3... 2... 1... Aw shi-

If your parents have ruined your life by pumping your head full of overt positive reinforcement of all the great things you will accomplish in life, and have a shrine of your Academic Team, Little League and Girl Scout trophies and awards, and you live in the shadow of their crafted image of potential you know you will never fulfill, then KSP is for you.

You will spend hours engineering great and mighty rockets, planning to launch humble little Kerbals (in game human analogs, because kerploding simulated HUMANS isn't politically correct in gaming unless it's portrayed in war, murder mysteries, alien invasions, war, zombie horror, war, armed rebellion stories, humorous ciminal empire sandboxes, war, over the top armed racing games, war, Valve circlejerk physics engine display pieces, war, or the kitchen sink) into space...

Wait. What was I saying? Oh, right, you slap random aeronautic components with names longer than a West Coast Rapper's discography (what did you think I was going to say?) and plot a course for the very stars themselves! And then promptly cry tears of relief that your parent's were always wrong about you, and you actually CAN'T do anything right, all along - when you realize you forgot to put adequate battery banks on board, so now your little astronauts are floating through the hostile void forevermore, committed to the lonely depths of space, never to set foot on green Kerbin again. THIS. IS. YOUR. FAULT.

Just kidding.

They kerploded on the launch pad like your freshman fall semester career plans when you realized "Intro to College Biology" was the EASIEST class your degree required. But it doesn't matter, because trial and error in this game is so much fun, you'll completely forget about your dead end job and/or unemployment!

But getting to the meat and potatoes of the game, you have about 15-20 celestial bodies to explore, and all the components you need to get there, not to mention very easy to add mods to fill in any gaps in equipment. Each body, moons, planets, even the local star can be explored and your engineering options are endless.

One can make: crappy unmaned probes, crappy unmanned rovers, crappy space stations, crappy single stage to orbit launch vehicles, crappy shuttles, crappy rockets, crappy planetary bases, crappy space boats, for the odd moon with liquid surfaces. The possibilities are as countless as the stars, in that, the number could probably be calculated, but if you spent time doing it, no woman will ever touch your pe-

Moving on. KSP is hours of fun, offering both structured career mode, and stupid anarchist sandbox mode for rebellious teens that hate rules. The game is still in development as of this review, and thus new content is constantly being added, not that there is any lack of stuff to do - KSP is massively replayable and tremendously enjoyable.

Final score: 293/299 superfluous boosters.

Protip: This game currently constitutes the entirety of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea's space program, despite the state's lack of hardware capabe of running it, even with its undemanding specs.

I was able to learn and actually understand far more about orbital mechanics by playing this game obsessively for 2 weeks than doing an astrophysics course for a year at university.

This was originally a neat little rocket building and exploding simulator that attracted a couple of hours' worth amusement before being returned to the "may play again later" shelf. After many updates, it has grown into an immensely satisfying personal sandbox space programme simulator.

The first time I landed a Kerbal safely on the Mun was a historic moment, and very emotional... until moments later when I wondered how Jebediah would possibly get back. Swiftly, a rescue mission was devised. Hours were spent meticulously over-engineering an overly capable craft, until I realised I felt quite hungry. I couldn't decide what to eat, when I noticed the name of the planet Mars equivalent. Seeing it as almost divine inspiration, I went out and got a Duna kebab. Very satisfied with the food the game chose for me, I spent the next few hours trying to fly the monstrosity that could only barely be called a "return vehicle" without: 1) exploding on launch. 2) tipping over and exploding whilst landing. After many reverts and quickloads, it was finally successful. A celebratory viewing of Apollo 13 ensued, followed with feverish design work on the next, more ambitious project. And then it was 6am.

The game is far too addictive.

I now wish I had studied aero engineering instead.

There is a full solar system to obtain science on explore, with lots of ways to do it. Contraptions which can only be described as "adorably ridiculous" yet surprisingly effective may be constructed to your heart's content. As with many other sandbox games, you provide your own amusement - set yourself ridiculous tasks and restrictions, be efficient or over-engineer the ♥♥♥♥ out of everything such that the Littoral Combat Ship looks like a very sound and practical design.

With or without mods (of which there are many), you can build almost anything from planes and land vehicles to giant flying space horses and bananas.

