Sometimes you just want to build stuff. The “building factories in space” genre has no shortage of great games, but Space Engineers still stands out. It’s a sprawling sandbox in the spirit of Factorio, Rimworld, and Astroneer. Though the game just got a sequel in January 2025, developers Keen Software House just put out a major update to the original title which overhauls faction interactions, improves planetside adventures, and adds oodles of quality-of-life features.
The biggest changes in the Fieldwork update are to cargo ship encounters. Every time you generate a new world, Space Engineers will create a random set of factions, including pirates, merchants, miners, and builders. Depending on your reputation with a faction, their ships can call reinforcements, summon drones, or attack you on sight. Each faction has its own set of tools and tactical behaviors. Ships of a specific faction bear that faction’s colors, so you can identify groups on sight. The addition of more complex faction behavior brings Space Engineers closer to some of the best space games.
Other special encounters like Unknown Signals (dangerous locations in space where you can get loot) and planetary encounters have also been overhauled. Planetary encounters should occur more frequently. Strong Unknown Signals are broadcast to every player on a server and contain especially good loot. You can compete or cooperate with fellow players to get the most out of them. Associated with the update is the cosmetic Fieldwork Pack, which is priced at $4.99. Space Engineers is also running the Great Skin Hunt event through May 30, which increases the drop rate for all rare skins.
The Fieldwork Update for Space Engineers is available now. If you don’t have the game already you can buy it on Steam for $19.99.
If you are looking for more games to test your engineering prowess, you can check out our list of the best building games. If you want to best more sprawling worlds, you can try the best sandbox games.
You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We’ve also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.
