Cosmic Ray

Cosmic Ray

Cosmocat · September 28, 2018 · Flight, Top-Down Shooter, Twin Stick Shooter, Casual, Exploration

Cosmic Ray is free to play — no purchase needed. We track it so you know if that ever changes.

PC
Mostly Positive79% · 14
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →

Screenshots

Cosmic Ray price

Cosmic Ray is free to play — there is no purchase price, on Steam or anywhere else we track. We keep watching it, so if it ever stops being free the price history on this page will show when that happened and what it changed to.

About Cosmic Ray

✦ AI summary

Cosmic Ray has you exploring distant solar systems to find habitable planets and resources before Earth's sun dies in five days. The casual gameplay features short rounds of planet colonization, terraforming, resource gathering, and fending off alien attacks while dodging space hazards.

The Earth's sun is about to die. Scientists predict we have, at most, 5 days remaining. The world as we know it is about to end...

Cosmic Ray to the rescue! His mission:
  • Explore distant solar systems
  • Colonize inhabitable planets, terraform inhospitable ones
  • Search planets for resources such as upgrade blueprints and alien artifacts
  • Collect ship parts to buy upgrades
  • Thwart alien attacks while avoiding the perils of space

Casual gameplay and short rounds make Cosmic Ray a great option for killing a few minutes.

Soundtrack


Cosmic Ray features a lush, ambient soundtrack featuring music by Snug, JFS and Ogotu. Guaranteed to calm a crying baby in mere seconds.

Cosmic Ray — game info

Platforms
Windows
Player modes
Single-player
Controller
Partial controller support
PC Game Pass
Not included

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

Recommended Jul 16, 2025
⠀
8 found this helpful
Recommended Feb 13, 2021
Hard to explain, but I enjoy the game. The core conceit is that it takes five minutes to play, unless you die earlier. This makes it a rather niche game I suspect, but it works for me. The core concept is that you are humanities last hope, and trying to terraform planets to save the human race. The game mechanics are very simply, you fly around looking for solar systems, which oddly enough consists of a bunch planets in he same orbit around a star, and look for planets worth using your limited supply of terraforming gas on. The information you get is limited, the population potential, and the percentage change of success. Completing the terraforming consists solely of holding down the left mouse button, nothing more. While on the planet however, it is worthwhile zipping around exploring it, as you can find repair nodules (red dots) and schematics for upgrades (boxes with question marks on them) or alient artifacts. There are times when you will drop down on to a planet you don't want to terraform to grab these, that is cool. The upgrades so far include better weapons, a speed boost, and faster terraforming. You need parts, little bolts dropped by one kind of enemy ship, to ins…
4 found this helpful
Not recommended Aug 16, 2020
Boring. Arcadish. Repetitive. Didn't like it at all.
2 found this helpful
Recommended Apr 12, 2020
D A M N I T_Toke me 3 hours to finish travelling outer space
1 found this helpful
Recommended Oct 31, 2025
Игра 'Cosmic Ray' приятно удивила своей динамикой и простым, но захватывающим геймплеем. Летая на космическом корабле и уклоняясь от астероидов, чувствуешь настоящий прилив адреналина. Простое управление делает игру доступной для новичков, но сложность постепенно нарастает, заставляя оттачивать мастерство и разрабатывать собственную тактику. Визуальный стиль в ретро-стиле добавляет шарма, возвращая в эпоху аркадных автоматов. Музыкальное сопровождение отлично дополняет атмосферу космических приключений, не отвлекая от самого процесса. Несмотря на кажущуюся простоту, 'Cosmic Ray' обладает высокой реиграбельностью. Стремление побить собственный рекорд и забраться на вершину таблицы лидеров мотивирует проводить в игре часы напролет. Рекомендую всем любителям быстрых и динамичных аркад, которые ищут что-то простое, но увлекательное.
Not recommended Oct 22, 2025
.

Community reviews

—

0 reviews

Sign in to write a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this game.

More like Cosmic Ray

News

All news →
Minecraft Dungeons 2 Deluxe Edition: skip it, play on Game PassXbox

Minecraft Dungeons 2 Deluxe Edition: skip it, play on Game Pass

The Minecraft Dungeons 2 Deluxe Edition asks you to pre-order two unannounced DLC packs for a game Game Pass already gives you. What it contains, and why the upgrade can wait.

Sep 30, 2026
Is DayZ worth it? A straight answer before you buyPC

Is DayZ worth it? A straight answer before you buy

Is DayZ worth it? Twelve years on it is still the genre's least forgiving game. What you are buying, who it suits, and what our 97-day price record says about the timing.

Sep 30, 2026
Transport Fever 3 price: which edition to buy on launch dayPC

Transport Fever 3 price: which edition to buy on launch day

Transport Fever 3 is out today. The Transport Fever 3 price splits three ways, the loyalty discount has a fortnight-long fuse, and our record shows what the older game really costs.

Sep 29, 2026
No Man's Sky price: how low it gets and when to buyPC

No Man's Sky price: how low it gets and when to buy

The No Man's Sky price has come a long way down since 2016, and the game is on PC Game Pass too. Our tracked 12-month low, the regional key gap, and what to actually pay.

Sep 29, 2026
Sekiro cheap: what our price record shows, and what to avoidDeals

Sekiro cheap: what our price record shows, and what to avoid

Search Sekiro cheap and the results are keyshop listings, not a store discount. Our three-month price record explains the gap, and why so few live offers changes the advice.

Sep 28, 2026
System Shock 2 Remaster free on Epic from 1 OctoberFreebies

System Shock 2 Remaster free on Epic from 1 October

System Shock 2 Remaster free on Epic from 1 to 8 October, alongside BURIED STARS. Our price record shows why its floor has not moved in three months, and why waiting beats buying this week.

Sep 28, 2026
Dead Island 2 cheap: which edition, and what the price doesPC

Dead Island 2 cheap: which edition, and what the price does

Dead Island 2 cheap used to mean under a dollar. Our price record shows the floor has roughly doubled since September - here is which edition to buy, and the one that is a trap.

Sep 27, 2026
Steam Autumn Sale 2026: the games that cannot be discountedDeals

Steam Autumn Sale 2026: the games that cannot be discounted

The Steam Autumn Sale 2026 runs 1-8 October, but Valve's own rules bar every September release from it. Which games are locked out, and what our record says about the two biggest.

Sep 27, 2026

Top games right now

All rankings →
  1. 1Counter-Strike 2Free
  2. 2Dota 2Free
  3. 3PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDSFree
  4. 4Grand Theft Auto V Legacy—
  5. 5Terraria$2.20
  6. 6Rust$25.62
  7. 7Team Fortress 2Free
  8. 8Black Myth: Wukong$35.70
  9. 9HELLDIVERS™ 2$30.56
  10. 10ELDEN RING$52.89
  11. 11Apex Legends™Free
  12. 12Left 4 Dead 2$9.99
  13. 13Stardew Valley$14.73
  14. 14Wallpaper Engine$3.99
  15. 15Euro Truck Simulator 2$4.99
  16. 16Dead by Daylight$10.40
  17. 17Red Dead Redemption 2$10.54
  18. 18Baldur's Gate 3$41.99
  19. 19Phasmophobia$18.29
  20. 20War ThunderFree
  21. 21Call of Duty®—
  22. 22ARK: Survival Evolved$14.24
  23. 23Among Us$3.03
  24. 24The Forest$19.99