The astronauts stranded on the ISS reminded me of these games

As a layperson who has never been to space and is terrified by the thought of ever attempting space flight, few things scare me more than the thought of being trapped up there with no way to return to Earth. And that’s exactly what happened to two NASA astronauts who flew to the International Space Station in June on a Boeing Starliner spacecraft.

As Boeings are now infamously known to do, the Starliner malfunctioned during a test flight and engineers weren’t sure if the astronauts would survive the trip back to Earth. That means both astronauts have now been stuck on the International Space Station for ten weeks while NASA decides the safest way to bring them back.

However, NASA insists that the astronauts are not technically “stranded.”

Although the astronauts aren’t nearly as shaken as the average person who would unexpectedly be trapped in space – they seem to mostly be doing tasks no one else wants to do and otherwise relaxing – I couldn’t help but think about what it would feel like to be out there in space and know it’s not safe for me to go home. You know how William Shatner was overcome with pure existential sadness as he watched Earth from space? I think that’s how I would feel, too.

To exorcise these demons, I’m making a list of all the video games this scenario (which I know will never happen to me) reminds me of.

Alien: Isolation

We start off strong with a survival horror game that is considered by some to be one of the best video games of all time and has recently been in the news for its influence on the recently released Alien: Romulus. In Alien: Isolation, Amanda Ripley (daughter of the series’ original protagonist, Ellen Ripley) joins a mission to retrieve the flight recorder of her mother’s ship so she can put Ellen’s disappearance behind her. She becomes separated from her team, finds the flight recorder, discovers that the data has been corrupted, and also realizes that the station has gone out of control due to a deadly alien creature wandering around.

As far as we know, there is no hostile alien life in the International Space Station orbiting Earth. If I were an astronaut, I’d probably still have nightmares about it. Thank goodness I write about games instead.

Dead space

That’s right, more survival horror to fuel your nightmares. Dead Space also follows a crew in space on their way to a ship that has gone silent and been overrun by dangerous alien life. However, Dead Space is perhaps even more terrifying because of its reliance on the portrayal of psychosis and delusions. Considering how many people in the world have mental health issues, and that space flight is known to trigger mental health issues, this is a far more realistic and frightening possibility than being attacked by sentient alien life. There’s a reason astronauts are psychiatrically evaluated before they’re sent there.

G-Man from the artwork for The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx in the background and Combine characters in the foreground

There should be more making-ofs like the last hours of Half-Life: Alyx

Geoff Keighley’s interactive making-of offers an insight into a games industry interested in preserving its history.

Outer Wilderness

Outer Wilds is different from the games I’ve listed so far in that it’s not a survival horror game. I only played it in 2022, and yet it’s seared into my memory because of one terrifying moment. Early in the game, I was sucked into a black hole—it happens to the best of us—and spat out into the dark, empty depths of space, where I promptly died, alone and terrified. I was so deeply disturbed by the experience that I put the game down and never picked it up again. It’s still on my list of games to play, but every time I think of the game, I’m reminded of the absolute desolation of space and the very real terror I felt as I was sucked into that hole.

Among us

Crew members killing each other in space. These astronauts are already doing chores and maintenance up there, which means they really don’t The far from Among Us. Like a brutal alien attack, this is incredibly unlikely, but I’ll be keeping an eye on the news for any suspicious behavior… just in case.