You don't need a degree in rocket science, but it sure does help.

I will be honest, I do like this game!
But, there are extreme drawbacks that prevent me from recommending it.

1. This is not a complete or fully thought out game!
Many people may disagree with me on this, but at the
end of the day, this is just a building game, and there
isn't really enough mechanics to call this a complete
game. THERE ARE NO GOALS!

Now there is a lot you can do in this game, but once you
gain interplanetary travel in survival, there is really no reason
to keep playing. Multiplayer has combat going for it, multiplayer
is completely worth playing, but that's it.

2. Despite being a sandbox game, if you want to actually build cool stuff, you need to buy dlc.
This is the main reason I can't recommend this game to others.
The main game is kinda like a free trial in my opinion and the
DLC is the completed game, excluding skin packs. This is a
serious problem because the base game's price is the true
value of the game including DLC. You do not get your money's
worth for the price of the DLC, you just pay for the rest of
the game you already bought. DLC included, this game is
worth 20$.

I would say "buy the DLC to support the devs!" but I don't
actually support the devs for the most part. Because instead
of updating the game to add new gameplay, they just
continuously refresh mechanics in the game to come up
with excuses to add more DLC.

3. The devs are already working on a squeal!
I HIGHLY doubt this game will be left in a finished
or fully realized state when the squeal releases.
Keep in mind the squeal is certainly at a minimum
two to three years away, probably even more. And yes,
I would bet that in that time frame the game will not
see major improvement or the addition of significant mechanics.
The reason for this is because with a second game, they can
re-sell the game to you, and most certainly for an up-charge of
likely 60 or so dollars. And then they will continue their greedy
DLC model.

In summary: Brilliant game, but the devs are too greedy

Space Engineers is an absolutely delightful game best played with friends. It really captures the simulation of being in space (or on a planet) while not being overcomplicated and allows you to create some really crazy stuff with it. This game sets zero limits, and only gets better with modding. This game is for anyone in my opinion, even if the idea of being in space might be intimidating for some due to the conditions that this game puts you through but luckily there are different worlds you can start on to make things much easier.