Like Minecraft but looking for something a little different? Recently PC Gamer briefly reviewed a new game called Blockade Runner (Click here to see the PC Gamer review) essentially bringing something like Minecraft into space. Players currently are able to build their own spaceships, or space stations from scratch in much the same way Minecraft’s creative mode works, but in zero g. Unlike Minecraft however (unless your using a mod) you can attach different weapons to your creations and fly them around, blasting other ships and asteroids to pieces.

The game is currently in its alpha stage limiting it to just creative mode only for the moment. The goal of ZanMgt who created Blockade Runner is to have a finished product that turns the game into a multiplayer first person space adventure where you gather resources, build ships, go on missions in and possibly other planets, and have space battles with other players.

Currently there are a couple ways you can play the game. There’s a light version which is free, this gives you a basic overview of the game so far and lets you build small space ships without weapons. If you want to test out some of the weapons or some of the more advanced features there’s an in development version also available for free. This version though is buggy and prone to crashing. To try out the in development version click on the link below. 

Adjust your sound before watching the beginning of this video the sound is a little off

Finally you can pay for the current full version of the game (Release 1) which goes for $10.00 U.S. Unlike Minecraft this is not a one time payment. To get access to any future releases (Release 2 comes out sometime in 2012) you’ll need to pay an additional amount. However you do get a discount on future releases, forum access, and voting privileges to help direct the course of the game and how it’s going to look.

Whatever version you choose all need to be downloaded to computer. You’ll also need the following programs installed otherwise the game will crash on start up.

1. XNA 3.1                   

2. .Net 3.5 

 

3.  Direct 9.0c

Personally I think this game even though it’s pretty new has a lot of potential and very addictive like other sandbox games. If you want to check out Blockade Runner for yourself click on the link below for their homepage.