originally had. Its still a pet peeve of mine on this game. Whatever you died with you should get back. Now since I got insta killed by 5 ships in a friendly sector no less I have to rebuy the Miner add on. Ugh.
The insta killing thing is a pet peeve of mine on games and sadly this game has a lot of it. The players shields should last twice as long as they do now. I want to like this game but it makes it hard.
So good graphics, open world. Insta kills is a constant threat and getting killed results in a loss of add ons for your ship. I wouldnt mind seeing some sort of handicap system in place on this game. Something that allows the player some leeway instead of just one difficulty setting. Perhaps a Ultra Hard mode, a Hard mode( I think this is the standard difficulty for this game.) a medium mode and a I can win mode. Mostly just change up the shield strength so that they would last longer on the Easy mode. Say around 5 to 9 seconds with a 4 second cooldown. Just my thoughts.
I would like to see the game become more casual friendly. Right now its a little to much on what feels like the Elite players only group.

As someone already said in the forum section: WOW!
If you like sandboxy space games you should give this little gem a try, why?
Simple reason is that it looks nice, it plays nice, it sounds nice and it costs... nice. :)
The Dev (yes it's just one person) is extremely active, responsive and with an amazing attitude, and that's something not always easy to find.
It clearly is a "love letter" to old space sims as the description states, just do not expect a flight sim, this is not Elite or Privateer, this is Star Nomad, a fun arcade space sandbox.

For me, Star Nomad is an underrated little gem! It takes all the things that make the 2D action/shooter genre great, and condenses them into a simple yet crazy fun experience. You can make your fortune as a miner, trader or even a pirate (Be warned, betraying everyone doesn't end well :P), but cracking on with the story was the most fun for me. Took me around 30 hours to beat it, which considering the price, is a bargain...
Dont let the simple nature of this game fool you, it becomes very challenging as you progress. Early game is all about earning credits and upgrading your ship. Late game is much more about tactical piloting and loadout (and spamming the X key). Some battles might seem too difficult, but keep at it. Theres nothing more satisfying than battling through a dozen battleships with a lone frigate.
Though this game might not be for everyone, if you're into retro style 2D space shooters with simple mechanics, and are willing to rise up to the challenge of restoring peace to the universe (or not), then pick it up and give it a go. I did and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Now to uncover the myth of the nude key combo...

Huh where am i what's going on?
There's pirates lemme at em'
*Continues to die three times*
Random lady "Help! pirates are attacking!"
Me: "Nah fam, good luck tho"

One man made this? Thumbs up!
Even though visual, audio and mechanical parts of the game are simple, the game can be challenging.
The game reminds of simplefied 2D hybrid of Freelancer, Darkstar One and Space Rangers.
Give it a try.