Starbound

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 508 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 306 out of 508
  2. Mixed: 130 out of 508
  3. Negative: 72 out of 508

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  1. oneplayer
    Sep 7, 2017
    6
    A huge fan of Terraria and bought this game to play with friends thinking it would be a space version of Terraria. Despite buying a server for 3 months, we stopped played after just a few days. The boss fights are lacking, the the planets have a lot of variety but still feels empty. Planet exploration is quick but the world feels small due to the randomly generation missions. The missionsA huge fan of Terraria and bought this game to play with friends thinking it would be a space version of Terraria. Despite buying a server for 3 months, we stopped played after just a few days. The boss fights are lacking, the the planets have a lot of variety but still feels empty. Planet exploration is quick but the world feels small due to the randomly generation missions. The missions are always fetch this and that. Not that bad if you never play Terraria. But if you have, this game is actual less fun.… Expand
  2. SurrealKitten
    Sep 1, 2020
    5
    Pretty fun early on, until you realize the main story is a grindfest with little actual plot and repetitive missions.

    Want to get to the next boss? Search galaxy after galaxy for procedurally-generated artifacts to search. So interesting! Want boss weapons? Go through the same 20 minute long stages over and over again to farm for that 10% drop! Want legendary artifacts? Dig for 10    Pretty fun early on, until you realize the main story is a grindfest with little actual plot and repetitive missions.

    Want to get to the next boss? Search galaxy after galaxy for procedurally-generated artifacts to search. So interesting!

    Want boss weapons? Go through the same 20 minute long stages over and over again to farm for that 10% drop!

    Want legendary artifacts? Dig for 10 hours on 100 different planets, good luck in the dark! Or use admin mode and speed up the process, while rendering the game much less fun.

    Things like these eventually suck out the charm of the game. Potential buyers beware.    … Expand
  3. S3XU4LH34L1NG
    Nov 15, 2022
    6
    The game is fun and very very deep in terms of crafting, companions upgrading, ... the typical builder / minecraft stuff. But imo it demands too much time, everything is just a tad too annoying. It kinda reminds me of lost ark.
  4. Sjalka
    Aug 3, 2016
    5
    Starbound is kind of average in my opinion. It does not shine in any respect - delivers about what you expect .. and does not let you down in any significant way. Maybe there are a little too many side scrolling pixel-art survival games out these days - but Starbound simply does not stand out.

    Maybe i am not progressed enough to make such a call - but i would have expected a lot less    Starbound is kind of average in my opinion. It does not shine in any respect - delivers about what you expect .. and does not let you down in any significant way. Maybe there are a little too many side scrolling pixel-art survival games out these days - but Starbound simply does not stand out.

    Maybe i am not progressed enough to make such a call - but i would have expected a lot less planetary crafing and building and a lot more starship designing and so. Instead my ship is just a kind of hut in space with little to no function other than a base of operations. ... But as i said - maybe i have not progressed enough - so that might be a thing later in the game.

    Exploration is not the most exciting thing in Starbound ... because the plant(s) are not exactly very different in my opinion. Sure - there may be a slightly different background and terrain theme - but all in all ... its all quite similar.
    Added to it is the feeling that it hardly feels like a sci fi game. Equipment, weapons and all the stuff is very low tech and boring. (I like to point at the game "Sid meiers - Alpha Centauri" which allowed technology so far off in the future .. but still in a kind of logical way - that it simply felt like sci fi)

    Starbound on the other hand feels like the stone age - like one of those sci fi movies set thousands of years in the future - where they still use ballistic weapons like shotguns.

    Well - enough of my ramblings ... all in all the game is ... as i said .. average. If you liked Terraria - and you simply cannot get enough of that kind of game - Starbound might satisfy your needs.    … Expand
  5. Vel
    Oct 10, 2016
    5
    First off, I would recommend ignoring all reviews before 2016, as those were for an "early acess" version, and the final game version was only released in 2016. The final release is much different than the early access version.

    Overall, I would only half recommend this game. If you enjoy 2D sandbox games like terraria, you will probably like this game. It has more story, mission, and a    First off, I would recommend ignoring all reviews before 2016, as those were for an "early acess" version, and the final game version was only released in 2016. The final release is much different than the early access version.

    Overall, I would only half recommend this game. If you enjoy 2D sandbox games like terraria, you will probably like this game. It has more story, mission, and a coherent progression. Most of the missions are a bit of a grind, but it isn't too bad. And I think the boss battles are much better than terraria.

