Kerbal Space Program‘s alpha has now reached release 0.12, which introduces a new goal for players: a moon (or “Mun,” as Kerbals spell it) now exists in the game, orbiting the Kerbal homeworld and daring players to try landing on it.
Even in its alpha state, KSP has already established a rather dedicated following, largely due to its ability to be easily modded. Fans are regularly making new parts, allowing for players to construct everything from historical rockets such as NASA’s Saturn V or Roscosmos’s Soyuz, to modern and near-future spaceplanes. Other notable fan contributions range from the game’s 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired loading screen (done by Riess, of Our Intrepid Crew) to the amazing fan trailer seen above, by KSP fan Dippeggs.
0.12 is the second-to-last free version of the game (0.13 is planned to mostly be bug-fixes and optimization) and gives players a great taste of what’s to come. For players who purchase the game, the planned features beyond version 0.13 include more stellar bodies (such as planets and asteroids), space stations, trainable AI crew to man the missions, and even a “story mode,” which will challenge players to complete various goals on a limited budget.
If you haven’t yet played Kerbal Space Program, you can check it out here.