Official multiplayer support in the future was announced a while ago, and there is currently a multiplayer mod that allows you to build space stations or conduct joint missions with friends and partner agencies.

It is still currently in development, with more and more features being added with each major update. Even in its current state, I would be more than happy to pay double its current full price based on how much enjoyment I have gotten out of it.

TL;DR: Spectacular failures, decided what I should have to eat one day and now I regret my key life decisions. Would buy again.

6 Banned words in the NASA : "It worked in Kerbal Space Program."

Imagine the most intricate, accurate to life space vehicle simulator you can. Dozens of toggle switches, displays ranging from the strange and esoteric to the vague and incomprehensible, buttons flashing angrily at you and daring you to press them. The screen shakes and aside from the roar of liftoff, the only thing you can hear is your own labored breathing and the pulse in your ears. Do you have this picture in your head? Good.

Because KSP is nothing like that. Take parts, attach parts, launch parts, land parts, detonate parts, survive falling parts. KSP is learning through failure. Unless you go on Youtube and look up the Scott Manley videos, you are going to fail. You gonna fail bad. But it's okay. Failure is only data by another name. Bit by bit, you'll learn how to do things right. You'll realize that putting the engines under the tanks is probably a good idea. Putting the crew capsule in a place not likely to be burned or detonated is also probably a good idea. Parachutes seem like a logical choice, but what the heck, right? Maybe you just need a five hundred meter long crumple zone. Nobody's gonna stop you. That's the great thing, isn't it? You can put anything at all you want on the launchpad, and nobody knows well enough to try to stop you. The Kerbish OSHA rep is permanently locked into the bathroom. He's not gettin' out of there. We welded the window shut, locked the door, and put model airplane glue in the keyhole. Cell phone reception in there is sketchy. You're safe. So go nuts.

There's places you can go. Land at the poles, the sea, the mountains, or all three at once with a creatively timed spray of shrapnel. There's other worlds. A big burning thing with no surface that'll tan you for free if you check it out. It'll tan you to the bone. So that's a bonus. There's other worlds. Red world. Purple world. Green world with little worlds around it. Hidden stuff everywhere. All of these places are fit to seed with refuse. Landers, rovers, living quarters, stations, battleships, pasteboard furniture, lawnmowers, spaceplanes, robots, scooters, springboards, et cetera. KSP is a litterer's dream. There's so many places you can leave stuff you have no hope of bringing home. And it's worth doing it just to see that stuff sitting there.

But I've got to warn you. You've reached TL;DR level four, so here's a bonus. This game has very unexpected side effects. You will learn things. Hoffman transfer. Periapsis. Apoapsis. How orbit actually works. Why orbit is halfway to anywhere. Launch windows. Free transfer windows. Free returns. If you make the horrifying inadvertent mistake of buying this game for yourself or your child, somebody's gonna learn things. It's unavoidable. Real things, even. Newton's spectre haunts this game. You will find no escape, and he fears no earthly garlic.

Lemmie wrap this up for the TL;DR folks who check the bottom summary. Just get KSP already. You aren't really learning anything from my review you probably didn't know already. Let's be honest with each other, here. Ok? You don't want to learn whether or not this game is worth buying. You're looking for someone to make the excuse for you. You're already gonna get it, you just want someone to possibly take the fall for you if you catch heat for doing it. And to you, good sirs and madams, I say; Yes. Yes, I'll take the blame. "That fat idiot Whackjob from KSP told me to get the game, or he said he'd cut me." They'll believe you. You're good. So do it. Hit that buy button.

Thank me later.

~Whackjob of KSP

Some say the main character isn't afraid of anything, except small insects. And that he once made it to the Mun with his eyes closed. All we know is: he's not the stig, but he is Jebediah Kerman!

This game has exerything you want in a "space race" game. You have explosions, the ability to build the best spacecraft you can comprehend; and best of all, you have raw power.

You may first get it and think, "what was I thinking when I got this, it's more difficult than becoming friends with Piers Morgan!" With that, you would be correct, but what you need... is to practice with many many crafts to get the right ideas.

The controls are like some kind of madness that would drive you away, but it's very easy to understand after you play for a bit.

All in all, I must say: this is one of the best games... in the world, and even out of it. If you wanted to pick this up for a mere 27 dollars (17 Quid), you would have to be mentaly insane to not get it.

