Sparkle ZERO
Sparkle ZERO
Game
Game2015
Space Colony: Steam Edition
Developer Firefly Studios
Space Colony is a 2003 real-time strategy video game developed by Firefly Studios and published by Gathering in 2003. Aspyr Media released a Mac OS X port in 2004. The game was re-released as digital HD version on November 8, 2012. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
191 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
87
LovedLoved
155 positive · 23 negative
95% range 81–91%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 155 | 23 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
303 of 377 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
88% recommend · 156 yes, 22 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 178 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (537 of 669 positive).
Many players praise the game's nostalgic value and humor. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note technical issues, especially crashes on modern systems. [4][5] Several players find the relationship micromanagement frustrating. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
Oh, it was revolutionary back in the day, but it's $CURRENT_YEAR and we have to be honest with each other. In $CURRENT_YEAR, this is a superficially charming but essentially frustrating relationship mico-management simulator. After the first couple of missions, your major concern will be sending your aggressively unfriendly colonists to sit down and talk out their problems. While they're doing that, they won't be …
- [1]
This game was my childhood! Runs flawlessly on my steam deck and I have created a custom control scheme you can download that works super well. So so happy this game is on steam!
- [2]
Two decades later (2015 on Steam, the original is 2003), and I still love this game. The nostalgia alone brings me back to it, replaying every mission, retrying all the challenges with new ideas, trying to figure out why the tourists are still a bunch of needy pricks that won't accept the piano as a reasonable entertainment avenue for the hundred ish of them. Sound and story have always been a big thing for me. The …
- [9]
This game is a timeless classic. It has humor, is challenging in parts and will make you glad you aren't trapped in space in RL.
- [3]
The nostalgia... I played this on a PC with a monitor that was a cube...
Summarised from 34 of the 191 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Space Colony: Steam Edition talk about nostalgic and fun gameplay; those who didn't talk about crashes frequently on Windows 10. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
On Metacritic, a review aggregator, Space Colony has a score of 75/100 based on 21 reviews. Dan Adams of IGN rated it 7.5/10 and wrote that it is "almost great" but has too many annoyances, such as the characters' irritatingly quirky personalities. In his review for GameSpot, Andrew Park called it "an interesting game but not a truly compelling one". In rating it 6.7/10, Park criticized the lack of variety in gameplay, as each problem can be solved in very similar ways, and there are few spontaneous interactions between the colonists. Eurogamer's Martin Taylor rated the game 6/10 and recommended it only to fans of The Sims, who might not mind the requirement of constant supervision. GamePro…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 191 · most liked firstBanger OST time! This track plays during Act 1 of Space Colony Ark in Sonic X Shadow Generations! This track is tough 😤 the guitars absolutely tear it up, and the drums go crazy! The synths in the background add a nice, lowkey sound to the track as well, it's a bumping track for an awesome game!
positive · AI labelView post →This track is called "Space Colony Ark: Act1"! This track is specifically from the Shadow Generations half of the game! Sonic X Shadow Generations was awesome! Sonic Generations is a certified classic and was a ton of fun, and Shadow Generations was an action-packed thrill ride, it was a blast!
positive · AI labelView post →Oh, it was revolutionary back in the day, but it's $CURRENT_YEAR and we have to be honest with each other. In $CURRENT_YEAR, this is a superficially charming but essentially frustrating relationship mico-management simulator. After the first couple of missions, your major concern will be sending your aggressively unfriendly colonists to sit down and talk out their problems. While they're doing that, they won't be doing their jobs, or achieving their mission objectives, and your other…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The shortlisted nominees for 'Best New Studio' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are... AdHoc Studio D-CELL GAMES Evil Trout, Inc. Little Sewing Machine Space Colony Studios Space Lion Studios Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our 2026 ceremony possible. See you there IRL on 25 April 2026!
