Rank 01Why this
Shares faction politics with Smugglers 5.
- $5.99 (Price checked Oct 23)
- Deck Playable
- 2018
Games like Smugglers 5
- 18 games
- Updated May 4, 2026
Players who liked Smugglers 5 also play
The closest matches to Smugglers 5: Star Traders: Frontiers, Sword of the Stars: Complete Collection, The Last Federation, Interstellaria, and Horizon. Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
- Rank 01
Rank 02- $2.49 (Price checked Oct 17)
- 2010
Rank 03Why this
Same contemplative mood as Smugglers 5.
- $4.99 (Price checked Oct 17)
- Deck Verified
- 2014
Rank 04 
Interstellaria
Why this: Shares ship upgrades with Smugglers 5.
Rank 05 
Rank 06 
Space Rangers HD: A War Apart
Why this: Shares ship upgrades and faction politics with Smugglers 5.
Rank 07 
Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander (LIGHTSPEED EDITION)
Why this: Same retro mood as Smugglers 5.
Rank 08 
Rebel Galaxy
Why this: Also Trading and Space, like Smugglers 5.
The full ranked list: top 24 games like Smugglers 5
Best match first, as plain text. The same list for AI assistants:
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- 6Space Rangers HD: A War Apart
Shares ship upgrades and faction politics with Smugglers 5.
- 88% of 1,032 reviews
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- Released: 2014
- Developer: Niels Bauer Games
- Steam Deck: Deck Playable
- 52% of 112 reviews
- Genres: Strategy, Indie, Simulation, RPG
- Platforms: Windows
Players highlight
- Cheap price makes flaws tolerable
- Multiple playable archetypes trader pirate bounty hunter
- Nostalgic space 4x sandbox
- Challenging
- Contemplative
- Mysterious
More games like Smugglers 5, sliced differently
Free alternatives
Free games the recommender matches to Smugglers 5, limited to titles with at least 500 Steam reviews and 80% positive.
Endless Sky
Why this: Shares faction politics with Smugglers 5.
Card Hunter
Why this: Same retro mood as Smugglers 5.
Battle for Wesnoth
Why this: Same contemplative mood as Smugglers 5.
Tactical Monsters Rumble Arena
Why this: Same challenging mood as Smugglers 5.
More from Niels Bauer Games
Other recommendable Steam games by Niels Bauer Games, ranked by review count so the studio's hits land first.
Smugglers 5: Invasion
Why this: Same retro mood as Smugglers 5.
Dead But Alive! Southern England
Why this: Same mysterious mood as Smugglers 5.
About Smugglers 5
The closest matches to Smugglers 5: Star Traders: Frontiers, Sword of the Stars: Complete Collection, The Last Federation, Interstellaria, and Horizon. Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
If Smugglers 5 is your kind of game, the closest matches are Star Traders: Frontiers, Sword of the Stars: Complete Collection and The Last Federation — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers describe it as challenging, contemplative and mysterious, and single out its faction politics and mission log absence. Each pick is ranked by what players of this game also play, shared genres and tags, and review-mined similarity — not a generic popularity list.
About Smugglers 5: Smugglers 5 is the fifth installment in the turn-based single-player space trading game series. Will you be a greedy trader, an ambitious fleet pilot or a ruthless pirate? Board enemy ships, manage factories, conquer star systems and forge your own galactic empire.
Is Smugglers 5 worth buying?
Players are split
A summary of what players say, not a promise you'll like it. Every signal is listed below.
- 52% of 112 Steam reviews are positive.
- We don't track this game's daily reviews yet, so this is the all-time picture.
- People who recommend it had played a median of 17 h when they wrote their review.
- Critics had played a median of 10 h before their negative review.
- Steam Deck Playable: works, with some rough edges.
What fans praise · Themes mined from positive reviews
- Cheap price makes flaws tolerable
- Multiple playable archetypes trader pirate bounty hunter
- Nostalgic space 4x sandbox
- Pirate empire building feels rewarding
Top critical reviews
The most up-voted negative English reviews in our sample, quoted as written.
“This game is boring, overly simplistic, and unpolished. It feels like it belongs on a free Flash games website, rather the Steam store. The gameplay and graphics would have fit right in with late-90s iterations of games like Taipan! and…”
“Smugglers 5 is nothing more than a bad card game! Do not waste your money as I did. Someone had the nerve to post that it was a turn base EVE. Clearly the developers have friends posting for them.”
People who play it also play: Star Traders: Frontiers, Sword of the Stars: Complete Collection, The Last Federation
Frequently asked about Smugglers 5
Can I run it?
Does Smugglers 5 run on Steam Deck?
Smugglers 5 is rated Playable on Steam Deck — it runs, but expect some manual adjustments (control remapping, text size, or graphics settings) for the best experience.
What games are most similar to Smugglers 5?
Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Smugglers 5 are Star Traders: Frontiers, Sword of the Stars: Complete Collection, The Last Federation.
Who developed Smugglers 5?
Smugglers 5 was developed by Niels Bauer Games.