Why is KSP so fun?

[Kerbas_ad_astra]

KSP is lots of fun for the same reason that LEGOs are: there are suggestions on the box, and guides in the instruction manual, but I'm given the tools to create anything at all that I want to. (Being a fan of science fiction and actual aerospace engineering has given me a lot of ideas -- check out the Integrated Space Plan in my signature.) I once saw a LEGO ad in a magazine that claimed that their toys would be "the only toys they [children] will play with after December 26th," which is true in my experience, and it's true of KSP as well -- Steam tells me that I've played four KSP for four times as many hours as every other (Steam) game I've ever bought put together.

[match]

"Hello Expectations, my name is Intentions, I hope we can get along fairly well."

After that, it was a match made in heaven.

[helaeon]

For me...

I'm a science & tech person. This is game lets me take what I know about physics, design, engineering, etc, and says "now go be awesome and make amazing things". I can build anything I want and do anything I want. There is nobody trying to stop me or telling me the priorities aren't right or the funding isn't there. In KSP you make it happen! If I decide its time that the Kerbals have a base on the Mun then they get a base on the Mun. It encourages me to learn more to increase my powers in game... but it also does so in the real world because you're not learning only game systems often times. You're learning things about programming at the least, analogues for actual physics often.

But this also translates into the real world too. I think I think better, I'm more willing to do what I want and build things just because I can, and be confident that I can. Any problems I can solve with time, creativity, and research.

I stepped up and learned some C# just to make something happen in KSP that I wanted. I didn't rely on someone else (oh I received lots of help that was critical), but still I just did it.

And the Kerbals gleefully go on adventures with me which makes it all the better to see their beaming faces on EVA. The game really wouldn't be the same without them.

With what we've seen so far that we're getting for 1.0 I'm so excited to put an even more silly amount of time into this game. I think only Star Citizen may have the ability to peel me away... and probably not totally.

[Alchemist]

It surely appeals to the crazy scientist/engineer/inventor in me. It's probably the feeling when I finally make something that really works (and something that I can fly comfortably - I'm not very good a flight simulators, but here I can compensate skill/reactions with engineering).

[eddiew]

It's the nature of a sandbox game to be as fulfilling as the player is imaginative. Minecraft has a similar draw for a lot of people, I think, both games giving players a chance to unleash some creativity and problem solving. The more creative you are, the more you are able to set your own goals and purpose, the more you enjoy a logic puzzle; the more you find in KSP to tempt you

That, and I grew up in the 80s, with the echoes of Apollo still ringing. All I wanted to be was an astronaut... I guess I'm just enjoying a Peter Pan moment

*edit* Also, recoverable failure! KSP makes it (sometimes) OK to mess up. Oftentimes you end up with a crew that's alive but stranded, and you end up mounting rescue missions to get them back - which can easily be more challenging, interesting, and 'fun' than the original mission was. Finding innovative ways to recover from failures is something that never happens in scripted games.

Edited March 3, 2015 by eddiew

[KerbMav]

Simple, most freedom to play since Lego.

[Xannari Ferrows]

Games exist to satisfy 3 core needs in our lives. The games themselves aren't truly required, but are a "quick fix", so to speak.

Kerbal space targets 2 of those needs: Autonomy, and competence.

Autonomy is just that; You feel free to make your own choices, and those choices affect you down the line. There is no one path to take. You are in control of the space center.

Competence is the feeling of progression: When you start, things are basic, but you learn over time how to play, and eventually see growth in yourself. Going to the furthest reaches of the Kerbin system, then eventually interplanetary. Satisfaction comes from you feeling smarter and seeing yourself able to handle increasingly difficult tasks.

Autonomous players are the ones who build the craziest rockets, and mostly play in sandbox mode.

Competent players are the ones who build straightforward rockets, only seeking to get somewhere to do something new. Generally career players.

[FlyingPete]

Exactly the same reasons Lego is fun