    The down-side is that there are still bugs and issues. For instance, I was recently playing the game and my power temporarily went out. I figured this would be no big deal, I would simply load from the last time I saved the game. WRONG. The game somehow deleted my planetary bookmarks, and set back portions of the main storyline to the very beginning of the entire game (ie it somehow corrupted portions of my current save file, even though I wasn't in the process of saving when the crash happened). So there are still issues to be worked out. Be forewarned.    … Expand
  6. dafrak
    Aug 18, 2016
    5
    An average SF clone of Teraria built around hype, with no hype real score is about 5. Most of game look unifiinshed, shallow and repetitive like developer got good starting idea but lost focus on the way. Gameplay consists esentialy of collect ore1 to build tool2 to collect ore2 to build tool3 etc, then you move to another planet and start all over again. It is interesting while yourAn average SF clone of Teraria built around hype, with no hype real score is about 5. Most of game look unifiinshed, shallow and repetitive like developer got good starting idea but lost focus on the way. Gameplay consists esentialy of collect ore1 to build tool2 to collect ore2 to build tool3 etc, then you move to another planet and start all over again. It is interesting while your expand your first base but there is no sense of purpose or goals to acomplish and game quickly becomes boring.… Expand
  7. Alex_Milkovich
    Aug 3, 2016
    5
    This game isn't good or bad. If you like playing in sandboxes or if you like space theme this game will be a good purchase.
    In my case it's 5 out of 10, because:
    1) it has some bugs,
    2)it doesn't work in full-screen
    3)it's not very interesting for me
    e.t.c.
  8. Theanchorman900
    May 21, 2014
    5
    Games fun for a few hours but it lacks true depth yet. The progression is just a raw numbers game i.e stronger armors and weapons which barely vary beyond having larger numbers. The armors and weapons and armor do look visually decent but this game is mostly superficial at the moment. The Music is pretty good - although when you come across a small monster epic battle music plays everyGames fun for a few hours but it lacks true depth yet. The progression is just a raw numbers game i.e stronger armors and weapons which barely vary beyond having larger numbers. The armors and weapons and armor do look visually decent but this game is mostly superficial at the moment. The Music is pretty good - although when you come across a small monster epic battle music plays every time which detracts from the immersion. If you have read this review thanks. I'd basically advise you to avoid the hype and the rose tinted opinions of the positive scorers as the game is still a working progress. Don't let potential cloud your judgement. I'll score it higher once it earns it.… Expand
  9. JERupp
    Jul 30, 2014
    5
    Another example of the pre-order/early-access scam. Chucklefish collected over 4 million dollars to make this game, and what we got instead was a half-baked Terraria with the ability to visit multiple boring worlds. Without the work of the independent mods for this game, I would have given it a solid 2 out 10.

    On principle, I would say to not reward this company with your patronage. On    Another example of the pre-order/early-access scam. Chucklefish collected over 4 million dollars to make this game, and what we got instead was a half-baked Terraria with the ability to visit multiple boring worlds. Without the work of the independent mods for this game, I would have given it a solid 2 out 10.

    On principle, I would say to not reward this company with your patronage. On rationality, I would say you should just go out and buy Terraria instead. You will actually be paying someone for a great game, and not to help create an "indie" publishing company that spits out half-finished games to pay for creating more half-finished games.    … Expand
  10. powerscot
    May 12, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Starbound: Chucklefishes sci-fi tribute to Terraria. Having played 92 Hours of Starbound to date over the course of the games development - I aim to give each update a decent shot. I can honestly say that this game provides an enjoyable starting experience with an adequate set of character customization options and six playable races. There is much promise upon beaming down to your first planet. You truly feel starbound. The Strange planet beckons to be explored and the unique mobs are extremely diverse with a mix of docile and hostile creatures. There is a real variety of NPCs and structures which serve as a means to explore and potential to gain great loot. But as the game progresses and you've explored your first few planets, perhaps even killed the boss in order to move to the next sector of space, that you are experiencing a bit of deja vu. Don't get me wrong there is a respectable amount of content in game already. But not all of that content does necessarily contribute to an enjoyable game play experience. Great a fluffy unicorn plushy! - but can't I get some more weapon variety beyond a melee weapon or a gun? I've dug down into a planets core! - oh great more stock monsters...
    Don't be mistaken this game is still in development in its beta stage. It boasts a good amount of content but it's still undercooked. So unless you want to risk a belly ache, or just feel like you want to support Starbound's development, save your money at the moment. The experience is still a little thin to be called a game. I mean the last 5 of 10 tiers of gear can pretty much be skipped at the moment. Starbound lives up to its name and will take flight eventually. Give it some time and I think this will flesh out to be an enjoyable multiplayer experience. Maybe not quite minecraft or terraria but still an admirable addition to the genre of Indie Sandbox games.    … Expand
  11. Orderan
    Oct 3, 2014
    6
    Bought it 9 months ago, thinking "Terraria in unlimited space, this is going to be awesome !". And it was, for a few hours. And then you realize passed a certain level, the progressing system is still the same, linear and boring mining to upgrade.

