If you’ve ever been fascinated by the space simulation of the infamous video game Kerbal Space Program, SimpleRockets is an alternative option that directly turns you into a member of nascent space programs on your Android device.

SimpleRockets provides a simplified 2D experience for the making of rockets and space exploration with practical orbital physics engines. It was released in 2013 for mobile by Jundroo and has been on PC and Steam since 2015.

Jundroo is a young team of developers, and SimpleRockets is one of their first hits, along with SimplePlanes, a building-airplane game with the same theme. Jundroo focuses on leading players to discover how the machines are built and operated in all of its games.

Concept & Gameplay

Now back to our main topic – SimpleRockets. This is a physics simulation game, letting players create and operate rockets to explore a virtual solar system known as a “Smolar System.” Everything is about 90% smaller than the real thing. For instance, Smearth, a smaller version of Earth, is 10% of our planet’s size. Still, it has the same surface gravity and atmospheric pressure.

The main subjects that the developers aim for when creating this game are science, including engineering, astronomy, and gravity. With this concept, the game requires players to pursue thinking and reasoning skills such as analysis, problem-solving, and critical/logical thinking to pass numerous tasks and challenges.

You can build your own rockets with a wide range of designs from simple to complex in this game. For starting, you will go through a series of training sessions. These lessons are basic guidelines for designing, building, flying, orbiting, and landing rockets – which are also your main jobs in the game.

The first step of training is to build a simple rocket by dragging its parts and releasing them into the right position. The rocket should have enough components to carry out a mission effectively. The next steps will help you complete all the necessary stages and be ready to explore the universe and tackle interesting tasks.

After building the starship, you can use it to join several game modes. For instance, in Sandbox mode, you can freely discover all the planets in the “smolar system.” In Challenge mode, you can compete with other players in flying, navigating, or landing the rockets. We will have a closer look at this game mode in the next section.

What We Like About SimpleRockets

Creative Customization

SimpleRockets allows you to create your own spaceships. You can use the in-app currency to buy additional rocket skins and make your ships stand out over thousands of rockets flying together in the solar system.

Besides, it offers a wide range of equipment, including rocket engines, powered wheels, fuel tanks, and other gadgets. With such full options, you can select and connect any pieces you want to build a complete rocket ship. Only limited imagination can stop you on the way to the universe.

Discovering Space

Your adventure will start from any place you want in the solar system. Just open the Smolar System and select the planet you would like to launch your rocket from.

Besides, you can fly your rockets through dozens of moons and countless meteoroids and comets. This feature is a great reminder that we are living in a golden era to have the whole solar system and all that NASA-level spaceships in your pocket.

High Educational Value

SimpleRockets is not just a time-killing game. It’s based on Kepler’s equations written 400 years ago to design realistic orbital mechanics. While navigating the rockets exploring space, you will learn something real about rocket science and astrodynamics. By saying “real,” we mean it’s practical knowledge, not just fake animation for fun like tons of space fighting games on the market.

This feature makes SimpleRockets an ideal STEM enhancement tool for schools, especially in physics and astronomy classes. The game encourages imagination and the essential scientific principle of trial and error while educating children about engineering and physics. We highly recommend this app for all teachers and students instead of boring books and presentations.

Intuitive Instruction

Although including knowledge about the most difficult scientific fields like machinery, astronomy, and physics, SimpleRockets is not rigid and difficult to understand at all. There are guidelines to direct you from beginner to space-flight expert for everyone who has no idea what is periapse.

Even children with little knowledge and not familiar with this kind of game can have a good start with the training session in adequate detail. It would be exciting and inspiring to watch your rockets launch into orbit and successfully complete tasks step by step.

Furthermore, the developers have already prepared hints and mini-tutorials for some tough missions to help those who struggle or feel overwhelmed. Once you have these stuff dangling, you can feel encouraged to fly into space and see your rockets hit a top spot and see your ranking among other players. Since June 2015, Jundroo has replaced the leaderboards with the Personal Best Scores section.

In other words, SimpleRockets is easy enough to make you not give up in the middle of the game, but also challenging enough to motivate you. That’s why we suggest this game for both adults and kids.

Several Challenges

As we mentioned before, SimpleRockets has a Challenge mode in which players worldwide can participate in different challenges to find out who are the best “astronauts.” The competitions are just not endless fun but also realistic and practical.

These challenges consist of flying races (to see whose ship goes the fastest and/or farthest), orbiting competitions (you have to travel with a small, low-fuel rocket as far as possible), safe-docking (to see which players can land exactly on a defined location such as the moon with a satellite), and so on.

