After six years, gloriously detailed intergalactic city builder Space Haven is finally finished, and going cheap

It’s been a long road, but Space Haven has finally launched out of early access in style after six years of additions, updates, and polish. Heading across the stars to make a new home, this gorgeous spaceship builder lets you construct entire settlements in meticulous detail. Combining the planning of Two Point Hospital, the underlying infrastructure of SimCity, the population management of Rimworld, and the ship combat of FTL, it’s a deep simulation that keeps on giving. With a big discount on offer to mark version 1.0, now’s a great time to start.

Space Haven offers piece-by-piece building that goes right down to each individual wall and facility, and every single element has value. Your crew will need beds to sleep in, places to eat, toilet facilities, and entertainment. Noisy areas of the ship might be fun in some instances, but will disturb concentration and rest in others. You’ll also need to lay out temperature and life support systems, ensuring suitable oxygen distribution and purifying the air of any hazardous gases that might occur.

As much of a colony sim as it is a city-building game, Space Haven’s crewmates are all individuals with unique stats, skills, and traits, and you’ll want to assign them to tasks they’re best at. You’ll also need to ensure their hunger, sleep, comfort, safety, and social needs are met, and their mood will suffer if you don’t. If stress levels start to grow, it could spread among other inhabitants, and even result in drama or fights. Likewise, sickness and injury can strike – treat the affected in medical facilities, or place them into cryopods to keep them alive while you research possible solutions.

Each playthrough procedurally generates a galaxy filled with planets, asteroids, space stations, and roving factions. Tracking down essential resources is a must, and that means you’ll need to organize away teams to explore locations you find. Hostile alien forces can present a serious threat, even capturing unfortunate crew members in some circumstances. Will you take the risk of sending down a rescue team to bring them home, or cut your losses and leave them to a horrible fate?

Space Haven also features ship-on-ship battles, with your assigned leaders manning battlestations to use turrets, repair damaged facilities, and put out fires. Nodding to the likes of FTL, you can target specific areas of enemy ships to disable certain elements and gain the upper hand. Naturally, your spacecraft’s layout will also impact where incoming attacks are likely to hit, and what seemed like a comfortable living space could turn into a chain reaction of explosions and hazardous gas leaks if an unfortunate strike lands.

After its six-year journey through early access, including six 1.0 release candidates before it was finally declared ready, Space Haven has earned itself an 85% positive Steam rating. “We’ve strived to do our very best and keep grinding based on the feedback we received,” developer Bugbyte says, “We hope that somewhere along the way, the game becomes more than just systems and mechanics for you, our players. A colony sim you enjoy discovering and playing, a goal we’ve had in mind since the beginning.” To celebrate the milestone, the studio has even knocked a big chunk off the asking price.

Space Haven 1.0 is out now on Steam, with a 40% launch discount available through Wednesday May 27. Expect to pay $14.99 / £10.79 while the deal lasts, or $24.99 / £17.99 afterwards. You can get it here and start building your new home among the stars.

“Space Haven would never be the game it is without all of us putting our own visions together, and leaving our own mark on it,” Bugbyte says. “You, our players, are part of it too, and we hope what we’ve managed to accomplish so far is an indication of that. A warm welcome to our new players. Hope you enjoy the game, and if you run into any issues reach out to us and other players on our Steam forms, Discord, or Reddit. We are all here for you.”