I love space games... And of those that are digitally available:
...Freespace is on GOG with extra missions :
https://www.gog.com/en/game/freespace_expansion There are also the Galactic Civilization games: I played the first two, and that was enough for me :D
GC2 was maybe slightly better :
https://www.gog.com/en/game/galactic_civilizations_ii_ultimate_edition .
...Personally I want to now just have it a bit less complicated and play Everspace 2,
it's quite a long ride if you really start doing all kinds of side shenanigans.
There is even the Titans expansion which adds epic sized battles and Leviathan encounters.
Everspace 2 may look like a simple shooter, but once you are 20 hours or something like that in,
you can start to appreciate that there is some complexity to understand to really fare well...
I'm playing it on normal and around 65 hours in, and need to consider how to upgrade ship,
and which ships to use... And upgrading equipment is not as easy as going to shop and getting
the best around... Plus there are companions, lots of hidden bonus stuff...
And over 60 hours in and have just found 4 out of 6 systems so far.
Then there is Star Trucker :
https://www.gog.com/en/game/star_trucker .
Haven't played it but watched some streams of it and aside being a bit finicky with
collisions and getting the trucks damaged easily, it seemed a pleasant game.
And one game you can travel to lots of planets and such, do all kinds of missions,
there is Quasimorph :
https://www.gog.com/en/game/quasimorph .
It quite recently got an update (in December) and the devs seem to be thus
working hard on it. Roadmap is saying 1.0 release is this year.
Haven't bought that yet but it looks to be in good shape already.
Of non-flying space games I dig Citizen Sleeper (you can do multiple missions and
cyberspace stuff, you have to manage some personal resources of the player like
money and nutrition.) I was surprised how addictive this game is. And sequel is on its
way quite soon.
Then there is Ixion : one of the best space strategy games like ever (in my opinion anyhow)
... It has the atmosphere that just blew my mind...
But it takes a bit to get used to. Though I've heard it said
that even if challenging, it is not as hard as Frostpunk. A personal favourite for sure.
You manage the ever-expanding giant spaceship, and build smaller ships for science missions,
to probe space, and mine etc.
Also liked Breathedge : but that's definitely not everybody's cup of tea : oxygen keeps running
out a lot until you throw like a 12 hours into the game and things start get going.. But it has funny
attitude, and even if you are alone in space lot of the time, and it's kind of desolate start...
It is quite a chill game underneath the premise. Also getting a sequel which expands to planets.
In Q1 2025 we should be getting The Alters (both GOG and Steam): it hasn't got fleet management,
but base-building and exploration at least.
Of older games I loved the 4X game Alpha Centauri :
https://www.gog.com/en/game/sid_meiers_alpha_centauri .
It may look a bit like a civilization game (I mean it says even Sid Meier's on the title)
but I don't really play civ games after the first two, and Alpha Centauri has quite its own feel.
I played it through once and enjoyed the ride quite a bit.
Haven't played all of space games at all so this is just one list.
Not really properly even gotten into Freespace yet.
