What is KSP worth?

[nhnifong]

In US dollars? How much would you be willing to part with to play this game? I know it costs $27, but how much is it worth to you?

I think the base game is very good, albeit noticeably unfinished. And compared to other games I've played, it's one of the most fun.

I'd give it a base value of about $50, Maybe $90 if every bug was fixed. There are a lot of serious bugs.

But the mods add considerable value. When I think about whether I would like to have a new mod in my game a box of pad-thai, I'd choose the mod with a healthy margin.

I'd give mods values ranging from about $5 to $20.

Maybe that's a little high for some of you kids but personally, I have gotten more play time from this than any other game I've bought, so I would be fine with it potentially being the most expensive game I've ever bought (assuming Squad can like hire some more guys and finish the damn thing)

[Guest]

If all the math were right and we had a proper space sim (realistic scale, proper aerodynamics, reentry heat, multiple fuels, atmospheric engines that made sense, etc, etc, etc...) I'd gladly pay $60 USD for KSP. As an early-access experience with multiple bugs, missing math, and little to no guarantee of the improvements that were originally advertised to me, the $17 I paid for it is about right considering all the time I've put into modding it, in some cases to fix it.

[Vanamonde]

If they charged a penny for each hour I have spent playing the game so far, I would not be able to afford to buy it.

But I have certainly gotten more fun out of KSP even than my second-favorite, Morrowind, and with expansions, that came to around $110.

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

Personally, I think the game is worth 5-10 USD. It isn't that re-playable, and gets tedious really quick. And boring as well

[AmpsterMan]

For me, this game has been worth much more than the price I paid for it. It has opened my eyes to the realities of space travel; it has taught me that one doesn't just "go up" when launching; it has taught me specifically WHY rockets have to drop their parts as they rocket on up.

This game has made me more knowledgable in space than 99% of the world; I think that is worth something more than money. (Though, I think the price was fair where it was xD)

[Norcalplanner]

30 bucks at the moment. 50 bucks once it's done.

[B787_300]

I would have payed $40 for the game when i bought it ~$60 now, ESPECIALLY because it is a EARLY release game so there WILL be bugs and things MISSING...

[Superfluous J]

Personally, I think the game is worth 5-10 USD. It isn't that re-playable, and gets tedious really quick. And boring as well

I find it weird that you're interested enough to post 825 posts in the past year and a half about this boring, tedious game with no replayability.

I personally think of entertainment in dollar/hour. For things with stories, I expect to pay $40-$60 for 25-40 hours, or about $2/hour give or take. For non-scripted games I expect to pay less, as low as $0.10 an hour simply due to massive replayability. I payed about $25 for the game and maybe have 800 or so hours (just a WAG, I don't have it on Steam). That's roughly 3 cents per hour, so I have really made a killing.

And as I continue to play, it'll get better and better.

[Francois424]

You cannot charge it at full price just yet... that being said, I feel I've a couple times my money's worth of fun in the game. It's been a while since we got such and open-ended and fun game to play. If all the planets had as much biomes as Kerban or Moon, t would create tremendous replayability if only for the science part of the game (say one game doing moon/minmus, another doing Eve/gilly, another at Jool, etc).

The only game I've put more hours in is Age of Wonder II - Shadow Magic, and that's mainly because of the scenario/unit editor. If KSP had a "scenario" (or planetary) editor, man we'd be in business.

Well worth every penny so far, and will be worth much more later imho.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Francois424

[cwhiz]

I think its worth as much as if not more than console games usually priced around $60. I would pay up to $60 for this game I kid you not.

[tater]

I paid the $27 without even thinking about it, and in about a month of play, I feel like I've gotten at least that much enjoyment from it (in just a few weeks).

Having already paid, I'd happily part with more for an add-on at some point as well. The devs nixed their own version of resources, but I honestly think that would be perfect for an add-on game (requires base KSP) that goes from "exploration" to "exploitation" of space. I'd pay for that, too.

[Silver_Swift]

The problem with a game like KSP is that it is very hard to estimate how much you like it before you buy it (yes, I know there is a demo, but that still doesn't really do the game justice). The experience KSP brings is easily worth the €40-60,- that most AAA games charge you, but there is no way for me to tell whether a game has this much depth before putting a whole lot of time in it to get to know how it works.

Would I gamble $27,- on a game like this? Evidently yes, (though I don't remember paying that much, maybe I bought it in a steam sale?) but that is near the top of what I am willing to pay for a game that could easily have become a tedious grindfest after the initial "Weee, I am an astronaut" feeling subsided.

[Sirrobert]

I'd definitly pay some 50 bucks for the game if I knew about it and was buying it on release

[O-Doc]

Around $30, considering the game's limitations which don't like they're going to be solved. If Squad creates on-the-fly WeldIt type functionality to make decent sized ships, stations and bases it could be worth a lot more and generate a wider appeal like Minecraft has. They'll also need to put in some kind of end game or win scenario because sending rockets into space without a compelling reason to do so is not going to excite the imaginations of your average video gamer.

