Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator

Shuttle is a vastly underrated and undersold simulation, probably because it is a “hard” SCI-FI game with a steep learning curve. Play Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator online!

It’s a very realistic (and the only decent) simulation of the Space Shuttle. This one should not be approached by casual gamers, as this game is rock-hard. The flight model (well at least the atmospheric one) is very good, and it the glide test, the shuttle really handles like the enormous winged brick it is.

To successfully fly the missions, the player must learn a great number of dials and how to use every single instrument, located in nine different cockpit panels. The controls can be used with mouse, but keyboard shortcuts are essential for quick operation. In addition to cockpit views, there are various external views, from which you can see the shuttle e.g. in launch pad and in orbit. If you do not use time advance or time skip options during the game, playing one mission can last for days. Going through the proper pre-launch countdown takes five hours, for example.