neutral · AI labelView post →We had a hot chick, an old-time cowboy lady, a big muscled American rider guy, and more! If you want to make a colony in space, send people who don't have good behavior. Review : About Description Art/Graphic The graphic is very 2000s. You do know it's from Firefly Studio, the creators of the Stronghold series, right? For a semi-realistic photo asset put into a 2D environment, I'd call it a classic rather than a pixel classic, since…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Regrettably a no on this one. Another one close to the line here. On a 5 point scale (5 high) it would be hovering at the 3/2 boundary. The concept is great. It's basically Sim City + The Sims in Space. So you have to build a base and achieve various goals whilst keeping the needs of your crew met. The downside is that this does involve a substantial degree of micro management although my experience was that characters rarely died from basics like not eating. The release date is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was my childhood! Runs flawlessly on my steam deck and I have created a custom control scheme you can download that works super well. So so happy this game is on steam!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Got the game because it was firefly studios. I like their stuff. Not like their other stuff. Thought the game was very tedious and not intuitive. Really didn't like having to deal with relationships constantly. Lot of the time wasn't sure what to do. Stopped playing for a while and came back. Now I'm completely lost. I've restarted my last save a bunch now and still don't know what to do. to much micro managing. like do I really need to tell them to take a shower?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly this game is my childhood. Over the years I've owned it 3 times: Once on disk, once on an old gaming platform, and once on steam. My only real complaint with the steam edition is that it doesn't run well on Windows 10- It crashes for me constantly to the point I can't play. I really want to 100% it but it's impossible with the crashing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Two decades later (2015 on Steam, the original is 2003), and I still love this game. The nostalgia alone brings me back to it, replaying every mission, retrying all the challenges with new ideas, trying to figure out why the tourists are still a bunch of needy pricks that won't accept the piano as a reasonable entertainment avenue for the hundred ish of them. Sound and story have always been a big thing for me. The story is great, a rag tag feisty (occasionally useless) band of people that you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The nostalgia... I played this on a PC with a monitor that was a cube...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Space Colony is such a fun space top down space sim - I loved playing it as a child and I love playing it now. It is not without its flaws - the main draw back being that I wish there were more to it. After you've played the main campaign through once, and the other campaigns, you can run out of new things to do quite quickly. Some of the missions feel a little bit forced into the game mechanic, but honestly it worked well for the time. The AI can be slightly frustrating - you'll give a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →+20 SOCIAL CREDIT ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠋⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⢁⠈⢻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠃⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠈⡀⠭⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⠄⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣷⣶⣿⣷⣶⣶⡆⠄⠄⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⢀⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠄⠄⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣇⣼⣿⣿⠿⠶⠙⣿⡟⠡⣴⣿⣽⣿⣧⠄⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣾⣿⣿⣟⣭⣾⣿⣷⣶⣶⣴⣶⣿⣿⢄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⣩⣿⣿⣿⡏⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣹⡋⠘⠷⣦⣀⣠⡶⠁⠈⠁⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣍⠃⣴⣶⡔⠒⠄⣠⢀⠄⠄⠄⡨⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡘⠿⣷⣿⠿⠟⠃⠄⠄⣠⡇⠈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠟⠋⢁⣷⣠⠄⠄⠄⠄⣀⣠⣾⡟⠄⠄⠄⠄⠉⠙⠻ ⡿⠟⠋⠁⠄⠄⠄⢸⣿⣿⡯⢓⣴⣾⣿⣿⡟⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄ ⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⣿⡟⣷⠄⠹⣿⣿⣿⡿⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄ +1 WAIFU ⣿⣿⣿⣿⠛⠛⠉⠄⠁⠄⠄⠉⠛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡟⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡇⠄⠄⠄⠐⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠠⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡇⠄⢀⡀⠠⠃⡐⡀⠠⣶⠄⠄⢀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣶⠄⠰⣤⣕⣿⣾⡇⠄⢛⠃⠄⢈⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a timeless classic. It has humor, is challenging in parts and will make you glad you aren't trapped in space in RL.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Does not hold up to nostalgia sadly. A lot of the gameplay revolves around fixing your characters' needs, imagine a yankier sims.