    And then you realize the game in itself feels like the developers did not know at first how hard and tedious developping fully functionnal    Bought it 9 months ago, thinking "Terraria in unlimited space, this is going to be awesome !". And it was, for a few hours. And then you realize passed a certain level, the progressing system is still the same, linear and boring mining to upgrade.

    And then you realize the game in itself feels like the developers did not know at first how hard and tedious developping fully functionnal game is. Between the game complete lack of balance and the "missing description" for hundreds of items, it does feel like it was halfway done then someone said "let's release it early access".

    And while the release of seasonnal content for valentine's day was appreciated, it really shows the issues in this game development. It is not centered on content quantity, not quality. And if you consider this game is basically still on alpha stage with no change brought in a year, you wonder where this is going.    … Expand
  12. Anoobizzz
    Jul 24, 2016
    7
    Overall - the game is great. Been playing since the release of beta back in 2014, now it is even bigger and more interesting to play BUT. The pace of the game and some of the mechanics are just unsatisfying. Sometimes caving goes way too slow and boring and sometimes same thing happens to combat. What i wanted to mention is soundtrack. It is probably just me but it is way too depressiveOverall - the game is great. Been playing since the release of beta back in 2014, now it is even bigger and more interesting to play BUT. The pace of the game and some of the mechanics are just unsatisfying. Sometimes caving goes way too slow and boring and sometimes same thing happens to combat. What i wanted to mention is soundtrack. It is probably just me but it is way too depressive from time to time and makes me want to switch to my own playlist.
    We'll see later how this game will progress as development goes on, but it is already enough for now to call Starbound a worthy game.    … Expand
  13. theirrelephants
    Aug 8, 2016
    5
    This is basically Terraria except that you can travel to planets with different tile sets.

    Kind of disappointing, but still good for a dozen or two hours of fun.
  14. TimW001
    Sep 26, 2016
    7
    This is a world builder game that fixes a lot of the flaws and annoyances of other games in the same genre. The game is best played with friends and others. It's easy to connect to your friends. it also has very light specs so anyone can play it with no lag or connectivity issues. Also no loading screens. It's a large expansive universe with diverse planets. It's simple to learn and hasThis is a world builder game that fixes a lot of the flaws and annoyances of other games in the same genre. The game is best played with friends and others. It's easy to connect to your friends. it also has very light specs so anyone can play it with no lag or connectivity issues. Also no loading screens. It's a large expansive universe with diverse planets. It's simple to learn and has fun enemies and weapons. You can dig to nearly the center of a planet and still find new things and adventures. Including portals to other worlds and underground cities.
    it also gives you the ability to build dwellings for residents who can move in and start a shop or restaurant. These buildings can be as large or small as you want. You can build it.
    I'm well over 12 hours deep in the game and I simply wish there was more direction, more quests, more story. it is a world builder and that's basically it.    … Expand
  15. godzillarandom
    Oct 3, 2014
    6
    Note: I will update this after the full game is out

    I kinda like this game,It has a potential to be good! HOWEVER,How it's being executed is questionable So here is the basic pros/cons review! Pros: Endless travel places Endless ore Good crafting fun multi-player Fun bosses Cons: Mean developers No mod support KHAN NO UPDATES. Note: Like I said,I    Note: I will update this after the full game is out

    I kinda like this game,It has a potential to be good!

    HOWEVER,How it's being executed is questionable

    So here is the basic pros/cons review!

    Pros:
    Endless travel places

    Endless ore

    Good crafting

    fun multi-player

    Fun bosses

    Cons:

    Mean developers

    No mod support

    KHAN

    NO UPDATES.

    Note: Like I said,I kinda like this game at its beta state,It's okay,NOT WORTH BUYING,Just wait til' it updates a little and then buy it,It has the potential to be the best,Yes,Better than terraria,minecraft and "PP".

    But its in beta state and this is my "Beta" score ,6/10    … Expand
  16. Zen-Zinxe
    Jan 29, 2015
    5
    While the graphics and sounds are really nice. The game itself is charming and has a lot of potential, it is held back by being essentially a simplistic Terraria where you can visit different planets. It's been ages since a "stable" update was released so for those who can't be bothered to beta test the game for them won't see any changes for months at a time.

