My first blog was about my travels through Eve Online. The corporation, as clans are called there, wanted a diary from its recruits. What did you experience, what did you learn? And why should I only publish that in a forum? So, my first real blog was born, and as you can see, I’m still blogging today, though no longer about Eve Online.

Why am I telling you this? I love science fiction and, logically, Sci-Fi games, especially spaceship games. Freelancer is one of the games that has stuck in my memory to this day and still has no worthy successor. The only serious attempt I’ve come across is Darkstar One. Unfortunately, you’re limited to one ship there, the mechanics are rather simple, the universe is restricted and repetitive, and the story is shallow and cheesy. I still had fun for one playthrough, though—after all, you’re sitting in a spaceship.

There are no other games quite like Freelancer, but there are other spaceship games. Star Citizen, with its $750 million USD, is surely the best-funded, but also the least developed game. I once participated in a Free-Flight event and couldn’t even find my way to my spaceship. My time was limited, though. Another space game with a turbulent development is No Man’s Sky. Hyped up at its announcement, it was neither technically polished nor did it have any real content at release. Over the years, however, the developer has significantly reworked the game, so that it is now both polished and packed with content. But it reminds me too much of survival games, which I’ve never been able to get into. The flying also doesn’t feel right to me. At least, I don’t think it does.

And the last major contender? Elite: Dangerous from Frontier, a studio that specializes in simulations. The game was released back in 2014 as a successor to the Elite series from the last millennium and has been continuously developed ever since. In 2021, the ability to leave your spaceship was added. In contrast, support for MacOS and the consoles from Microsoft and Sony was discontinued over the years. The game is currently only playable on PC and the Steam Deck. There, however, the game is still being steadily developed.

Why am I writing all this? Simple: Although I bought Elite: Dangerous in a sale a year or two ago, I had only played it briefly and was a bit overwhelmed by the beginning. Last week, on a whim, I installed the game again and took a bit more time with it. After deleting my old save file, I dove into the tutorial. It’s very basic and only explains how to pilot your ship and how to fight. And even then, only the absolute fundamentals. After that, you’re just thrown into space with a starter ship. Welcome to Elite: Dangerous.

And yet, I’ve been playing the game ever since and am having a surprising amount of fun. I farmed some money, bought a new ship outfitted for exploration, and have been cruising through space for several hours, mapping systems. It doesn’t sound very exciting, and it isn’t really. But I’m having a damn good time doing it. I think you’ll be reading more about Elite: Dangerous here in the future.