It was with utter delight that I saw a wonderfully written article about TAXINAUT by Sin Vega on Rock Paper Shotgun. Check it out! They seem to be able to explain better what I want with the game than I'm able to do myself:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/03/06/taxinaut-is-an-odd-delightful-space-taxi-sim/