What makes this game so good?

[Tw1]

-snip-

Rareden, that's got to be your best one yet!

(except perhaps he needs upper eyelid shadows.)

Awesome job.

[Spyritdragon]

Rocket science!

[Xeldrak]

Well, I think because you can be truly creative in KSP. It's more than:

Would you like your rocket to be manned? Y/N

Would like a big or a small rocket? b/s

Would you like to have a rover on board? Y/N

Would you like to aspargus? Y/N

There you go - your very own custom rocket!

Wich is how most games work nowadays...

[NeoMorph]

I think it's because what you get out of the game is the square of what you put in... It's THAT rewarding.

Most games it's follow a line through the game and then ENDING.... restart?

KSP is launch, blow up.... ENDING err... Rebuild and try again. and again, and again.

I routinely get sidetracked when playing KSP. I'm trying to build a decent hardware interface (wait until you see me landing attitude and radar indicator - really pleased with it so far) but when I get into testing I keep playing the game rather than focussing on the darned test code lol.

I found four hours had gone by the other other week when I had only started the game to check if I had zero'd the axis on the instrument correctly. It should have been "in... test zero... correct... finish" and all done in about 10 minutes or less. When I noticed that four hours had passed I realised I needed a break from KSP... I was getting addicted lol.

[Tw1]

when I get into testing I keep playing the game rather than focussing on the darned test code lol.

I have wondered if this happens to the game developers themselves...

[Comrade Jenkens]

For me its:

Sandbox: the player is free to do what they want at any time.

You can build stuff that actually uses physics: This is the only game where the player is given this much freedom to create their own things.

Physics: It sticks roughly to real world physics so spaceships don't fly like aircraft.

[Brabbit1987]

A very simple and short answer is because it is fun.

It could also be the BiLiFiOiRiLiorCi effect. Which would suggest, it's fun because you can build it, launch it, fly it, orbit it, return it, leave it, or crash it. XD

[manskal]

Why, you ask?

SPACE!EXPLORATION!ROCKETS!PHYSICS!JEB!

I think that pretty much sums up KSP for me.

[Amoun]

Because:

1) you are free to dream, invent, design, plan and USE YOUR BRAIN

2) it is not overstimulating (flashing lights, fast paced, noise, noise, noise) like most games nowadays

3) Zombie killing is so out

4) The developers are clever

5) its constructive

6) it relates to real world stuff with a real history and common challenges

7) you USE YOUR BRAIN!

8) Sandboxes are IN

9) Achieving your goals gives you a better sense of accomplishment than slaying the dragon, rescuing the princess, or killing the mob boss.

10) YOU USE YOUR BRAIN!

I completely agree.

Most games I was on were "meh" where I was in love with MassEffect mainly due to the story and explorations that you could do....but KSP....thats a whole different world.

So much logic so involved, and its your creation...you get to alter it, fix it, improve it, get frustrated and scrap it....but eventually it works...and when it works... <3

It is a FUN sandbox mode that doesn't get boring or easy to master. Plus you have all this amazing content from players that just open up sooo many new possibilities and stimulates your imagination....

Love this game.

[Ace_Of_Spades]

One word: Jebidiah

[DocLangy]

One word: Jebidiah

Agreed, spreading the gospel according to Jeb

[Evrion]

I think the game works for it's learning curve.

Not that it's steep, or shallow, but LONG

I love the part of games where you are figuring out how things work. In most games, that's done in the tutorial. In this game, that IS the game!

[Nikolai]

The mark of a great computer game, it seems to me, has always been whether or not you're prompted to think about it when you're not in front of the computer.

KSP has buckets of that.

But it also has a bunch of things that I want in the universe of my game's development. No DRM. A community of thoughtful, intelligent, humorous, helpful, considerate people. Developers who talk to -- and listen to! -- their customers. Regular postings of plans and how they're coming along. Periodic surprises that leave me amazed and stunned.

It helps me communicate to other people why I find spaceflight so fascinating -- even people who've never thought twice about spaceflight -- and that's invaluable. (Anything that helps people communicate their passions deserves an enormous amount of credit.)

There's probably lots more, but it's amazing to find all this in one place as it is.

[nyrath]

The rocket science aspect makes it quite difficult to design spacecraft for your desired missions. But the explody animations make failure almost as fun as success.

The explody part keeps you entertained while you persevere in doing the hard part. And when you finally do succeed, you are rewarded with an enormous sense of accomplishment. And rightly so.

This all combines to make a game that is more addicting than crack.

[johnnyhandsome]

For me, it was the easter egg on Laythe that releases a secret beta version of resources. It's a little buggy, but still aweseome!

[DocLangy]

For me, it was the easter egg on Laythe that releases a secret beta version of resources. It's a little buggy, but still aweseome!

Can you please expand on that? The wiki doesn't list an Easter eggs on Laythe.

[Rainbowtrout]

Because there is no other game that lets you send oversized rockets to the edge of a Solar System, doesn't penalize you for crashing (much), Has awesome devs, an awesome community...

5 HOURS LATER...

A constantly smiling alien, a Magic Boulder...

I can go on and on.

[Necandi Brasil]

I was looking for games to train my imagination, creativity and my capability to solve problems ( All a must need in an Engineer life... )

This games offers all the above + FUN!

[The Jedi Master]

Imagine a world where YOU--yes, YOU--are the director of a space program. All you have are a bunch of rocket parts, a bunch of astronauts, no budget limits and your wits. You have no goals, other than to have fun. Land on the moon, or another planet. Build a space station, or even an interplanetary base. Take on the challenge of building and flying an SSTO, or just do stunts in a rover. Not happy with the parts you are initially given? No problem, make your own.

In this world, you are the designer, builder, test pilot and astronaut all in one. You are almost a god, set free in your domain.

This is it.

This is Kerbal Space Program.

[roosterr]

also because of the creativity possible,

and you cant beat exploring a sol system with a craft youve thrown together through many attempts of trial and error then finally getting it and feeling so good.

awesome!!!!!

[Lazro]

"Mercury 6 is GO! The rocket has lift-oh-OH MY G-KABLOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!..."

"...well, let's get working on fixing the whole 'only one engine fires' problem..."

Edit: 100th post.