videogamescritic
← all games
Ostranauts

Ostranauts

Blue Bottle Games · released Aug 2, 2026

IndieRPGSimulationPC

Navigate your scrappy ship through the boneyard in search of valuable parts in abandoned vessels. Use salvage to upgrade your ship, or sell it for cash to pay down your mounting debt, or restock fuel, air, or food. Fly and role-play aboard your dream spaceship in this hardcore noir space-sim.

Steam page ↗Metacritic ↗
69
VGC Score
▼Declininghigh confidence

anchored at patch: “Prison, Brawling NPCs, and Racing Improvements, Plus Several Null Fixes” (21d ago)

64%
At launch
77%
Steam all-time
n/a
Press
64%
Recent sentiment

Screenshots & trailers

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (Metacritic)––0
All-time Steam reviews77%721000
Metacritic user ratings––0
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)64%63471
Calibration prior (typical game)–7250

Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Aug 11, 2026) · 208 reviews sampled · 471 total reviews in window · weighted 123.1 up / 68.9 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (1)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 30
    GameCritics
    trust 50Jul 17, 2026

    “Ostranauts offers beautiful presentation, solid audio design, and a lovingly-crafted world filled with buggy, incomplete systems and an underlying design that commits the ultimate videogame sin, watching all these progress bars and getting nickel-and-dimed by a million aggravations is less engaging than doing my household chores in real life.”

    read full review ↗

Patch history

  1. AI Emergency & Airlock Handling, Plots, Combat and Wounds, and Other Fixes
    Aug 24, 2026
  2. Fixes for Save on Exit, Tutorial, and Plots, Plus Improvements to Gigs, KO
    Aug 17, 2026
  3. Prison, Brawling NPCs, and Racing Improvements, Plus Several Null Fixes
    Aug 11, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  4. Ostranauts 1.0 Out Now! 🚀
    Aug 3, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  5. PASS and Gigs Rebalance, More Improvements to AI and Others
    Jul 24, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  6. Roster Helmet Toggle and Hour Indicator, Autotask Stillness, Tracking Alarm Fix
    Jul 17, 2026
  7. More Fixes for Crew AI, Docking Fees, and Other Issues
    Jul 16, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  8. Fix for Random Pausing, Battery Swap Bug
    Jul 14, 2026
  9. Save Game and Docking Fixes, AI Improvement
    Jul 2, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  10. Ostranauts 1.0 is coming August 3rd!
    Jun 25, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  11. Improvements to Saves, Performance, Venus, and Other Bug Fixes
    Jun 18, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  12. Steam Workshop Support! Plus Gigs and Other Fixes
    Jun 11, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  13. Contest Winner's Ship, Plus Fixes for Docking and Airlocks
    May 28, 2026
  14. Tutorial and QoL Improvements, and Other Fixes
    May 21, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  15. Hotfix to strip additional forms of emphysema and pneumonitis out
    May 14, 2026
  16. Unwelcome NPCs, Stuck Pilots, and Other Fixes
    May 14, 2026
  17. Overheating Reactors, Ship Instadeath, and Other Fixes
    May 8, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  18. Debuff and Intruder Relief, Plus Other Fixes
    May 7, 2026
  19. Plot Objective Dismissal Fix
    Apr 30, 2026
  20. Tutorial and User Experience Polish, and Other Fixes
    Apr 29, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  21. Fire guardrails, and emotional clobber relief
    Apr 24, 2026
  22. Everybody's Ugly, Poofing Items, and Other Fixes
    Apr 23, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  23. Hotfix (0.15.0.18) for nulls and other issues reported in Fire in the Hold
    Apr 22, 2026
  24. Hotfix for null reference in ship piloting tutorial
    Apr 21, 2026
  25. Fire in the Hold out now! 🚀🔥
    Apr 21, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  26. Arena Mode (Ship Combat Beta) Update
    Feb 17, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  27. Our Plans for 2026 + Arena Mode Beta
    Feb 10, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  28. 2025 Year in Review
    Jan 8, 2026significant · resets scoring window
  29. Ship Combat Preview and QoL Patch
    Dec 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  30. Vizor Memory, Removing Jettison, and Other Fixes
    Nov 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  31. Square Meals & Space Supplies Update
    Nov 3, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  32. Fixes for Broken Ships, Selection Dragging, and Whodunnit
    Oct 10, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  33. QoL Improvements for PDA Orders, Inventory, and Other Fixes
    Oct 9, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  34. Fix for right-clicking placeholder objects
    Oct 5, 2025
  35. Tutorial save/load/null fixes
    Oct 4, 2025
  36. Fixes for remote crew pickup, softlocked infinite tickers, and tutorials
    Oct 4, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  37. Project Update, Plus Tutorial, PDA Social App, Auto-damage and Other Changes
    Oct 2, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  38. Fixes for PDA Vizor, Tilemaps, and Item Placement
    Sep 18, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  39. Inventory Overhaul Update
    Sep 11, 2025significant · resets scoring window
  40. Fixes for Reloading Saves In-Game
    Aug 8, 2025significant · resets scoring window

…and 51 earlier patch announcements.