[Lhathron the Elf]

All I have to say is this: If a game is really worth buying and is really as good as it seems, I would buy it. If I would go to the ends of the earth just to find a way to get the game without buying it . . . the game itself is probably not worth the trouble.

I bought the demo some three years ago, played it a lot and got bored with all of the constrictions. For about a year I didn't play it or think about it at all. Then during last summer I saw that 0.23.5 was coming out with NASA parts, and I thought, "Okay, maybe I'll try this out again," so I spent quite a bit of time raking up the money to buy it. I really really really wanted this game, so badly. Then once I got it, I was so excited... I will probably never be as excited for anything in my life. So, all of that said...

I would pay my patience itself just to buy this game.

Actually, no, because a lot of patience is required in the game... Well, I don't know then.

[Red Iron Crown]

I paid about third of a penny for every hour I've played KSP up until this point, easily the best gaming purchase I've ever made. Later this year I'm planning to build a better PC pretty much just for KSP, even adding that cost only makes it about fifty cents per hour.

For me at least, KSP is worth full AAA pricing. I've certainly gotten more value and enjoyment from it than just about every AAA game I've played.

[cantab]

Well, it's easily one of my most-played games ever, if not *the* most-played. But when I first bought it, I'd played tge demo a bit and £20 was no issue to me. £30 or £35 would still have been fine I think. But £40 would have me thinking it's pricey, and £50 might have made me choose not to buy it.

[John FX]

I paid about third of a penny for every hour I've played KSP up until this point, easily the best gaming purchase I've ever made. Later this year I'm planning to build a better PC pretty much just for KSP, even adding that cost only makes it about fifty cents per hour.

For me at least, KSP is worth full AAA pricing. I've certainly gotten more value and enjoyment from it than just about every AAA game I've played.

I used to play games, now I play a game.

Even if I had paid `normal game full price` whatever that may be it would still have saved me money.

I`m considering learning just enough linux to be able to install a dual boot and run KSP 64 on it but i`ve been thinking about that for a year now...

This game is like marmite, you either love it or hate it.

[*Aqua*]

I bought it when it came out on Steam. What was the price then? Maybe 17 € (~21.50 US$)? Too cheap for what I got.

In my opinion it's currently worth at least 30 € (~38 US$). For the finished version I would pay at least 40-45 € (~50-57 US$).

The only games which I played as often as KSP are Master of Orion II, Counter-Strike, Civilization III and Europa Universalis IV.

[DevoidLight]

It cost me about 20 dollars, and I've played 45 hours so far. Considering I've only managed to leave the Kerbin system twice, I'm pretty sure I will by the end have played this even more than some 80 dollar games.

[Parkaboy]

I got a lot more fun out of it than games I've paid $50 for. So at least that sounds about right.

[Xaiier]

I have no idea how many hours I have truly put into this game, but I do know that that the $13 or so I paid for it (technically I didn't even pay for it, my dad paid for it because it was educational) more than 2 years ago was the deal of my life, not just from gameplay I've gotten out of it but from the experience it led me to gain in programming.

[Jon Tash]

It isn't that re-playable, and gets tedious really quick. And boring as well

Tell that to the people playing the game since version 0.8 like me.

For me the game is worth way more than the time I spend playing the game but just to stay like every other game I guess a price tag between 20 and 60 would be alright (only once it's done).

[technicalfool]

I just don't pay that much for computer games. Never will. Right now, KSP is getting toward the top end of what I'd normally splash out on a computer game. Not saying it isn't worth it because it very much is. However, given that popular computer games sell by the million, there's not a snowball's chance in hell of me dumping $60 to $90 of hard-earned into them. Much better toys can be gotten for that kind of price or not much more.

[soulsource]

There is a huge difference between what I think KSP is worth for me, and what I'd call a reasonable price for the game. While for me it's worth more than any AAA title I ever played, and is only topped by dwarf fortress, a reasonable price in order to sell this game sadly has to be far below that value. When KSP is finished, I'd expect it to cost about $40, of course only if the demo is still available.

I would, now that I know the game, probably also pay over $100 for it...

I used to play games, now I play a game.

I`m considering learning just enough linux to be able to install a dual boot and run KSP 64 on it but i`ve been thinking about that for a year now...

If I might make a (brief, since that's off topic) suggestion: Wait until you are going to reinstall Windows anyhow. Then, when installing Windows, leave at least 20 GB (better: 50) unpartitioned space on your HDD. After Windows is installed, but before installing all programs and stuff (maybe even before installing drivers), install Linux along it, using the unpartitioned space. By this, even if everything goes wrong, you don't loose much time and can immediately reinstall Windows.