And on that bombshell, back to the studio.

Kerbal Space Program is great fun.
If you love space and explosions, this one comes highly recommended.

A lot of potential players express concern at the complexity of the game, but they needn't worry if they're really interested in playing. KSP is a game first, and a simulation second. You don't have to be Scott Manley, or even average, at the game in order to have fun. Just build stuff and fly it about! You'll learn the nuances of spaceflight as you go. Not to mention if flight and orbital mechanics elude you, there are mods such as MechJeb that assist you with flying your ship and going from one planet to another, or perform the maneuvers FOR you, that way you can focus on building and watching things go boom. The more recent addition of "Career" mode takes the new player experience even further, serving as a guided, but still sandboxy, introduction to all aspects of the gameplay.

Reasons to buy KSP:

• You like space.
  
• You like explosions.
  
• You like sandbox games.
  
• You have a soul.

Reasons not to buy KSP:

• You mistakenly think space isn't awesome.
  
• Explosions scare you.
  
• You're afraid you'll get sand in your eyes.
  
• You have no soul.

-Build $400,000,000 ICBM
-Launch
-Lands on Kerbal
-Survives
-Missile in ruins all over KSC
-best use of taxpayer's dollars since ebola

Its like NASA but less NASA and more explosions

Half flight simulator, half sandbox game and half space exploration; it makes 1,5 and this game counts more than just 1.
My best money spend so far.
You can explore from purple to green planets, from exploding on launchpad to crashing into sun, for making rockets like nasa, well, flights are less like nasa, your rockets will be more like ''manned cruise missiles''.
There's not a single thing that you can cannot explore. I learned a lot about orbits and physics, you'll realy feel like a real space engineer (or an idiot) after playing this game.
It is simulator, but not boring simulator like other simulators, it is very exciting in every mission you launch is unique (except routine flights to spacebases).
10/10, would buy again if had enough money

Sent a guy into space and lost him
Sent a recon guy to retrive the lost guy...lost him in the process
Sent another recon squad to save the other two guys (they drifted to the sun over a period of 2 days, lost them)
Sent a one more guy to get the other two, before he could get there the others fell back to Earth and died.
No one made it back

10/10

I finally found the hidden Restaurant at the Mun- Sadly there was no Atmosphere at all.

At this point I have dumped 445 hours into this game, and I don't regret a single minute of it. I absolutely love this game even though I can still be considered bad at it. But that is exactly why this game is fun. No matter how good you get someone else will show you something simple and it will just massively expand gameplay options for you. I would recommend this game to anyone that has any interest in space travel. As far as I'm concerned this game does it the best.

This is quickly becoming one of my favourite games of all time. There's a steep learning curve, but your reward for persistence is hours and hours of non-stop fun.

The developers constantly update the game with new parts, better campaign mode, and eventually new worlds to explore.

This is the best $25 youll ever spend.

It's pretty good.

Best game on steam. It killed off my social life. 10/10

Do you have autism for space?
Sure, we all do.
Buy this game today. Why are you even thinking about it? You have already logged 600 hours pirated. Go. Go.

Can't even get a successful ship into orbit...

10/10.

When i was a child i dreamt of being a NASA engineer. Turns out i slacked off too much at school. Ah well. But i always had an interest in space, and particularly exploring it.
This game gave me a sandbox to play in where i could design spacecraft and send little green men up into space above the blue earth... erm, i mean Kerbin.
You know its always the little green men trying to visit earth in the movies. In this they cant get away quick enough.

You know this game has something for everyone. Even if you do not have any real inclination to do anything so involved as perfect orbits, or landing perfectly on the moon (Mun) or whatever this game still gives you the chance to make crazy rockets that you can set off and see how far they get before it, and its possible inhabitants die a horrible, horrible death.
And for those, like me who have a more involved interest in the subject matter, there is plenty that will satisfy you.

Think you can do it better than NASA? Give it a go.
For the price, you get a lot of play hours, and even some replayability.
Check out the mods, also.

A very small price to pay for a lifetime of entertainment.

>Built a large space station that took 12 hours to make.
>Add engines.
>Attempt to go to Duna in it.
>Station falls apart and causes Kessler effect.
>Kerbal breathes heavily.
>Lands safe in tiny command pod.
>Debris tracker is full.

2/10 will build a second station.