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Back in the day I really enjoyed playing the Demo for Space Colony; enough that I eventually went to buy the actual game. I won't say I enjoyed every aspect of the game - I still don't really like the militaristic end of the spectrum here, but there is enough content in the civilian areas to suit your fancy if you don't care for it. This is definitely a blast from the past and worth checking out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Management game with lots of fun characters and humor. Its small but challenging enough for a casual game. I've enjoyed it over many years for its replay. I have the original disk from my pc days. Enjoy and good luck.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fails to start on Windows 10. Used to be a fun game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I used to play this years ago,I still love it even now. It feels like intergalactic Stardew Valley x Sims.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Happy Lunar New Year Made for my friends over at Space Colony Studios, it's Cassie from their upcoming game "Stories From Sol: The Gun Dog". Check out the game, maybe wishlist it on steam and if you're still on twitter, maybe give them a follow! #art
neutral · AI labelView post →This game has aged well, although a few achievements are hard to grab unless you put the time in specifically for them. Completionist aside there is plenty of game play; it is a fun and challenging game that requires a little more thought and strategy than spam building things like in more popular top down isometric games in the era this was released. Music, sound and artwork all blend well to create the feeling that you are managing the small space station in the infancy of colonising a planet…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Meh. If you like The Sims you might like this game. Personally, I don't want to have to tell a character to go take a shower or make small talk while I'm trying to accomplish the cumbersome tasks with the clunky interface and fixed isometric view. Disappointing game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Today's stream at 4pm CST is a #sponsored game stream: youtu.be/yB469jH2clA Join me for Space Colony! It's a colony... in space... with machines. Looks kinda like Satisfactory but we'll check it out and see. Review copy provided by @keymailer.bsky.social . #vtuber #gaming #twitch
neutral · AI labelView post →I don't know how I ever played this as a child. Completing all campaigns is a trial akin to a triathlon through the 9 circles of hell.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thank you again to everyone who stopped by during my stream! And special thanks again to Nibroc Rock the Game Developer who surprised me by taking me to the new Space Colony Ark map in Sonic Speed Simulator! We managed to get the new Shadow skin! It was awesome!! 💜 #SonicSpeedSimulator
neutral · AI labelView post →I remember this game from my childhood I always saw it as the space version of sims. I forgot about this game for close to a decade, decade and a half and couldn't remember the name. I finally found it (the name for the series). Anyone able to help on how I can get more people? I know how to increase population with robots but not humans.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Remaster of a classic game. I never played the original, but this game held up pretty well. If you're curious about the Colony Sim genre and want to play an earlier entry in the genre, this is a good example.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not what I expected. It turned from space colony management into relationship management very fast.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not bad for a older game. I played it more after HD version was released. I didnt play it when it first came out. Seems a good game to chill to.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A classic in people and resource management. Still fun to play in 2025, even if nostalgia does help forgiving the old interface.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Space Colony is a distinctive and character-driven colony management game developed and published by Firefly Studios that blends traditional base-building mechanics with life-simulation elements and a strong sense of humor. Originally released in the early 2000s and later revived for modern systems as the Steam Edition, the game stands out not through cutting-edge visuals or complex combat systems, but through its emphasis on people rather than pure infrastructure. It presents a vision of space…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Holy crap, I thought I would never see this game again, but yet, here it is! Amazing game, well worth the cash!! just need to make sure, if you use dual monitor, to change which one is the dominant screen (it expands to the right side like alot of older games) This game is awesome! Its sandboxy, yet challenging! And the WORKSHOP SUPPORT NOW!!!! HELL. YES. 9/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm glad this got a Steam release and its worth a few bucks if you've got the nostalgia from finding it in a bargain bin the 2000s as a kid otherwise nothing special.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’m in the Murderbot series right now. I’m loving every page. It’s like Mass Effect collided with EVE Online and another video game called Space Colony. Fantastic!
