Space Engineers

If you take a look at my hours, it will probably tell you everything you need to know. (I require the grass.)
The game is good, what else can I say, its an open sandbox with a pretty stellar building system, fantastic physics and a survival gameplay loop that is pretty easy to get caught up in. This is a game where you need to build things to build other things, there are ways do things on the quick and nasty, but "engineering" your way around things and making them look 'pretty' is a very fun loop.
The developers are some of the very few I will buy DLC just to support them, but even then the DLC is pretty decent, for the most part, some are certainly better then others, however the best part is aside from the cosmetics, the DLC isn't even required to experience everything this game has to offer, with every "update" being launched as a free gameplay update, along side an accompanying cosmetic DLC, this model I can very much approve of, and am happy to take part of.
Another example of how decent the devs are is the console release... did they dumb down the gameplay? did they consol-i-fy the ui? did they cater solely to the console release, only release DLC relevant to console and forget about their PC players?... no.. NO.. and NO!
They are very good example of a company that actually likes their product, and has something of a soul.
Can highly recommend this game to creatives who want to engineers themselves around problems, and to people who just want to smash huge ships together, can do both here.

Space Engineers is less a game and more a digital canvas for your inner astronaut and engineer. It throws you into the unforgiving expanse of space and hands you the tools to conquer it. Build anything from humble mining shuttles to colossal battleships, sprawling space stations, and even planetary outposts. I truly love this game and, while the unbounded freedom it provides is awesome, the lack of any real opponent in the sandbox diminishes the sense of achievement.
Where it shines:
Limitless Creativity Unleashed: Forget pre-fabricated ships. Space Engineers' voxel-based building system lets you manipulate blocks with incredible precision. Hollow out asteroids to create hidden bases, assemble intricate contraptions with rotors and pistons, or design the sleek starfighter of your dreams. The only limit is your imagination (and maybe your computer's processing power).
Newtonian Physics in Action: This isn't some arcade space shooter. Space Engineers takes physics seriously. Every thrust, collision, and rotation adheres to realistic principles. Meaning? Improperly balanced ships will tumble end over end, and a poorly placed thruster can send your creation spiraling into the void. This adds a layer of depth and challenge, forcing you to truly understand the principles of engineering.
A Galaxy of Gameplay: While the game offers scenarios, they are fairly staid and trivial. True freedom lies in defining your own objectives and with those created by the community.
Which brings us onto modding mania: The Space Engineers community is a powerhouse of creativity, churning out a constant stream of mods. These add everything from new blocks and tools to entirely new gameplay mechanics, weapons, and even planets. Want to build a Star Wars X-Wing? Pilot a Battlestar Galactica? There's probably a mod for that.
Where it falls flat:
Complexity Can Be Daunting: Prepare for a steep learning curve. Space Engineers doesn't hold your hand. Grasping the intricacies of shipbuilding, resource management, and the game's various systems takes time and effort. Newcomers may feel overwhelmed by the sheer depth and lack of clear direction.
The lack of any serious challenge in the universe, the lack of any real story or hostile NPC's tarnishes the challenge and achievements you make. While mods provide NPC encounters and provide you with an opponent, there's no foundational mechanics in place which make this meaningful.

DISCLAIMER ABOUT MY RECOMMENDATION
Let me put it in a TLDR. IF you have patience and are willing to excuse an old game, buy this game. Otherwise, don't waste your money on this or SE2... yet.
Keen Software House is... a bit of a mess, I can't deny it. I wish I could give star ratings instead of yes or no for this game.
Is it fun to mess with ships, to make bases and explore opportunities with new blocks or mods.
But don't expect Keen to stand up and develop anything more than a cashgrab DLC. Bugfixes? Forget those. There's been an airlock bug in the game for so many years it's insane. Bases and ships randomly depressurizing, doors stopping, ships kersploding because you blinked twice. It's a delicate balancing act where mods become the saving grace of the engine when you start to build even slightly above average caveman levels of contraptions.
Simply put if you build a space cube you might only get one bug, mileage will vary if you decide to have fun with your creations in a pure vanilla instance.
Instead of fixing these bugs Keen decides to tell people they can't recreate the bug and close the ticket. They then pay a monkey to scour the mods section for this week's popular idea, turn it into a paid DLC, and sit back. Except this time they're doing it in the sequel at the same time, with awesome beta features such as the reintroduction of windows... yeah, it's disappointing.
I bought SE ages ago, I still love messing around in a controlled environment and I'm generally good at managing the bugs. But it's still frustrating some days to shake my fist in the air at Keen and ask them why they can't just get their heads around quality, not content. It's upsetting to love a game that hates you back.

The Dark Souls of Minecraft. This is the most complex, in-depth, and mentally taxing game I have ever played; and I cannot recommend it more. A (very) basic understanding of chemistry, physics, and mechanical principals is recommended, although you will likely learn them simply by playing the game anyway. As a warning (and enticement), do NOT expect to buy this game for an occasional play. This game can and WILL consume hundreds of hours of your life, and you will be learning and improving the entire time. This game is a full time job, and you will enjoy each and every air-resistance forsaken second of it. Expect to spend hours organizing various systems, debugging your protocols, rebuilding your machines, and trying to figure out why in the name of everything holy your ship just isn't working. The fact is that this game isn't too hard, it is too good for you, it is too good for all of us.
In all seriousness, Space Engineers is the ultimate in sci-fi creative expression. I am being dead serious when I say that if you can think of it, you can build it. Anything. It won't be easy, but you CAN build it. If you love the freedom and creativity of Minecraft, the aesthetics of The Expanse, and the mind-bending complexity of Dwarf Fortress, this game is for you.
A powerful PC is recommended, although my Xbox One from 2012 can run vanilla without too much trouble. Expect to download mods.
11/10, Highly recommend. All hail Klang.

It's complicated in the beginning, but REALLY fun, when you get the hang of it!
A very often used comparison is 'minecraft in space'. Well, OK, but not really...
You play your survival game mostly by building blocks, yes, but the planet you can (but don't have to) start on is actually round and can be flown around.
But what else makes it different from minecraft is, that there's a physics simulation and the stuff you're building could very well be a space station with the ability to move around.
Just because you build something, doesn't mean, that it'll be static forever.
There are moving parts available (pistons, rotors and hinges) to make your builds even morge interesting.
If you're interested, take a look at the possibilities via youtube.
The channels 'Splitsie', 'Zer0's Legion', 'JackRPG', 'Captain Jack', 'AndrewmanGaming', 'Lunar Kolony', 'LastStandGamers', 'Major Jon', 'Kelevra Engineering' and 'BlackArmor' help to get a understanding of the possibilities.
Go take a look and have fun!

Probably the best game I've ever played. There's not much you can't do in this. The hardest part is finding other people who love it.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☑ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☑ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☑ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☑ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☑ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☑ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☑ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10