    A big update just rolled    While the graphics and sounds are really nice. The game itself is charming and has a lot of potential, it is held back by being essentially a simplistic Terraria where you can visit different planets. It's been ages since a "stable" update was released so for those who can't be bothered to beta test the game for them won't see any changes for months at a time.

    A big update just rolled out for the game and it's finally starting to take shape, however I would definitely not recommend until they officially claim the game is in a 'finished' state. Which may be a lot longer than any one is willing to wait. Hold on to your money for now.    … Expand
  17. SavageSalamence
    Feb 2, 2015
    7
    People realize now that it has been updated, it has no longer been not updated
    This game will entertain you for quite a while, but it doesn't have as much depth as it may seem. It's a great exploration game with a brilliant soundtrack, but it doesn't quite deliver a deep and progressive experience like other games such as Terraria do
  18. Kislen
    Aug 12, 2015
    7
    The gameplay is fun, interesting - I like the plans and ideas they have. The music is amazing, the visuals look great.

    The game is lacking content. If you want to dress your character up, decorate your house or build a neat looking house there's LOADS of content, but exploring lacks enough variables to keep it interesting, and there is little in terms of crafting equipment at this    The gameplay is fun, interesting - I like the plans and ideas they have. The music is amazing, the visuals look great.

    The game is lacking content. If you want to dress your character up, decorate your house or build a neat looking house there's LOADS of content, but exploring lacks enough variables to keep it interesting, and there is little in terms of crafting equipment at this current time.

    I enjoyed the game, but it definitely needs some more meat to be added to it.    … Expand
  19. Zipprian
    Sep 9, 2014
    7
    The game is initially very fun and kills a lot of time. After a while it gets extremely repetitive and the different races are really just different visually, they all play exactly the same.
  20. Vulfie
    Jan 9, 2016
    5
    This is a hard one to comment on.

    Is it fun? I think so. Did I enjoy it more than Minecraft and Terraria? Yes I did. I really did. I enjoyed the feeling of exploration in this game. You come across so many NPC towns, cities and colonies. So many dungeons, so many quests. It feels like you are exploring a pre-existing universe, and not just dumped on a blank-slate planet and have to    This is a hard one to comment on.

    Is it fun? I think so. Did I enjoy it more than Minecraft and Terraria? Yes I did. I really did. I enjoyed the feeling of exploration in this game. You come across so many NPC towns, cities and colonies. So many dungeons, so many quests. It feels like you are exploring a pre-existing universe, and not just dumped on a blank-slate planet and have to build it up yourself. I realize that's what a lot of people like about Minecraft and Terraria, and maybe that's why so many people went into Starbound expecting the same when it's actually quite different.

    But can I recommend this game in its current state? Hmm... There is no question that this is game, even in Early Access, is far better made than the majority of games I've played in the last few years. The quality that went into this game puts Fallout 4 to shame, and that game had an enormous budget and a professional development team (Are you getting tired of indie games being vastly superior to AAA releases? Me too.)

    But I guess I can't ignore the elephant in the room any longer. Yes it is Early Access. It has been Early Access for 2 years now, and will probably remain in Early Access for a long, long time. Starbound is shaping up to give games like DayZ and Project Zomboid a run for their money in the "Which game will be finished first" race. Project Zomboid has been in Early Access for almost 5 years now and I think it's safe to say that Starbound will probably still be Early Access 3 years from now too. I have unfortunately ran into the EA wall a few times in Starbound. Heavy frame drops at random points, a lot of items in the game do not have their functions in place yet, racial traits are not in place yet... So on.

    Does that make it a bad game? No. It's still very enjoyable, and like I said it's remarkably high-quality. But Early Access... Pay full price for a game that may never be finished... I'm sure many of us on Steam have fallen into that pit before and you probably don't want to put yourself in that position again. I can't blame you.

    Summary:

    As it stands, I enjoyed this game a lot. I enjoyed the sense of exploration and adventure. I enjoyed having one tool that mines, cuts down trees and destroys backgrounds. I enjoyed exploring NPC cities. I enjoyed having a ship you can make your home, and upgrade it to add more and more rooms. But I just can't recommend this game (Or any game) while it's stuck in Early Access. Especially if it has been stuck there for as long as this game has been. And there is a strong possibility that this game will never be finished.    … Expand
  21. eponymous
    Jun 29, 2014
    6
    Strong foundation with a lot of potential. A number of times in co-op MP my friends and I would comment that Starbound has some great foundation mechanics for an awesome game. Either large scale content releases need be released or strong community modding is required to complete what still feels like a slightly hollow game. There is a skeleton of progression but not much in the way ofStrong foundation with a lot of potential. A number of times in co-op MP my friends and I would comment that Starbound has some great foundation mechanics for an awesome game. Either large scale content releases need be released or strong community modding is required to complete what still feels like a slightly hollow game. There is a skeleton of progression but not much in the way of end-game. It represents reasonible value but in current form wont be a minecraft or terraria quality time-vampire.… Expand
  22. Okami
    Oct 7, 2014
    6
    Starbound...well.

