New space-based colony sim launches on Steam with launch discount in tow

Space colony builders usually go one of two ways. You either get the "choose your own tragedy" style of RimWorld or the more streamlined management-style gameplay of something like Surviving Mars. But there’s a specific group of fans of this genre who actually want the math to be hard. Solargene is game that gives you that. After a long four years in early access, solo dev Alexander Semenov officially pushed the 1.0 version on January 20, 2026. It’s a massive project that asks players to stop worrying about just one planet and start thinking about how to industrialize the entire solar system.

The biggest selling point of this game looks to be its realism. You aren't just clicking a button to send a ship; you're actually calculating real transfer orbits. If you don't account for mass, fuel, and engine specs, your mission isn't going anywhere. You’re essentially running a private space corp where every station on the Moon or mining rig on an asteroid is some sort of a puzzle. You’ve also got to keep your staff alive, and they aren't just generic drones - they have their own traits and skills that evolve. There is radiation, solar flares, and massive temperature swings, and Solargene looks like a simulation that actually feels like the vacuum of space is trying to kill you.

The game currently shows an 80% positive rating across roughly 690 reviews, but the vast majority of those were written during the early years of development. Since the 1.0 launch, the "Recent Reviews" have dipped to a 71% "Mostly Positive" based on just 21 new entries. Going through new reviews, its easy to say that while long-time fans are happy to see it finished, newer players are still running into that classic solo-dev friction: a UI that looks like an engineering spreadsheet and a learning curve that can feel very unforgiving.

The game is surprisingly light as well. It runs on Unreal Engine and will basically run on any basic system. You only need 4 GB of RAM to get started. It’s technically "Playable" on the Steam Deck, but fair warning: the text is small and you'll be fighting with the on-screen keyboard a fair bit. SteamDB shows the 1.0 launch brought in a peak of 244 players. If you want to jump in, it’s currently on sale for $29.74 (down from $34.99) until the 15% launch discount wears off.