neutral · AI labelView post →Enjoyable game of team management. Would have liked to have seen a sequel
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So addictive. Been playing for 20 years at least. I never get tired of challenging myself.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very janky. It's playable, but feels like ancient tech, and not the fun kind.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love this game. I played this before for hours and hours, and have recently bought the remastered version on Steam. It is a space based game, where you have various missions, ranging from collection of resources to surviving alien attacks. I love all the characters with their ridiculous stereotypes and corny dialogues. The aliens also range from weak ones who auto explode to military tank level ones. I just wish there were more missions in the initial game, since the missions which came with…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sims in space in all seriousness this game focuses on the crew aspect and space building aspect equally. Gotta manage colonists make sure they're not unhappy while also building stuff and doing tasks to get more stuff to build more stuff.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the game is awesome I have been playing this game for years off and on
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Definitely not a bad representative of its kind. It offers sufficient depth and enjoyable content. However, it would be wrong to say that it is a masterpiece. This is just an average game that you can enjoy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Excellent space sim, have played this game many times since I originally purchased the disc version in 2007.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I payed $0.99 and I still feel ripped off. This game is hot garbage. I don't have that old nostalgia others seem to have leading to a flawed review. Steer clear of this one. It is really, really stupid. AI is pathetic and you're required to guide every action of every person. They'll stand there and starve to death and then get mad at everyone for it. It's more unreasonable than my wife when she was in labor and she had no pain meds. Cool idea and that's where the genius stopped.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the first games I remember playing, before I even knew english was a thing, you can imagine how funny the voices sounded. This is still adictive after all the years and I can't get addicted to most modern games. Recommended if you can get it on sale, be prepared for some technical problems and no fullscreen borderless.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun, challenging "puzzles" built on a Sims-like base. Good content, though its important to find some good user-created content from the workshop to make the game last. Gets a bit repetitive. Overall 8/10 experience.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the 'survial builder' best games to ever come out on PC
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →space colony remastered ???? lol
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played this came over 15 yrs ago, absolutley love it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →DOSENT WORK SPENT HOURS TRYING TO GET IT TO WORK FOLLOWED ALL THE instructions and got a "well that sucks thanks for your money"
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a perfectly nice and relaxing game. It's a little dated for its age, but has charm.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →YOU MUST BUY THIS! Sadly the do not invest in it, but it is one fo the fines games ever!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As someone without any nostalgia and who didn't play it when I was a kid, the game is solidly fine, and I wish I could rate it as neutral. I got this item in one of those $3 mystery bundles I don't really think the concept works well. Its too complicated for sims, too simple for strategy, and has some odd control schemes that you have to constantly contend with. The characters aren't very engaging, so I don't really care what happens. It kinda feels like if they went 2x more silly or 2x more…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had bought this game some time ago and at first it was fine, and then it wasn't. After playing the game for just over 28 hours it started crashing. I cleared my cache, uninstalled and reinstalled many times and still had the same problem of crashing. I contact support for help and all i got from them was, "There is nothing we can do for you, Sorry". And yes I paid for it, not much but that's not the point, I paid for it is. So as for this game I do not recommend this game at all. Waste of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Remastered did a good job.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall a good older age Space Colony management game. I got this mostly for nostalgia over the disk version days before steam. As far as I can tell it still runs fine for its age and can be enjoyable. Space Colony however does have some pain points 1. The fixed camera angle can be annoying with larger buildings. 2. The lack of an action que for your colonists is highly annoying and tasks you've given them to refill their meters will be interrupted by the start of shift. 3. Colonists are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Space Colony even now is a unique experience amongst real-time strategies. Its about a group of vastly different characters, ranging from professional colonists to social outcasts completing missions for a greedy, shady corporation. When making decisions you gotta factor in character's skills, and if they aren't needed somewhere more, but also his current humor and his walking speed (yes, some guys ride on skateboards while others are geriatric 90 year olds moving with a cane and smoking weed).…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I used to play this game all the time when I was younger and was obsessed. Slight Sims vibes with outer space fun. Still love this game! So glad to see a steam remastered version. Nostalgia blast for sure.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems like an easy game until later stages. Then you find yourself addicted and needing to find a solution!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun. Easy to learn. Addictive. Can get quite challenging.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Isometric sprite-based management sim straight out of the late 1990s/early 2000s. Very mature tech in that sense compared with full 3d which was just becoming mainstream at that time. Has a lot of personality, many different unique characters with their own preferences and full voice lines. The tone and feel remind me of Jagged Alliance 2, Startopia, and especially Stronghold from the same company, complete with charmingly primitive 3d cutscenes. The UI is serviceable, no hotkeys that I can…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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