Look around
Build a world
Choose terrain, size, oceans, atmosphere, rings, moons and glowing cities. More planet options adds palettes, density/gravity, rotation (negative reverses spin), axial tilt, cloud cover, atmosphere thickness, one to three moons, ring tilt and a repeatable terrain seed. Create a new world or apply details to the selected one. Click a world in the Solar system list to travel to it.
Make an impact
Pick a tool, then click a planet. Hold the laser to carve a crater. Planets now start at 8× toughness, and larger worlds resist more damage. Change toughness in the selected-world panel. Repeated hits excavate persistent craters; impact heat fades into dark scars. Fractures spread through the crust, mantle and core before a six-second breakup. The shell separates into solid crust sections around a glowing core, then bursts into rubble. Nova needs multiple hits. Apply details restores your selected planet. Laser fire can also destroy probes.
Virus & hive
Open the Virus & hive workshop tab and infect the selected planet. Purple biomass and green veins spread over its surface. At 45% it hatches winged space monsters; at 65% it grows bridges toward nearby worlds. Bridges infect the next world, thicken and pull the planets together. They grind together for five seconds before becoming a larger living hive that preserves their combined mass and momentum. Configure growth, reach, pulling power and the monster cap. Kill infection & hives cures ordinary worlds, removes all bridges and monsters, and destroys fused hives. Lasers and ship weapons can also destroy monsters.
Impact lab
The Arsenal tab adds a sustained purple Core drill, a twelve-meteor shower, and a Restoration beam. Hold restoration on a planet to gradually repair integrity and close scars before collapse begins. These tools preserve your world’s composition and orbit. Use 0.2× time for slow motion and Cinematic view to hide panels; the same button brings them back.
The multiplying swarm
Detailed armored probes follow arcs outside planet surfaces and avoid neighboring worlds and moons. Follow a probe in the Solar system tab for a close view. A tiny triangular probe splits its nose open and launches a twin every few seconds. Fragile but relentless. They attack their assigned planet, then warp away when it is gone. Up to 128 active probes keep the game smooth.
Mess with gravity
Place a black hole in space. It grows and pulls in worlds and debris. Select Grab, drag a planet or the sun, and throw it into the hole to trigger a huge explosion. This is a sandbox rule: real black holes do not explode this way.
Captain Jude Tooter
Pirate ship (9) has rocket thrusters, twin forward cannons (hold C), and bombs (B). Use L within 45 units of a planet to auto-land, then L to lift off. H lowers or hoists the anchor; hoist it before takeoff. Landing follows the rotating surface. Sun landings are impossible. You can also use the four on-screen buttons.
Enemy pirates
Switch Enemy pirates on in the top bar for occasional two-ship raids. A five-second warning precedes each attack. Black sails and red thrusters mark hostiles. They attack your ship while you fly, or a planet in sandbox mode. R tracks a raider in the sandbox or aims your pirate ship at one. Hold the laser on enemies, or use cannons and bombs. Your ship has 100 hull points; raiders have 28. Survive or defeat the wave for a quiet interval. Turning raids off immediately removes enemies and their shots. Raids pause with the game.
Take the helm
Fly ship enters third person. W/S thrust; A/D yaw; arrows pitch; Q/E roll; Shift boosts; Space brakes. Esc returns to the sandbox. Collisions destroy your ship. Visit the station from the Solar system tab.