Oxygen Not Included

Oxygen Not Included PC is a 2D side-view space-colony simulation from Klei Entertainment, built around excavation, automation, resource management, and survival engineering. The storefront name remains Oxygen Not Included on Steam and Epic Games Store; there is no verified rebrand or replacement edition to distinguish from the original title.

You begin with a small group of Duplicants trapped inside an alien asteroid. Their survival depends on systems that interact constantly: breathable air, temperature, food, plumbing, power, morale, and access to new materials. The game is single-player and sandbox-driven rather than campaign-led, so the main objective is to keep expanding a functioning colony while solving the next failure before it becomes fatal.

Build a colony that can breathe

The central loop is straightforward to describe and difficult to master. You assign Duplicants to dig through procedurally generated terrain, place rooms and machinery, research technologies, and establish production chains. Every excavation changes the colony's available space and can also expose dangerous gases, liquids, heat, wildlife, or pressure problems.

Oxygen management is the defining early concern, but it is only one part of the simulation. Oxygen moves through open spaces, carbon dioxide settles in low areas, and different gases occupy the same rooms according to their properties. The Oxygen Overlay helps you inspect circulation and identify pockets where a base is becoming unsafe.

Duplicants do not act like directly controlled units. You create priorities, schedules, rooms, permissions, and task assignments, then watch them interpret those instructions. Their skills, interests, traits, needs, and stress responses affect how efficiently they work and how much supervision the colony requires.

Where the real difficulty comes from

Thermodynamics turns ordinary construction into long-term planning. Machines generate heat, biomes have different temperatures, and food, crops, plumbing, and Duplicants can all suffer when the environment drifts beyond safe limits. A base that works in the opening phase may eventually need insulated construction, cooling systems, refined materials, and careful heat routing.

The simulation also tracks gas and liquid movement. Pipes can transport water, polluted water, fuel, and other fluids to the buildings that need them, but a badly designed network can back up, contaminate a clean supply, or leave a critical machine without input. Power grids add another layer through generators, batteries, circuit load, automation, and possible overloads.

Research unlocks new buildings and technologies, while exploration reveals rare resources, geysers, critters, and new areas to exploit. Automation systems let you use sensors, logic, and control devices to reduce manual intervention. Later colonies often feel less like a collection of rooms and more like a carefully balanced industrial machine.

• Duplicant skills and traits shape work assignments and colony roles.
• Stress reactions can turn psychological pressure into practical emergencies.
• Critter ranching provides food, materials, and specialized colony support.
• Farming and food chains connect temperature, irrigation, fertilizers, and morale.
• Research and materials determine which survival problems you can solve next.

That combination is why Oxygen Not Included feels closer to an engineering puzzle than a conventional city builder. The challenge is rarely just gathering more resources. It is designing a stable process that continues working after the colony becomes larger, hotter, busier, and more dependent on interconnected infrastructure.

Survival, sandbox, and mastery loops

Oxygen Not Included does not revolve around a linear story campaign. Each colony is a self-contained simulation with procedurally generated terrain, configurable world settings, and player-defined goals. You may focus on building a reliable starter base, reaching advanced research, establishing renewable resource systems, exploring the asteroid, or attempting a long-term megabase.

The game supports survival-focused play as well as Sandbox Mode, which can be used to test layouts, experiment with buildings, or construct without the normal resource restrictions. This makes the PC version useful both as a demanding survival sim and as a design laboratory for players who enjoy testing complicated systems.

Failure is part of the intended structure. A colony can collapse because of oxygen depletion, overheating, starvation, illness, stress, plumbing mistakes, power shortages, or an overambitious expansion. Restarting teaches you which assumptions were unsafe, while a successful recovery often becomes more satisfying than a flawless opening.

Base game and current DLC lineup

The paid base game contains the core asteroid-colony simulation, including excavation, Duplicant management, research, farming, power, plumbing, gases, liquids, temperature, automation, critters, and procedural worlds. The current storefront catalog also lists a bundle that combines the base game with the major add-ons and cosmetic content.

Spaced Out! is the largest expansion. It adds multi-world colony management, space missions, modular rockets, a broader starmap, radiation, nuclear systems, new biomes, resources, critters, and research options. It changes the scale of the game by asking you to coordinate several planetoids and move materials between them.

