As a big fan of Star Trek, I'm always on the lookout for games that capture the same sense of adventure, exploration, and camaraderie as the beloved sci-fi franchise. Recently, I discovered a couple of games that scratch that Star Trek itch.

The first is "No Man's Sky," a procedurally generated space exploration game that lets you explore a vast, open universe filled with planets to discover, creatures to encounter, and mysteries to solve. The game's sense of discovery and wonder reminds me of the best moments from Star Trek, as you boldly go where no one has gone before.

The second game is "Elite Dangerous," a massively multiplayer space sim that lets you pilot your own spaceship and explore a detailed and immersive galaxy. The game's focus on player choice and freedom, as well as its emphasis on community and collaboration, gives it a Star Trek-like vibe.

Both of these games capture the essence of what makes Star Trek so special - the thrill of exploration, the wonder of discovery, and the power of friendship and teamwork. If you're a fan of Star Trek, I highly recommend checking them out.

You forgot Star Trek Online. I'll admit I haven't played this for quite a few years now, but it wasn't too bad back then - and it had a feature that allowed you to explore "uncharted" areas which created random encounters and missions - similar to an episodic or serial style of gameplay.

Will admit I haven't played No Man's Sky, but it does look good. Part of the reason is that I'm a huge Elite: Dangerous fan, and have been a fan since I first played it on the old BBC Micro when it was first released in 1984. Unfortunately my laptop cannot cope with the demands of the game, so I'm reduced to playing it online using the Xbox - which means that I have access to the Horizons update but not the Odyssey one. Which means I can land on certain types of planet but I cannot leave the ship to walk around the stations or planets.

I'm also more of a space trucker and explorer than I am a bounty hunter / thargoid hunter.

But I also concur and say, if Star Trek Online doesn't do it for you then Elite: Dangerous might scratch that exploration itch.

Starship Traveller, a Fighting Fantasy gamebook by Steve Jackson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Traveller relates a lot to Star Trek (TOS) tropes and general feeling.

Star Fleet Battles and Prime Directive.

Ground Zero Games' Full Thrust.

I would recommend Star Trek Online. Its still getting updates and a good community as well.

Destiny in some ways captures it as well.

No Mans as well seems good for updates so stays relatively new.

The Captain is a great one. It's a combination point & click adventure game plus a turn-based space battler with a plot kinda similar to Voyager (you are on a critical mission and get thrown to the opposite end of the galaxy and have race back to save the day). Orion Trail is likewise a similar feeling which is basically Space Oregon Trail along with Out There.

Sunless Skies really leans into the bizarre with an almost lovecraftian twist but it is all about exploration and discovering plotlines and developing your crew.

Birth of the Federation was a pretty decent turn based 4x game about building up one of the major factions and had a lot of cool theming around ships and technology and minor races to win or conquer. As a successor to that Birth of the Empires is a spiritual successor that (due to licensing issues) strips away the explicit Star Trek IP but keeps the overall themes and gameplay of BotF.

Halcyon 6 is very Star Trek-ish in theming but has more of a DS9 feel to it. You run a space station during a war and have to send out ships to rescue colonies and fight in the war.

Vessels is an interesting game. It's kind of like a walking simulator/interactive novel but it feels a lot like a "bottle episode" of Star Trek about encountering a strange phenomenon in space.

FTL is the definitive "space crew simulator" and there are other games in that space but FTL is really the best.

There is the Startrek rpg itself.
There is also the old starfrontiers using the dnd system