I’m old enough to remember the first appearance of Minecraft, and it felt like a revolution. Sprawling, open, and freeform, it set the bar that the best sandbox games would live up to in the years to follow. While it took a while to reach its peak, No Man’s Sky feels similarly transformative – opening a literal universe of possibilities for you to explore, gather, and craft in. Now, bringing them both together, new space game Cubic Odyssey is looking extremely promising, and you can try a demo for free.
Built by Atypical Games, Cubic Odyssey promises “a boundless open world” to explore. Its stunning vistas feel a lot like someone built No Man’s Sky from the ground up in the blocky style of Minecraft, and it promises all the exploration, gathering, crafting, and combat that make the best sandbox games tick. You’ll be mining resources, refining your materials, and building everything from basic tools and workstations to full-scale outposts, vehicles, and eventually even starships to travel the galaxies of this space game.
At the heart of Cubic Odyssey’s narrative is a mysterious galactic infection known as the Red Darkness. It’s a corruption that manifests as shifting, swirling masses that feel reminiscent of Control’s central threat, the Hiss. It mutates wildlife, consumes planets, and threatens the existence of all life; you’ll have to decide if you want to work to cleanse the plague wherever you find it, or encourage it to thrive.
Your journey will see you taking on all manner of quests as you attempt to discover the source of the Red Darkness and the secrets of past civilizations. There are NPCs to meet and trade with, skills to level, new crafting recipes to uncover, and plenty more choices to be made as you upgrade your character over the course of their adventure.
Atypical teases “hundreds of star systems filled with rich ecosystems, alien flora and fauna, and ever-changing environments to explore.” You won’t want to spend the whole time wandering about on foot, then. Fortunately you can build everything from ground speeders and other planetary vehicles to spaceships, with the ability to soar up into space and cruise at hyperspeed between planets or use warp jumps to leap to other galaxies.
As you get deeper through the progression, you’ll discover colossal foes to fight, gain the ability to construct giant megastructures, and even make use of powerful weaponry such as orbital laser strikes. If you’d rather not take all of that responsibility on alone, you can team up in co-op with your friends and explore the stars together.
The Cubic Odyssey demo is available now on Steam. You can download and play it for free. With a positive user review score of 92% so far, you’ll certainly be in good company – head here to check it out for yourself or wishlist the full thing.
For even more constructive playgrounds, we’ve broken down the best building games on PC right now. If you just want something you can enjoy with friends, here are the best co-op games in 2025.
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