Planetfall!

Planetfall marks the moment a shuttle touches down on a planet and the player begins operating on the surface. In Astroneer, landing is tied to selectable landing zones, which are shown as a sphere when viewed from orbit. This lets the player choose exactly where to descend instead of being forced into a random arrival point.

Landing zones appear naturally at the start of the game, and they can also be created with a Landing Zone. When one is placed near another landing zone, it can become difficult to select the intended site for touchdown, since the markers are close together. Landing zones do not use Beacons, so they can be harder to distinguish from naturally generated landing spots.

A landing zone reaches up to the top of the cloud layer on each planet, making it visible from orbit but still tied to a specific surface area. In multiplayer, a passenger can also select a landing zone for the shuttle to use, not only the player controlling the descent.

Planetfall is therefore less about a single object and more about the game’s surface-entry flow: choosing a safe and useful place to begin work on a world, then transitioning from orbit into exploration and base building. This matters on every planet, since each world has its own terrain, solar and wind conditions, and resource layout.

• Natural landing zones are present from the start of a save.
• Landing zones created with a Landing Zone can interfere with nearby ones if placed too close together.
• They are visible from orbit as a sphere.
• They do not have Beacons, which makes them easy to confuse with other landing sites.
• In multiplayer, passengers can choose the landing zone as well.

The planets themselves vary widely, from terrestrial and easy worlds to more dangerous radiated ones with very difficult conditions. Their surface types range from lush, Earth-like terrain to cratered moons, dry desert landscapes, heavily forested exotic regions, frozen tundra, and toxic wastelands. Some planets are also associated with real-world inspirations: Sylva and Desolo resemble Earth and the Moon, Atrox is closely based on Venus-like toxicity, Calidor draws from Mars, and Glacio may be inspired by Uranus or Neptune because of its icy core.