    I bought this Game 2013 in Early Access, was hyped by the "Future Feature List". Eventually I played around 100hrs, with Friends on a Server, and a bit Singleplayer. After all that, and around one Year later I can summarize it as follow: Graphics are nice, sound and music are nice. The Basic Ideas and concepts sound good in theory. But: -For a Year now    Starbound...well.

    I bought this Game 2013 in Early Access, was hyped by the "Future Feature List".

    Eventually I played around 100hrs, with Friends on a Server, and a bit Singleplayer.

    After all that, and around one Year later I can summarize it as follow:

    Graphics are nice, sound and music are nice.
    The Basic Ideas and concepts sound good in theory.

    But:
    -For a Year now there are no new Updates. (besides silly valentines day items)
    -Performance is just incredible bad. Lag on High End Machines, unplayable on standard PCs.
    -Game Progression makes absolut no sense and is dull like hell.
    -Most of the random generated Items are totally worthless
    -Lots of Bugs and so many missing features...
    -NPCs are just senseless placeholders, most items are too.
    -Childish and whiteknighting community who defend all negative aspects to the death.
    -grindfest for getting to the next level, to start all over again to get to the next level, repeat...

    So in fact you spend alot of time mining material to build a nice house, city etc. from. But then you have nothing to do, no reason to explore the Universe etc.

    The Developers startet to make some other games meanwhile...honestly I think this game will never be finished.

    My advice would be to stay away till there is a really major update with some real progression and missions that make sense.

    It is some Fun in Multiplayer if you know the people you are play with, and have a powerful rig to handel the game.    … Expand
  23. arruu
    Aug 3, 2016
    6
    This game would've got a much higher User Score if it had been released before Terraria.
    The game has a lot of items, missions, lore, great ideas, etc .... But still, I find the end product very dull, and its gameplay extremely repetitive and boring.
    -Despite all the loot, digging isnt remotely as rewarding or thrilling as in Terraria. -Despite all the planets they are not distinct    This game would've got a much higher User Score if it had been released before Terraria.
    The game has a lot of items, missions, lore, great ideas, etc .... But still, I find the end product very dull, and its gameplay extremely repetitive and boring.
    -Despite all the loot, digging isnt remotely as rewarding or thrilling as in Terraria.
    -Despite all the planets they are not distinct enough to encourage visiting them.
    -Despite the variety in the enemies, the AI and the design arent great, and most of them feel kind of the same.
    -Despite they had plenty of time to develop it, this game has ended the same way it started :
    Lots of promises and potential but none became true.    … Expand
  24. YungDizuck
    Feb 6, 2015
    6
    First off, I'm going to preface this review by letting prospective buyers know that it's still in beta, and yes, there have been character wipes and there's still bugs. If this, or early access, are potential bugaboos for you, I'd recommend waiting until the full 1.0 release. That said, let's get to the review.

    First off, we'll talk aesthetics. Chucklefish has opted for a 2D style pixel    First off, I'm going to preface this review by letting prospective buyers know that it's still in beta, and yes, there have been character wipes and there's still bugs. If this, or early access, are potential bugaboos for you, I'd recommend waiting until the full 1.0 release. That said, let's get to the review.

    First off, we'll talk aesthetics. Chucklefish has opted for a 2D style pixel graphics art style, with fairly fluid animations, cursor facing, scrolling skyboxes and backgrounds. There's multiple races to choose from, each with their own unique characteristics, styles and backstories. (Some of which have barely been touched on, but you'll get a rough estimate from some opening flavor texts, and by collecting unique logs through out the game.) It's bright, it's colorful, it's fluid.

    Mechanically, it's very similar to Terraria and Minecraft, only on a much larger scale, as crafting, building, smithing, tech and many other collectables, furnishings, weapons and tools can be crafted from various ores, or combinations of resources. (Oil + iron = steel, and so forth.) You are given a ship that you must collect items to repair, and a set of missions to get you acclimated to what the game will require you to succeed at in order to progress. The downside, is that while the game is more fully fleshed out than during the prior versions, a lot of it is still barren and buggy, which is a shame, because there's definitely a ton of potential. Combat is done in one of two ways, melee, or ranged. Melee offers a variety of weapons, daggers, swords, axes and spears, some of which can be found in chests throughout the planets you visit and mine. Ranged is guns, beam weapons, bowguns, and hunting bows, some of which can be upgraded. Lastly, tools. Tools are important, but the newest update has dropped the durability of practically all of them, which forces you to carry spares that don't stack, which has dropped their importance to upgrading your matter manipulator. Mining plays a HUGE role in this game, and is probably one of its biggest time sinks, as a mechanic. That said, the upside is that the rate of occurence of unique tombs, bases, new underground biomes and other encounters has increased since the last update. Obviously, this entire mechanic is still quite tedious, especially considering how tools have been nerfed.

