Sunward

Sunward is a space-industry simulation in which you mine asteroids, refine ore into goods, trade on a changing market and expand a station into an empire linked by freighters. You can build at your own pace, growing across the solar system and beyond.

Mine and manufacture

Extractor drills mine asteroids, and cargo shuttles carry ore back to your station. You smelt metal plate, blow glass and draw wire, then progress through a production tree to make alloys, circuits and high-value Components in a flexible Fabricator. Sell goods to Earth on a dynamic market: each sale lowers the price, while scarcity pushes it back up.

Build a station

You connect modules to create efficient networks. Each module needs air, workers and power: reactors burn fuel, life support pressurizes habitats, and survey scanners chart nearby space. You can zoom in to watch colonists work inside the station.

Grow a colony

Workers make up your population. Colonists arrive from colonized worlds, fill habitats and require wages and consumer goods. Keeping them paid and supplied maintains morale, which boosts colony growth and factory output. Neglect leads to a recoverable slump rather than sudden loss.

Expand across worlds

The system map shows the planets around the Sun, each a buildable world with its own asteroid field. You colonize, settle and trade between regions and systems, while empire freighters carry goods and colonists along the orbits. Colonies you leave behind continue producing while you are away.

Research and megastructures

Research points unlock drills, resources and buildings through a tech tree. Recover artifacts to reveal hidden technologies, including alien Xeno research that gates buildings, recipes and megastructures. The great works include a planet-anchored Space Elevator, a Warp Gate that opens new star systems on a galaxy map, and the Ascension Spire, which serves as the victory goal; free play continues afterward.

Weather and setbacks

Solar flares and micro-asteroid showers can strike, with the risk depending on where you settle: inner orbits bake, while outer orbits get pelted. Build detectors and ride out the storms. The Solar System News Network signals scenarios in advance, giving you time to plan as they affect the markets. Setbacks are recoverable, with no hard failure, so you can play at a relaxed pace or focus on optimization.

Key features

• A multi-tier economy of mining, refining, manufacturing and selling.
• Modular base building with airlock networks, power, oxygen and interiors you can see inside.
• Colony systems for workforce, morale, wages and immigration policy.
• Colonizable worlds across a solar system, connected by freighters and contracts.
• A tech tree and alien Xeno research for unlocking buildings, recipes and megastructures.
• An endgame progression through the Space Elevator, Warp Gate, galaxy expansion and Ascension Spire.
• Dynamic markets and advance news scenarios that reward planning.
• Pixel art rendered with procedural shaders.