The planet-focused packs provide different starting environments and specialized mechanics. The Frosty Planet Pack emphasizes ice, snow, and thermoregulation. The Prehistoric Planet Pack adds dinosaur critters, primordial plants, new biomes, peat-based systems, and asteroid-defense elements. The Aquatic Planet Pack introduces a flooded starting planet with marine biomes, aquatic critters and plants, and expanded water-oriented ranching.

The Bionic Booster Pack introduces bionic Duplicants, portable electricity solutions, remote-work buildings, and related systems. The catalog also lists the Neutronium Cosmetics Pack and the soundtrack as separate add-ons. The base game is therefore a complete colony sim on its own, while the DLC is divided between a major multi-world expansion, themed planet packs, a specialized Duplicant pack, and optional cosmetic or audio extras.

Who should play Oxygen Not Included?

This is a strong fit for players who enjoy systems-heavy colony sims, production chains, simulation detail, and solving problems through layout rather than direct combat. It rewards patience, observation, and willingness to restart. Players who like experimenting with pipes, heat exchangers, automated doors, farms, power networks, and creature habitats will find a large amount of depth here.

It is less suitable if you want a guided story, direct character control, conventional combat, or a relaxed builder where mistakes rarely matter. The presentation is friendly and humorous, but the underlying simulation can be unforgiving. The game also expects you to learn from tooltips, overlays, failed colonies, and your own experiments rather than handing you a single optimal construction path.

For a broader science-fiction settlement experience with domes, colonists, and planetary hazards, the catalog's large-scale Mars colony builder Surviving Mars Relaunched is a useful comparison. Its structure is more conventional, while Oxygen Not Included puts much more emphasis on enclosed spaces and physical simulation.

PC features and practical platform details

Oxygen Not Included is available on PC through Steam and Epic Games Store, with cloud-save support listed for the Epic version and cloud-save functionality supported in the Steam version. The game's interface is designed around keyboard and mouse precision, including construction placement, priority management, overlays, piping, automation, and nested information panels.

The current Steam listing identifies the game as single-player and lists Steam Trading Cards and Family Sharing. It does not list online multiplayer, local co-op, split-screen, or official controller support. Players should approach it as a keyboard-and-mouse management game rather than a shared colony experience.

Supported storefront languages include English, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Russian for interface and audio, with Traditional Chinese also listed for text. The game also has an in-game mod system and a long-running modding ecosystem, giving PC players additional ways to adjust quality-of-life features, visuals, interface behavior, and colony rules.

If you prefer post-apocalyptic settlement management and specialist expeditions instead of tightly enclosed asteroid engineering, survival city builders such as Surviving the Aftermath offer a more population-and-map-focused alternative. The overlap is in resource pressure and colony planning, not in the detailed gas, liquid, and temperature model.

Oxygen Not Included FAQ

Is Oxygen Not Included still sold under the same name?

Yes. The verified Steam and Epic storefront listings continue to use Oxygen Not Included. No official rebrand, renamed edition, or replacement title was found.

Is Oxygen Not Included multiplayer or co-op?

No. The current storefront listings identify it as a single-player game and do not list online multiplayer, local co-op, or split-screen modes.

What is the main gameplay objective?

You manage a colony of Duplicants inside a procedurally generated asteroid. The practical goal is to maintain breathable air, food, water, temperature, power, sanitation, and morale while expanding into more demanding parts of the world.

Is Spaced Out! required to play the base game?

No. The base game provides the core asteroid-colony experience. Spaced Out! is an optional expansion that adds multi-world management, rockets, radiation, nuclear systems, and additional research and exploration content.

Does Oxygen Not Included have a creative or sandbox mode?

Yes. Sandbox Mode allows players to test buildings, layouts, and systems with reduced or removed survival restrictions. It is useful for learning advanced mechanics without risking a long-running colony.

Is a controller recommended on PC?

The game is built around detailed mouse-and-keyboard management. Because the current storefront listing does not advertise controller support, keyboard and mouse should be considered the reliable input choice for construction, overlays, priorities, and automation.

Which languages are supported?

The listed localization includes English, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Russian for interface and audio, with Traditional Chinese additionally available for text.