Space Week Face-Off Winner: The Best Space Game Revealed

Space Week is still happening over here at IGN, and today we’re proud to present the winners of our best space game Face-Off! After thousands and thousands of 1v1 battles with matchups like No Man’s Sky vs. the brand-new Starfield and Starcraft vs. Destiny 2, the ultimate space game has been chosen by you.

So, which game claimed the top spot for the best space game and will forever be immortalized in the stars above? Drumroll please…

We’re IGN and Mass Effect 2 is your favorite space game on the Citadel! Yes, with an 89.3% win percentage, Mass Effect 2 and its incredible cast of characters, unforgettable suicide mission, and choices that carried over and mattered from the original have risen above the rest of the pack.

We couldn’t agree more with this pick as we ranked Mass Effect 2 as the sixth-best game of all time, saying, “As Commander Shepard, I traveled the galaxy on the best recruitment trip I could have wished for, and experienced possibly one of the most heart-wrenching stories – but whether or not the game ends in tears is entirely up to you. As you head out for a suicide mission, you’ll meet some of the best-written characters that feel original and have the power to evoke true emotions.”

In fact, all three Mass Effect games placed in the top five, with the original taking third place and Mass Effect 3, despite its controversial ending, following right behind at #4. The still-enjoyable Mass Effect Andromeda fell down to 25, and we hope more than hope that the next Mass Effect brings us back to the heights the original trilogy did.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which took home the top prize in our list of the 10 best Star Wars video games, placed second in this Face-Off with a win percentage of 84.8%. Its sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords, took fifth place, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order took spots six and seven, respectively.

Newcomer Starfield took eighth place and showed it’s ready to fight against these all-time classics, even though its universe has yet to be fully explored.

Rounding out the top 10 were Star Wars: Battlefront II and No Man’s Sky, and they helped make up a top 10 that featured five Star Wars games and three Mass Effect games.

On the other side of the galaxy, RymdResa placed last with a win percentage of 12.3%. Right behind RymdResa was Heat Signature, Duskers, Objects in Space, Avorian, NEBULOUS: Fleet Command, Starflight, Star Traders: Frontiers, Distant Worlds: Universe, and Take On Mars.

Many of these games are either very old or are smaller indie titles, and it’s important to note that their placement shouldn’t necessarily say very much about their quality as we chose these space games because we think they were worthy to battle! It’s just tough when you have to take on juggernauts in more well-known franchises.

Are you wondering where you favorite space video game landed, like maybe Star Wars: Rogue Squadron? (It placed 16th!) For all the rankings, you can check out the full list of where all of the 92 space games that competed in this Face-Off ended up.

For more, check out our Starfield review and the rest of IGN’s Space Week, including how Bethesda defined role-playing games, the best sci-fi movies ever made, our look at why there aren’t more space RPGs, and what Starfield gets right about space travel.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.