Neil deGrasse Tyson is making a game called Space Odyssey

Famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is Kickstarting a game about space exploration, colonisation and science. Space Odyssey will be a PC strategy game with deeply scientific roots that’ll allow the player to set out to ‘develop planets, colonize worlds, nurture species, mine elements, build robots, and discover unique life-forms’. How lovely.

Whilst this might all sound pretty familiar to players of the strategy genre — Civilisation fans I’m looking at you — Space Odyssey’s co-creator and developer Mike Murphy says it’ll be a little more in-depth, focusing on the educational science aspect. So kind of like No Man’s Sky with heaps of actual science and learning added into the mix.

The Space Odyssey development team is utilising the knowledge of Tyson and his StarTalk All-Stars team of scientist-educators. Wolverine comic book creator Len Wein will focus on the storyline. Handling the art are Cecil Kim and Justin Yun, concept artists that have worked on the God of War and Final Fantasy series of games between them. Space Odyssey is being created with the aim of being ‘An awe-inspiring gaming experience of galactic exploration and colonisation’.

If the notion of learning whilst playing sounds terribly ominous and worrying, fret not. The onus is on the player’s ability to understand how the science and physics behind the game will aid in your progress. ‘Part of the gameplay will allow you to grow a planetary system. Its size and scope is relative to the level of challenge you would like to undertake’, explains Murphy. ‘You can grow and mature these planets as much as you’d like, creating colonies, ports, mining structures, undertake trade of elements you discover/mine or invent or innovate’. So whilst learning is an obvious theme of the game, the focus is on making something fun that a strategy fan would want to play.

Space Odyssey is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to enable the game to engage with and take feedback from its community. There is also a beta on the way, which you can sign up for when you become a backer of the project. If that’s your sort of thing.