    Now I'll touch on music and sound, which, in my opinion, is meant to be charming, and instruments have actually been in the game for quite some time, which allows your character to play bits of music in the game. It adds flavor, if nothing else.

    Now I'll summarize. The bits and pieces of a great game are here. The rate of which the dev team is tying those pieces together, has been slow and tedious. There has been a massive addition of content added during the big update, but unfortunately, so have a lot of new bugs, some of which stonewall progress. If they were just annoying visual glitches, I'd dismiss them, but some of them are runtime crashes during missions. That's a major no-no, and something their QA should have caught before the update. I'm giving this a solid 6 of 10 as of right now. My recommendation is to wait until it's closer to being finished and bug free.

    (Full disclosure: I have 17 hours in game during the past week, 200+ on various builds total.)    … Expand
  25. mmmMatto
    Sep 7, 2015
    7
    The most recent update added a decent amount of new stuff, so after a hiatus from early access I started a new character and played a bit again.

    The game isn't novel in the slightest. It's usually compared to Terraria, and rightfully so, and compared to the aforementioned If you've played that game you know what to expect. Differences (positive, negative, or neutral, your choice)    The most recent update added a decent amount of new stuff, so after a hiatus from early access I started a new character and played a bit again.

    The game isn't novel in the slightest. It's usually compared to Terraria, and rightfully so, and compared to the aforementioned If you've played that game you know what to expect. Differences (positive, negative, or neutral, your choice) include: Different species to choose from... the crafting system isn't as complex... there are more NPCs... it's slightly more quest-oriented... and it's in space...

    It costs more than Terraria so I suggest waiting for a Steam sale if you want to pick it up.

    Final thoughts: It's not original in the slightest. It costs more than Terraria so if you want to check it out wait for a sale. It won't take that many in-game hours to see most everything so it's not really worth $15. That said it's pretty fun for about a week so it gets a pass by a narrow margin.    … Expand
  26. PenisMan69
    Jun 14, 2014
    7
    Starbound is a pretty good game, but very unfinished. It's updated frequently, but mostly with Holiday content (Want to dress up like Santa Claus? You'll be happy. Want more than a few hours worth of gameplay? You probably won't be.)
  27. firehazard42
    Aug 16, 2016
    7
    Starbound is one of the finest examples of a game with loads of ambition that, through lots of hard work and dedication from both the player and the developers, manages to be both addictive and engaging. It’s a game that gives back what you put into it: Gives you the chance to let you experience the massive universe how you so choose.

    Unlike other games in the similar vein, Starbound    Starbound is one of the finest examples of a game with loads of ambition that, through lots of hard work and dedication from both the player and the developers, manages to be both addictive and engaging. It’s a game that gives back what you put into it: Gives you the chance to let you experience the massive universe how you so choose.

    Unlike other games in the similar vein, Starbound actually manages to have a Story behind it. Unfortunately (yet not exactly surprisingly) the story itself isn’t interesting or meaningful. Between predictable and tired apocalyptic stakes, boring villains running an unironically and equally as boring cult, and ancient all-powerful evil and six macguffins to drive the “plot” forward; The story only serves to be an ultimate end goal to slowly work your way towards.

    Thankfully what truly drives the experience, and what the developers wisely chose to focus their efforts on is the universe itself. Vast and expansive, varied in both scope and content, filled to the brim with characters of many kinds. There’s no two places exactly alike, and there’s so much to explore and find.

    But more importantly, the game encourages you to experiment with how you interact with the world and play whichever way you choose: Whether to be a heroic space Bounty Hunter working together with your crew to trifle evil wherever you go, a lonely Asteroid Miner treading carefully among the depths of space to make a profit, or a humble farmer doing nothing but working their homestead; There is a multitude of ways to tackle the universe. It’s just a shame that the story missions themselves seem to only be about killing and destruction. The game would have benefited greatly if they had introduced more variety with the main missions. As an aside; Between the easy multiplayer and the very robust, simple to use modding system the game supports both serve a great benefit, providing the game with potentially infinite content and hours and hours of fun with your friends.

