I might have found the most intensive engineering game this side of bridge-building simulators. It's a game where you are in control of a space center for the titular race of Kerbals, which are goofy little minion guys. Despite its cartoony appearance, it has space tech that is not only solidly grounded in reality, but really varied. You can build anything from dumb ballistic missiles to multi-stage rockets with manned capsules, to regular jet planes, to rovers, satellites, space stations, and even entire lunar/extraterrestrial bases if you are just that awesome. It also has completely realistic physics which require knowing a little about how space travel works. You learn a lot in the tutorials about how stored delta-V (change in velocity) is a measure of spaceship capability, prograde vs. retrograde thrust, peri/apoapsis of an orbit, and how to apply those terms to transferring from one orbit to another or getting escape trajectories for traveling to other worlds. For the casual space nerd, it's intense as it is fun. Seriously, if you are at all enthusiastic or curious about existing space tech, this game is phenomenal. And it's got an extensive demo which is free to download! Search for it if you're interested, and in the meantime here are some tidbits: Some people get really serious and make custom shuttles and space stations: http://images.eurogamer.net/2013/ar...amer-rmwbpc.jpg/EG11/resize/959x-1/format/jpg http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc302/RaptorFuel/Kerbal Space Program/screenshot37.png while others take a more... laid back approach: http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/TaBkCDtt-7o/maxresdefault.jpg I almost forgot-- Anyone play this already and have some experiences to share? I'll post some of mine if there's any interest.
