Deep-Space Observatory
A whole galaxy that evolves on its own, right on your desktop.Your galaxy. Yours to watch!
Hundreds of civilizations are born, ally, go to war, hide and ascend on your wallpaper. Every galaxy has a history all its own, and you get to witness all of it!
Windows · macOS · Linux
Trailer
You’re the observatory’s technician
Millions of years from now, humanity’s descendants roam the universe freely. Passing a galaxy that might give rise to minds, they set an observatory on its edge and left it to an observation AI.
Turn on your computer and the galaxy is there on your wallpaper, turning slowly, with civilizations’ borders glowing over the stars like a hologram. While you work, centuries pass. Come back from a coffee and a dynasty may have fallen, or a faith crossed half the galaxy. When you want a closer look, fly from the whole galaxy into a single star system, then down onto a living world to watch its dusk and rain.
No winning, no reloading, no do-overs. Just sit back and watch — not even we know what happens next!
- Watch.
- Record.
- Report.
- Never interfere.
The stories you’ll see unfold
The life of a civilization
A first look at the sky, a first ship, neighbouring stars settled, a sector power, and then decline, collapse, or departure from the galaxy as light.
History that writes itself
80 technologies, a dozen-plus governments and their revolutions, faiths with 16 doctrines, 22 schools of thought, treaties and betrayal, espionage, plagues, wonders, arks and exiles, each with causes and consequences.
No two galaxies end alike
One sees a hegemony spanning a quarter of the galaxy fall apart within days; another sinks into the dark forest’s Age of Silence; others splinter into warring realms or burn down to ruins. In a very few universes, the observatory itself has to leave.
Uneven encounters
An advanced civilization may find another millions of years before it is found, and then watch in secret, slip it a blueprint, strike from the dark, or one day arrive from the sky.
A multilingual chronicle
Available in multiple languages, the observatory writes every great event in your language, and only the real news. There are lives of the great, a codex of what you’ve witnessed, and a history you can search and replay.
From the observatory log
One civilization watched its neighbour for nearly two million years. The neighbour never knew.
A hegemony swallowed most of the galaxy in three days, and fell apart in one.
After the transcendent ones left as light, their worlds were silent for a long time. Then someone looked up.
Observation log
The whole galaxy: 200,000 stars, with realms glowing over them 
Seven kinds of galaxy, each with its own structure and gas 
Up close: every realm’s name, temperament and territory 
A star system: planets, Dyson swarms, fleets at war 
Land on a living world and watch its days and clouds 
The observatory console: realms, science, faiths, lives 
The chronicle: every great event the observatory recorded
Made for your desktop
Light and fast
Built from scratch in Rust with no heavy engine. It opens in seconds and runs smoothly even on integrated graphics.
Stays out of your way
Pauses when windows cover it and barely touches your computer’s resources.
Three platforms
Windows, macOS and Linux: the same universe writes the same history on any machine.
Multi-monitor
Plug in a second screen and it becomes the observatory console, cycling through the latest from every realm (Windows).
At a glance
The epoch, the name of the age and the latest news sit right on your wallpaper; historic moments pop up as notifications.
A score that composes itself
Piano and string orchestra, written live to the mood of the galaxy, never the same twice.
Moddable
Change the rules, events, text or tech tree.
System requirements
- Windows
- Windows 10/11 64-bit, a DirectX 12 graphics card (integrated is fine)
- macOS
- macOS 11 or later (Metal)
- Linux
- A Vulkan-capable graphics card (a true wallpaper on X11, a window on Wayland)
- Languages
- Traditional Chinese, English, Japanese (switch at any time)
Desktop-wallpaper galaxy civilization simulator (idle / ambient)
Your galaxy is waiting
The Steam “Coming Soon” page opens shortly. Stay tuned!