There is an old Super Nintendo game called Uncharted Waters that isn’t “indie”, but you can emulate it and it will play on a wristwatch with an entire global map and trade economy.
this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2023
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No Man's Sky seems to fit that description
Elite Dangerous might scratch that itch for you. No Man's Sky also has some of that.
Seconding the overwhelming urge to spreadsheet trade routes in No Man's Sky.
Have you looked into HALCYON 6? Not quite buying and selling goods, but it might be a good spot to get your feet wet before diving into something super complicated. You do have space station and fleet and need manage resources (and upgrades) while scouting/ developing/ defending a broader galaxy. The end game can get a little repetitive, but overall it's a pretty solid indy game with colorful characters, fun pixel art, and Star Trek vibes (plus it's a little older, so goes on sale pretty regularly).
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Kenshi may be something worth looking into.
Is combat focus a deal breaker? If not: Faster Than Light Volcanoids (early access) Darkest dungeon (kind of) Xcom
If you step away from the ship, things like mass effect and outer worlds come to mind. If the ship can be a base there's a whole world there. Astroneer, planet crafter (early access), Starbound, terraria, Subnautica If exploration/colony sim is cool you're looking at factorio, rift breaker, frostpunk, ixion (hardcore!), satisfactory
I expect I've stayed from your prompt at this point. It's a tough niche. Good luck with your search!
Edit: on mobile, don't know why my line breaks didn't work. Forgive the formatting.
Rebel Galaxy X4: Foundations
You might look into Vagrus - The Riven Realms. It's a game where you manage a trade caravan and deal with resource management and random events. Also, Elite Dangerous or something like Euro Truck Simulator could be good.
Freelancer
It's literally free abandonware
Port Royale 2.
Why 2?
Because it's twice as good as 1
Because it's the last one from Ascaron. I know it's quite old and you might have problems running it (there was a dll fix on Steam guides maybe that helps). Things about Kalypso, they usually butcher the IPs they got. So Port Royale 2 is still the best one among them. (Same thing with Patrician 3)
Horizon's Gate is this with a tactics RPG on it, and is one of my favorite indies. Merchant of the Skies is this with a floating island theme, which I enjoy.
Merchant of skies was fun. Too short though.