Astroneer

At first, ASTRONEER makes a fantastic impression:
Colorful visuals, a chill atmosphere, satisfying terrain deformation, and that cozy “space sandbox” vibe full of exploration and creativity.
But after a few hours? It starts to feel… hollow.
Yes, you can dig, print, build, and automate — but there’s little reason to.
The game has systems but no urgency, goals but no real tension. You just kind of float around.
Exploration gets repetitive.
Progression is gated by grind and endless inventory Tetris.
The resource tree is shallow.
Planets may look different, but they mostly play the same.
It’s not bad — just safe. Too safe.
If you’re into zen, low-stress building and don’t mind a lack of direction, you’ll probably have a good time.
But if you’re looking for depth, danger, or long-term challenge… look elsewhere.
6/10 — Nice to visit, but nothing kept me coming back.

If you, like me, tried getting into Satisfactory and found the early game really fun, but found yourself eventually souring on the experience due to the ever increasing demand for efficient automation of resource extraction- and management then Astroneer might be the game for you instead. While there is an element of automation, it's more so there as an optional quality of life feature than the core gameplay loop itself.
The best example of this is perhaps the power system. In Satisfactory you have to worry about building out a separate power grid, needing to figure out power load and worrying about going over max capacity and how you'll restart your production line if (read: when) you do go over it. Astroneer on the other hand just says: "F all that nonsense: you have watt, and you have watt-hours. Accidentally go over the limit? Don't worry, things will just slow down a little. Just make sure everything is connected and have fun! :D".
The rest of the gameplay is otherwise pretty similar to Satisfactory, especially the early parts of the game: you go around, explore for resources, bring them back to base and use them to get yourself more tools and toys. And once your reach the point where you got the basics down and the point where Satisfactory would up the automation requirements, Astroneer instead takes a left turn and introduces space travel, meaning you get to stay in the exploration phase for longer as you get acclimated to a new planet, new resources and new challenges. And while on a new planet you also get the opportunity to refine and reiterate your base design to your exact liking as you set up a new base from scratch. Be warned however: the better you make your base designs over time, the more you're gonna dread returning to the horrible mess that is your original base.
And the more planets you explore, the better your tools will become, meaning you can set up your new bases faster and more complexly with the help of the new resources available. To me this is the perfect way to blend familiarity with novelty: you're going through the same processes as with previous planets, but with slight twists here and there. With 7 planets and one DLC, that loop does eventually grow stale, but when you get the biggest ship available, you don't even need to set up a base on every planet, just bring whatever you need with you on your spaceship instead.
The game however isn't perfect: early game storage solutions are so bad that a lot of players don't even bother setting them up, instead opting for a "resource pit", so called because once you dig it out and fill it with stuff, it hogs all your computers RAM and CPU power. Another major issue is that once you discover how to automatically turn dirt into scrap, you don't even need to leave your base to fully set it up, just dig a hole and trade for everything you might need on that planet, completely sidestepping the exploration elements. The quest system still forces you to go into the world, but then you have the issue of the quests themselves getting tedious when they're basically just the same quests over and over, but on different planets.
Still, there is a lot in Astroneer to like and if you're just looking for a chill resource-gathering, base-building, space-exploration game then consider giving this game a go!

played this game with my father, it was great bonding. I really recomend playing with someone you like being with.

i turned this game into a factory game, all these wonderful colorful planets to explore, not anymore. bare wastelands of industry 10/10

It's a really cool game that I'd recommend to anyone who likes space exploration and survival games.
Though there are a few parts late game that can be annoying and make you less motivated to keep playing but overall it's one of the best games I've ever played!
PS: It is NOT worth 30£. Wait til it's on sale if you plan on buying the game.

I started this game thinking it was a cute little exploration-focused survival-crafting space game.

The longer I played, the more amazed I was. The heart that was put into this is not something I can properly describe. As I made my bases across every planet and felt satisfied by my resource collection, I was able to get sweet moments with funny little slug creatures, I was able to theorize about the strange monuments across the solar system, and I was able to form a deep emotional connection with this game and the way it tells stories. It's just so charming and delightful, it's calming for most of the game and it's chaotic and funny when it needs to be. It really made me want to complete everything.

Even with the missions done, I feel like there's so much left to do - and also, I'd be okay to put it away. For now. It's fun. It's mysterious. It's bittersweet. And I'm afraid that I'm going to lose some of that feeling if I keep going. I probably will play some more anyway, though. My galastropods need me!

RIP Paul Pepera, the co-founder of System Era. He would be so proud of this game.

I've spent about 60 hours playing No Man's Sky on the Nintendo Switch, and I absolutely loved it! Astroneer feels like a "No Man's Sky Lite." My biggest gripe with the game is its lack of guidance. It doesn’t teach you how to interact with its systems, and that’s a problem. The game desperately needs a more detailed tutorial instead of the barebones one it currently offers.
I understand that Astroneer has come a long way compared to its early versions, but that’s irrelevant to me as a player today. Even with my extensive experience in this genre, I would have been completely lost without my friend, who patiently acts as my sensei, walking me through all the mechanics. And honestly, that's the saving grace for me. Playing with a friend is incredibly fun and engaging, and I genuinely enjoy the time I spend exploring and learning the game with his help.
Despite its flaws, I’m giving it a thumbs up, but only because the multiplayer experience makes it worth it. If you’ve got a friend who’s willing to guide you, this game can be a blast! :)