    Packed with charm and wit, a vast universe, and so much to create and explore, Starbound has eventually become one of the most compelling experiences in a long time, and while it isn't perfect, I don’t plan on quitting any time soon.    … Expand
  28. xDaudex
    May 25, 2015
    6
    Pros:
    Like Terraria but with many different worlds
    Many different weapons
    Diverse world biomes

    Cons:
    Worlds not as complex as Terraria
    Confusing objectives
    Way too many items in the game
  29. Techbane
    Aug 2, 2016
    7
    I don't regret having bought it at this point, I guess. After ad nauseum iterations of the combat engine, they finally came up with something workable for 1.0 at least. There are a LOT of things that got the axe or ended up underdeveloped, a lot of broken promises, etc. (remember the mechs? or the proposed space combat system?) but it's at least reasonably fun. The various races are stillI don't regret having bought it at this point, I guess. After ad nauseum iterations of the combat engine, they finally came up with something workable for 1.0 at least. There are a LOT of things that got the axe or ended up underdeveloped, a lot of broken promises, etc. (remember the mechs? or the proposed space combat system?) but it's at least reasonably fun. The various races are still really neat, the game looks and sounds beautiful at times, but the overall progression boils down to mining some ore -> upgrading stuff -> running a dungeon and fighting a boss -> repeat. It's much less of a competitor to Terraria than it was trying to be, but it's fun to get immersed in for a few hours, moreso with friends.… Expand
  30. Machiniman20
    Aug 5, 2016
    7
    Having waited so long, I finally played through Starbound. I will say that the game was fun, and relatively challenging, even though I speed-ran my way to the best gear before any of the story really happened. I did appreciate that I was free to do that.

    I wasn't incredibly gripped by the story progression, but the characters were decent, and the gameplay was alright. Not the best game    Having waited so long, I finally played through Starbound. I will say that the game was fun, and relatively challenging, even though I speed-ran my way to the best gear before any of the story really happened. I did appreciate that I was free to do that.

    I wasn't incredibly gripped by the story progression, but the characters were decent, and the gameplay was alright. Not the best game I've ever played, but it's definitely a fun experience if you're willing to spend a couple bucks.

    7/10, would recommend if you have some spare cash and a certain sense of patience for repetition. Not a ton of variance in the game, which is a grand irony considering how it was initially made to be a vast, infinite universe of different things.

    The soundtrack added so much to this game's score in my head. Absolutely phenomenal music that evokes emotions beyond the game itself. Very, VERY well done musically. I think my love for the music might actually cause my rating of this game to be higher than it should.

    4 of the points I gave this game go to the music. Potentially the savior of a game that could've been a flop.

    In terms of graphic design, I certainly couldn't complain, there was a ton of graphic variance and a lot of beautiful environments. Solid

    3 of my points there. Along with the music, this really saved this game.

    The combat mechanics were fluid but very repetitive, and a lot of the weapons didn't really feel worth it.

    2 of my points. Not much more to say here.

    The story was the big letdown. Not really anything that sucks you in, except for the very beginning and the very end. It doesn't really feel like a cohesive story, just a bunch of linear events that just happen to tie together to make the story conveniently work. Each "story" mission simply consisted of scanning a bunch of things, returning to the hub, and then running off to a conveniently designed environment to complete a quest that feels like it could easily be rewritten to fit any of the other in-game races, which are supposed to feel important.

    The story actually takes 2 points away of my score of Starbound. Honestly a very disappointing element. It really doesn't carry the weight that it should. I honestly was more intrigued by the vague story-esque elements of Terraria, where there wasn't much of a story at all, just hints that drove you to explore the game more.    … Expand
  31. mimida21
    Jan 18, 2019
    6
    i thought this was *terraria 2.0*, but with story nonsense and no official novakid npc character in the story, i don't think it's tried to ripoff terraria, but should've been a good sandbox game, not storytelling nonsense and then move on (i'm not a space jesus, lemme become a space pirate, DAMNIT)

    *the game is good tho*
  32. Frost_Cube
    Feb 1, 2021
    6
    Don't follow what the haters say. Play the game yourself and you will see that its amazing. The music, the art, the adventure is all greatly done, and plenty of mods from the community and the fact that you need little to no knowledge to mod t
  33. doctuar
    Aug 4, 2016
    7
    When I initially started playing this title, I thought it was just going to be a sandbox survival affair, like Terraria or Minecraft. To an extent, it is, but - once you progress through the initial few missions - the game expands into a spacefaring exploration adventure. I knew practically nothing about this game before being gifted it, so that came as a nice surprise.

