Space Engineers: Best Starting Planets (2024)

Space Engineers is a sandbox game that challenges players to become astronautical survivors of harsh planets, build spaceships, and travel through space. Much like other games in this genre, there are different difficulties to play through and in this case, different planetary bodies. This limitless expansive game is a creative’s dream as there are so many possibilities to how a player plays the game.

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Space Engineers won the best indie game of 2015 as voted by the IndieDB community, proving it has star quality in this genre. This list explores the different planets available to players and what challenges they each pose. From an Earth-like planet to the depths of a toxic alien world, players are guaranteed fun in Space Engineers.

6 Earth - Home Sweet Home

The Earth-like planet, as players would expect, is a diverse and habitable planet. Of all the planets, this one is probably the easiest to start on but can be tricky to escape from as there is a distinct lack of platinum ore and uranium ore. With that said, there is a plentiful amount of other resources, such as nickel and silicon. Having these components makes it easier for players to build solar panels and other survival equipment.

The terrain ranges from easy to traverse to quite tricky. There are mountains and flat plains it is all dependent on where players are stationed, but a good rover will pay dividends. Escaping this planet is a great way to start for new players.

5 Pertam - Volatile Weather

Pertam is the eighth planet in the game's solar system. Even though this planet is more difficult as a starting planet, it can be done if a player is well-prepared. Starting on the safety of the Pertam Orbiter is a good way to start. Like titan, Pertam has no moons and is devoid of a livable atmosphere coupled with volatile weather. The temperature varies from freezing to blisteringly hot and can even feature electric lightning storms.

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Hidden within Pertam’s large mountain ranges and vast deserts, there is a good amount of Nickel Ore 17%, Iron Ore 17%, and Silicon Ore 17%. Then a lesser amount of Gold Ore 11%, Magnesium Ore 11%, and Silver Ore 11%. With the terrain in mind, players should make good use of a rover to traverse the difficult areas. The gravity on Pertam is quite high, which does make it difficult to launch ships.

4 Titan - Alien Planet Moon

Players who have purchased the Frostbite DLC have access to start on the subzero planet Titan. Other than a few regions, there is no oxygen on Titan, but it has a similar gravitational pull to Earth alongside some freezing temperatures. Lacking platinum and uranium, the planet is a steady challenge for new players to Space Engineers. There is also some fantastic scenery to explore in the winter wasteland. When searching for resources, players will find themselves traversing mountains and frozen lakes.

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Titan offers a challenge without being too tough, so players should use Titan as a stepping stone to learning the game and progressing to more complex challenges. One enjoyable thing about Titan is driving the Rovers as the landscape makes for interesting journeys. There is also a plentiful bounty of ore to mine, despite the lack of platinum and uranium.

3 Europa - Mars Moon

Moving onto Europa, a moon that orbits Mars in Space Engineers is a little harder to start on due to the lack of certain resources. Without stone to create survival kits Europa can be a little tricky for players. While the oxygen levels are very low, there is enough atmosphere to allow thruster-based ships to fly.

The climate is quite stable but mostly consists of frozen tundra stretching across the hills of Europa, though this doesn't affect the players too much. Due to the large quantities of ice, Europa is perfect to act as a hydrogen refueling station. Though there are small patches of resources, they are few and far between. Players will have more success traveling to nearby asteroids.

2 Mars - Red Dead And Dusty

Space Engineers' Mars planet is true to life, a rocky expanse with deep dusty trenches and sheer hills. This planet steps up the difficulty from Earth as there is no oxygen on Mars, the temperature is freezing and there is less gravity. These small changes make big differences in-game and will need to be tackled accordingly. Much like Earth, however, there is a lot of nickel and silicon to be found, meaning solar panels will be easily created.

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It is not plain sailing, though, on Mars, there is a lot of sand and that means potential sandstorms. A trickier planet than Earth but still fun for players to figure out.

1 Alien Planet - No One Can Hear You Scream

The Alien planet is a wild and weird planet that is definitely one of the harder ones in the game. There are deserts, tundra, and mountain range, each providing its own challenges for players. Alien planets are also abundant in most ore types and while they can be tricky to find they usually come in large bunches. Uranium and platinum are the only two ores that remain unavailable.

Despite large amounts of ore, this planet is extremely hostile, whether it be the lifeforms or climate, players will find the alien planet very unforgiving. Rovers struggle with the diversity of the terrain and without heavy armor, players won't want to face the natives. Hydrogen-powered vehicles will be the best bet to conquer the alien planet. Not only that, but a toxic fog can descend at any moment without much warning.

Space Engineers is available on Xbox One and Microsoft Windows.

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