Best Starter Planets in Space Engineers, Ranked by Resources

Open-ended sandbox titles tend to leave new players staring at the menu wondering where to land first. Space Engineers is one of those games, and the planet you pick at the start shapes everything that comes after: your first base, your first ship, and how soon you can stop scrounging for ore. This guide ranks the five most reliable starter planets so you can plant your flag with a plan instead of a prayer.

How This Ranking Works

Once you finish the intro scenario, the solar system opens up and the choice of starting world is yours. The picks below favor accessible resources, manageable gravity, and a survivable environment over raw endgame value. They are not the richest worlds in the game. They are the best places to learn the ropes before you tackle the harder stuff.

5. EarthLike

EarthLike is the gentle introduction. It mirrors our own planet closely enough that anything you already understand about terrain, oxygen, and gravity carries over without surprises. The atmosphere is breathable, the climate is forgiving, and the surface mixes flat plains with cliffs and forests, so you get a feel for navigation without anything trying to kill you outright.

Its ore selection covers everything you need to bootstrap a small base and your first atmospheric ships, including Nickel and Silicon for the basic functional blocks.

Obtainable resources: Cobalt, Gold, Ice, Iron, Magnesium, Nickel, Silicon, Silver, and Uranium ore.

4. Pertam

When EarthLike starts to feel like training wheels, Pertam is the natural step up. The terrain dials up the drama with canyons, deserts, and mountain ranges, and the higher gravity forces you to engineer smarter. Heavier ships, more thrust, better landing gear.

The payoff is solid renewable power. Pertam's open sky and strong sun make it one of the better worlds for solar panels and wind turbines, which keeps your early grid running without burning through uranium.

Obtainable resources: Cobalt, Gold, Ice, Iron, Magnesium, Nickel, Platinum, Silicon, Silver, and Uranium ore.

3. Europa

Technically a moon of Jupiter rather than a planet, Europa still earns a spot on this list. It is light on variety (no Stone, for instance) but it has a stable climate, a tundra surface that makes harvesting ice trivial, and a gravitational pull strong enough to pull in nearby asteroids you can mine for whatever Europa itself lacks.

It is not the friendliest pick for a complete beginner, but if you want a quiet base of operations with steady ice supply for hydrogen fuel, it works.

Obtainable resources: Cobalt, Gold, Ice, Iron, Magnesium, Nickel, Platinum, Silicon, and Silver ore.

2. Mars

Mars sits just past Europa and offers a slightly richer setup. Ice is surprisingly easy to find despite the dusty red appearance, and Nickel and Silicon are right there at the surface for your starter blocks.

The catch is the landing. Mars has heavy gravity and a thin atmosphere, which means parachutes do roughly nothing. Plan your descent with thrusters or plan to add yourself to the geology.

Obtainable resources: Cobalt (added in Update 1.196), Gold, Ice, Iron, Magnesium, Nickel, Silicon, and Silver ore.

1. Alien Planet

The Alien Planet is the toughest entry here and also the most rewarding. Calling its terrain varied is selling it short: scorching deserts give way to frozen tundra within a single drive. Almost every ore in the game shows up here, with only Platinum and Uranium missing.

The name is not decoration. There are hostile lifeforms on the surface, and they are not interested in trade. Bring weapons before you bring ambition.

Obtainable resources: Cobalt, Gold, Ice, Iron, Magnesium, Nickel, Silicon, and Silver ore.

Picking Your First World

If this is your first run, drop on EarthLike and stay until you understand power, fuel, and refining. From there, Pertam or Mars give you a real challenge without throwing you into the deep end. Save the Alien Planet for when you have a proper ship and a reason to need every ore at once.