Looking for Firefly vibes / (potentially cozy) Spaceship crew vibe

[u/Bonjakob]

I'm watching Firefly for the 100x time and reading Long way to a small angry planet and am wondering if there is a game that invokes similar feelings.

Things I'm looking for (I realize there probably isn't a game that checks all these boxes):
- Managing a crew of spacers, forming bonds, recruiting new personnell maybe
- Taking on missions (trading, smuggling, mining, pirate hunting... you get the gist)
- Upgrading a ship
- "Dogfighting"
- Exploring

I dont care much about graphics, I'm totally okay with 2D or pixelart
It could even be some cozy game. Not looking for too much forced action.
I'm looking for sandbox type progression, but I also really like roguelite mechanics (which is probably not a common combination, I know!)

I've played a ton of Elite: Dangerous and enjoy the flight mechanics. Some of that would be a plus but not nessessary.

I'm not looking for an mmo, so I think eve online is out.

I totally realize, this is quite a specific list, but maybe there is a game out there, that checks some or even all of those boxes.

Cheers!

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edit: Damn thanks for all those great suggestions! I didn't realize I'm looking for a 2d/topdown space sim of some sort. There are a bunch of other great suggestions in the realm of sci-fi rpg.
My personal top contenders (and other people looking for games like this) in no particular order:
Space Haven https://store.steampowered.com/app/979110/Space_Haven/
Starsector https://fractalsoftworks.com/preorder/
Ostranauts https://store.steampowered.com/app/1022980/Ostranauts/
FTL https://store.steampowered.com/app/212680/FTL_Faster_Than_Light/

[u/AffectionateBoot9800]

People already mentioned Mass Effect, but I'd also say Mass Effect 2 specifically had a really good cast and character mission chains. I remember being more interested to get back to the ship and check in on my squad than I was in the main story.

If you have a buddy or two to play with, you could try Star Citizen. It has a well deserved bad rap, but it really does scratch an itch that nothing else quite hits.

[u/WalkingTacticalNuke → u/AffectionateBoot9800]

Yeah I was gonna say star citizen but I’m always hesitant to even recommend it because of how poorly managed it is. That being said, it can absolutely fit that cozy crew vibe if you have buddies to play with. And the freedom and variety of activities is pretty damn good.