Hands down the hardest game I've ever played, it took me over 70 hours of trial and error just to have a colony actually survive to day 100. Now I have almost 30 hours into one save file and I am finally making progress! Absolutely would not recommend to anyone with a family or a job, but a PHENOMENAL game none-the-less.
Easily makes my top 10 favorites list and i literally may never beat it...

I can't believe I missed this game for so long, it's crazy good!

It offers an incredible number of options with truly meaningful differences. I highly recommend to go in mostly blind, because experimenting around and figuring out ystems can give you dozens of hours of fun. There are many mechanics to accomplish similar ends and allow for countless combinations.

Whatever mechanic you chose to focus on to solve problems like food, oxygen supply, freshwater supply, wastewater treatment, temperature etc... can all result in developing dramatically different colonies that focus on completely different mechanics. And all of these branches interact with each other in ways that invite experimentation and trying out new things.

334 hours in and having gone through maybe 5-6 worlds before settling on one into the end game, I still have a long bucket list of things I want to try to go first in new playthroughs to see how it will shape my development. I still want to see how quickly I can get a sustained volcano-powered steam power system for 'free' energy, or get into slime ranching asap, or build a shellfish-based water sanitation plant, or a bazillion other things.

There are some more advanced mechanics where using a wiki is recommendable (like Steam power), and especially things regarding advanced temperature regulation are not readily explained by the game, but you can easily play dozens of hours without needing any such additional input. Most information is available ingame.

colonization shall not stop