Kerbal Space Program puts players in control of the entire space flight program of the planet Kerbin — an Earth-like planet, orbited by a moon also much like our own, and populated by tiny adorable humanoid creatures, the Kerbals. Every aspect of the space program — from designing and building your rockets and flight craft, to taking the controls at mission command, to carrying out the missions themselves — is up to the player.
Like the PlayStaion 4 version of the game, the Xbox One port maintains the distinctive difficulty and meticulous strategy of the PC version. Being a simulation game that aims to accurately impart the challenges inherent in the required physics and engineering of spaceflight, playing Kerbal Space Program requires micromanagement and finesse, as well as a willingness to learn from the (often hilarious) mishaps that occur as a result from failed experimentation or botched missions.
You’ll need to learn the particulars of escape velocity, atmospheric drag, heating, launch cycles, and more. Thankfully, the game’s friendly aesthetic and cheerful characters make diving into these concepts inviting and a lot less intimidating than it may sound.
Surprisingly, Kerbal Space Program‘s deep controls have been fully mapped to the Xbox One controller — an impressive feat, considering the necessity of playing with keyboard and mouse on PC. Though, we’re willing to bet the new control scheme opens up even more opportunity for happy accidents… and frustrating failures.
Kerbal Space Program is available for download from the Xbox Store on Xbox One, and is also available on PC and PS4.