The missions will go from simple and gradually get harder. It’s really easy for players to follow. For starters, the first competition assignment is to launch a rocket that only flies up at least 100 km high. The spaceship you need to complete this mission is also simple: just a combination of an engine, a command pod, and a fuel tank.

Additionally, you will need a more complex architecture to fulfill other difficult missions later on. For example, the task that requires you to fly a rocket orbiting an entire planet and land using a parachute will need a complex-designed rocket for safely docking.

Modification

SimpleRockets is a modded version; thus, it provides you with modifications you’ve ever wished for when using the normal app. The SimpleRockets MOD APK Unlocked all modes, and you can enjoy every single challenge you want without waiting or spending money to buy the app and open the items.

What We Don’t Like About SimpleRockets

On the downside, the touch controls can be a little tricky even though you have had a whole training section. After launching the ship, you have to use touch sensors such as buttons and a spinning circle called “steering wheel” to control your transport fly in the correct direction. Landing, especially with a parachute or satellite, is also a difficult skill.

SimpleRockets is obviously not as easy as eating pie. Therefore, some hard missions might become more difficult than it would be for children. If you are parents and teachers having kids playing SimpleRockets, pay attention to their attitude to see whether they struggle.

Advice for Teachers and Parents

Making Your Class More Interesting

We dedicate this tip to science teachers. When introducing SimpleRockets to your class, try to determine your students’ levels and develop a logical route for them while playing the game.

When kids learn about basic engineering and the theory of forces, you might divide them into small groups. Each group can experiment with different rocket designs and then share their creation with each other. After that, tell them to use these designs to start exploring the solar system in Sandbox mode.

Moreover, once your students get familiar with launching and orbiting, assign some particular in-game challenges for them. You can also create the class leaderboard with the number of successes and failures based on the Personal Best Scores feature. This can keep the whole class motivated and try their best to improve their achievements.

Improve Game Results

If you are a physics teacher, everything will be fine because you’ve already had advanced astronomy and engineering knowledge. But if you are parents or an adult player who has no idea how a real rocket operates, then how do you know what’s wrong with your kids’ starships? What can you do to improve the result?

In this case, we suggest looking for real rockets’ designs on the internet and then compare them to the structures your children created in the app. By this method, you and your kids can find out the answer together. Don’t search for cheating or sample videos of players who have passed that level. It makes the game less interesting, and you will learn nothing by yourself.

Keep Trying

To be honest, since SimpleRockets is still a science teaching game, children will inevitably fail continuously and get bored with it regardless of the eye-catching graphics.

Therefore, while watching children play the game, parents and teachers should encourage children to keep trying again. Let the kids know that this is not a test, and they won’t get any penalty for failure.

Even when you are a high school student or an adult, there’s a high chance that your rockets are unsuccessful. Don’t be discouraged! Your repeated attempts to blast, orbit, and land your rockets will definitely be paid off.

FAQs

Q: Is SimpleRockets only suitable for children and teachers?

A: A big no for us. There’s a huge online community of space and rocket lovers who are playing SimpleRockets. If you are an adult player searching for some advanced tips and professional programs, join them on Facebook and Reddit to find more interesting information. Many people share their own gameplay videos on these social networks every single day.

Moreover, this game is not only for educational purposes. You can program your rocket to track other crafts and calculate it to hit other ships with rocket interception. That’s what we call star wars!

Q: Can I connect my rocket to the modular launchpad mod?

A: Currently, SimpleRockets does not support this function on PC and mobile.

Q: Is perfect landing hard to get?

A: We can say that you need practice, but it’s not that hard to land your rocket stably. There are many factors affecting the landing pad. In general, you will need the experience to calculate the align-up landing, a lot of Vizzy, and try to reduce lateral velocity by setting the heading to retrograde when the engine is burning, etc.

Q: From which age can children start playing SimpleRockets?

A: The recommended age for children playing this pace-science physics game is 12 and above. More specifically, students from grades 6 to 12 would be suitable.

If you still find 12 is too early, then let your kids play when they are in 8th grade, since they will learn about Newton’s Laws of Motion and orbital physics in this stage.

Final Words

Now that you’ve known all about SimpleRockets MOD APK – a 2D simulation of real rockets. So are you ready to become a starship scientist and blast off into space with this fascinating game? It’s fun, full of knowledge, challenging, but it also has some overwhelmed missions that could be frustrating.

However, actions speak louder than words. You will feel like you are enjoying a game, but you have to apply prior math and physics knowledge to complete tasks. This article is only our perspective and personal review, and the experience can be different for each player. Download and try it yourself.