Kerbal Space Program

Loading

Loading

In its Career and Science modes, Kerbal Space Program creates an incredible sense of accomplishment with each successful feat of rocketry. Through hours of trial and error, I finally came to a design and flight technique that did what I wanted it to, and it was fantastically satisfying because each accomplishment is just a step toward bigger and better things. Every success (such as reaching a new record altitude) is really just a place to start over, only with better stuff. It's a lovely feedback loop that I can't get enough of.I spent the majority of my time in Career mode. All the challenges that come with actually blasting an object into space come into play. Balancing funding, scientific progression, and reputation forced me to put thought into each launch, and the limited selection of spaceship parts made me think hard about how I could get the most from each rocket engine, fuel supply, or science module. Going higher requires more thrust, which requires bigger engines. Bigger engines require more fuel, which make the ship heavier. A heavier ship needs more thrust to go higher, which requires more engines. And so on. Striking the perfect balance between thrust, weight, and fuel with only the parts and funds unlocked in Career mode made me feel like a brilliant rocket scientist.I enjoyed Science mode less. It retains the tech tree progression of Career mode, but removes other restrictions so the stakes aren't as high. Without the goals of Career mode, I'd rather be playing Sandbox, where everything is unlocked and my imagination is the only limit. When I'd get to a point in Career where I was having trouble progressing and started to get frustrated, I'd switch to Sandbox and build to my heart's content.Sandbox allows for truly ridiculous designs - the sort of insane, utterly impractical rockets I built just to see how far I could push Kerbal’s physics. Leaving the symmetry option turned up to its highest setting, I quickly built an excessively powerful pinwheeling rocket. I didn't design it for science, or for speed, or to see how far I could make it fly; I built the thing just because I could. When I took it to the launch pad and set it off and it didn't immediately explode, there was a brief second, just before the whole thing failed violently, where I thought "Hey, maybe I'm onto something here." It was a glorious second.But even when things went wrong, Kerbal makes getting it right easy. If you don't like the way a launch went, you can just revert back to the launchpad with no penalty. If my design was clearly a failure, I could revert right back to construction. Quick and fun experimentation is the name of the game.Getting off the ground is only the first small step for Kerbal kind. After finally landing on a design that got me into space, turning a vertical trajectory into an orbital one presented new challenges. Once I mastered orbit, I set my sites to the moon. The tutorials were a big help in explaining orbital mechanics, which are all very science-y and absolutely need to be understood if you're going to make it to any of the numerous celestial bodies in the Kerbal solar system. This is where the challenge, and experimentation, become almost limitless.I almost felt bad blowing up so many brave little Kerbals in my pursuit of the stars. With their self-assured mannerisms, they work so well to lighten the mood while learning rocket science. Kerbal Space Program doesn't have any voice acting, other than the occasional nasally whine of approval from one of the Kerbals, but the flavor text in the game is smart, wry, and funny.