I can recommend Endless Sky (apparently it's very similar to Escape Velocity if you are familiar with that but I've never played it). It's a 2D space sandbox about outfitting ships, ferrying passengers or cargo, trading, fighting off pirates (or becoming one yourself), and above all political intrigue and human/alien diplomacy. The best bit for me was the story and writing, which I rank at the second best out of all games I've seen so far. It will also interest you if you are into the sort of min-maxing puzzles that go like 'how can I fit the maximum amount of thrusters and guns subject to these mass and volume constraints while dealing with power consumption and heat'.
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