It can be difficult to keep up with the large number of games released on Steam, month after month. Indie simulations. Hidden gemstones. The one about a small bug in a red coat that broke the store. Just in recent months, there have even been some different sci-fi games that are worthy of attention, not least like Wildgate and Void Crew.
However, another game launched Early Access just last week, and that game is jumping space. You may have seen this game appear on social media in the past – previously known as Jump Ship – that's where it first got my attention a while ago.
Jump Space is Heldivers 2 Meets Sea of Thieves
The more I try not to compare the X game to Y, the more I think I do, so I give up: Jump Space is the perfect game for fans looking for a sea of thieves-style experience but in a Helldivers 2 environment.
You and some friends (or strangers, live your best life) will be the crew of a spaceship, put on dangerous assignments to save equipment, upgrade your ship and take the fight to the legion; Machines that have been exceeded with a virus, which makes them hostile and wipe out all the people they can find. In the end, you want to reach the center of the galaxy, where the root of this virus – and the legion – rests. How else should you kill it?
You can also play the game's solo, bring a useful robot buddy, which is also great fun.
Ship management can be a company of its own. While a player pilots the ship, others can control the weapons, do repairs, divert the power as needed or just relax in the cafeteria that nothing bad happens. However, swarms of legion vessels can quickly exceed you, so you would do well to make sure everyone does their part to keep the ship functional and, yes, in one piece.
The spaceship is just the beginning
However, jump space is not just a spaceship simulator. You can actively leave the ship at any time. Depending on the map sector that you are currently in, this may mean that you touch on a planet or asteroid or appear in space. With Anthem-like flight packages, you can move to enemy vessels, carriers or outposts and beat them personally, which can potentially lead to greater prey and opportunities.
Assignments that require the crew on the ground or within the facilities will be quick, so adapting to weapons and a solid plan is the most important method. Often you are threatened with the timed arrival of legion reinforcements or even a self -destruction sequence. Fortunately, shooting feels good, and the movement even more, because you have double jumps and gripping hooks to keep you on the move.
The primary game element, however, slows down a bit is to plot the routes in the middle of the assignment. There are branch roads to choose from when traveling through jumping space to reach your goal, with different types of places along the way, including outposts, rare change opportunities and safe places to carry out repairs and preparation. If you have ever played Slay Spire or Cult in the lamb, think about that type of procedure progression, with all the roads leading to your final goal.
When you are done, you will return to the hub – the hangar – and can manage your ship components, upgrades and appearance before preparing to put yourself on your next assignment. It is a sufficiently simple gaming trail, but one that keeps you anxious to do another assignment, even when these assignments can be up to 40 minutes.
Jump Space is a brilliant, must-play co-op game
I was happy to jump into this game for a long time, but I was not prepared for how good it would feel to play jump space – and in early access, not less. The missions, while on longer side, feel full of action in every moment and purely cool to be a part of. Running around the ship, flying like a bullet through zero gravity or sweeping plants on the ground as a classic FPS, all with a seamlessness that keeps the experience alive, is really a unique experience.
We already have some fantastic co-op games 2025, from Repo to Peak, but Jump Space arrives just in time to make an equally impressive impact and fills a space that no other game has taken up in a while.