    Starbound has    When I initially started playing this title, I thought it was just going to be a sandbox survival affair, like Terraria or Minecraft. To an extent, it is, but - once you progress through the initial few missions - the game expands into a spacefaring exploration adventure. I knew practically nothing about this game before being gifted it, so that came as a nice surprise.

    Starbound has some very neat ideas, such as the way you have to upgrade your equipment to explore different types of planet, and the level of crafting is very detailed. I had an awful lot of fun exploring the depths of the various worlds, finding secret temples and unusual locations. The multiplayer can be fun as well, as players with more advanced equipment can help out those newer to the game and help them progress. There are also boss battles and a gladiatorial arena which offer exciting challenges, especially with a group.

    However, the game lacks a certain polish and it can often be a chore to play. A lot of the "main" missions involve you having to scan artefacts from various alien civilizations, and this is infrequently fun. I suppose you could argue that this is something you can passively undertake during the course of your explorations, but it still feels like a drag. Also, the game has some performance issues that can often make it unplayable. I initially put these down to PC specs or Internet connection but, more often than not, restarting the client seems to clear things up, so I'm not entirely sure what causes the game to slow down so badly. There also seems to be lots of bugs regarding mission completion, especially if you play alongside somebody else. I completed the early missions just fine, but the game doesn't seem to acknowledge this and won't grant me access to certain shops because it thinks I haven't unlocked them yet. It's not the end of the world, but it is frustrating to put the effort in, only for the game to blithely ignore this.

    Another niggle is that, in the early stages, the weapons and armour you create feel strangely out-of-touch with the sci-fi aesthetic. You will kit your character out with plate armour, swords and bows, despite having access to an FTL spaceship and transporter technology. Personally, this didn't bother me (I found it rather cute), but Mass Effect this ain't.

    To be clear, I think your expectations going will dictate how much you enjoy this game. If you're perfectly happy to explore, build a neat little house and occasionally complete a story mission to further your progress, there is a lot to like. The construction system is really satisfying and, as a self-confessed amateur at this kind of thing, I had no problem creating cool little buildings filled with interesting furniture, gadgets and decorations.

    If, however, you are looking for a bombastic, RPG-style adventure with interesting characters, locations and story, you will probably be disappointed. It seems to me that this aspect of the game is a little tacked on, frankly, and needs a lot more clarity in where you should be going or why you should even care.

    Overall, I have been fiendishly addicted to this since installing it, but it still feels rough around the edges and, often, can be very frustrating. I'm also not sure I would enjoy playing this on my own, but perhaps that's the point. Still, if you're willing to put the work in, I'm sure there's a lot of fun times to be had.    … Expand
  34. PrincessRose
    Jul 14, 2023
    6
    It's fun for a while to dig and explore but also lacking. It ends up feeling kind of pointless, repetitive and tedious.
    I liked the dungeons and fighting the bosses the most.
    The game is interesting but doesn't feel like it's been fully finished, the devs just abandoned and gave up on it and aren't updating it anymore. The NPC's you hire for your ship crew are extremely annoying, they    It's fun for a while to dig and explore but also lacking. It ends up feeling kind of pointless, repetitive and tedious.
    I liked the dungeons and fighting the bosses the most.
    The game is interesting but doesn't feel like it's been fully finished, the devs just abandoned and gave up on it and aren't updating it anymore.

    The NPC's you hire for your ship crew are extremely annoying, they just stand there and look stupid and lifeless the AI isn't made to look alive and functioning and get in the way even if you put plenty of tables, chairs and beds around or the absolute worse stand right next to a door and whenever you try to open it to go through they continually close it so you have to remove the door to be able to go through.

    I hate how the crew just stand there in the way.
    They do sometimes sleep in the beds, sit down or warm themselves at the forge which is annoying as they get in the way when trying to smelt ore.

    I just spent a lot of the game time exploring and creating. Besides that there isn't really much else. NPC quests aren't interesting and feature the same few of give this note and then give the reply or get some iron make some iron bars and give to or plant these seeds, fight some enemy or the worst go find this NPC at the temple and escort them back. The game feels quite lacking unless all you want to do is build and use mods.

    After completing all the main missions I had no interest anymore in playing.
    There are other things to do but it feels pointless.
    Sure you can capture and collect creatures to fight for you but they are all useless and extremely weak in battle, they die after a couple of hits.
    Everything else is also tedious and boring and trying to find and collect various things which can take forever and is not at all fun.
    Exploring gets boring as once you've seen all the biomes, it all starts to look the same.
    Sure I could build colonies but colonies also seem pointless.
    I had some fun with the game for a while so still recommend it and rate an unmodded game 6/10.    … Expand
  35. nik_balani
    Jun 20, 2020
    5
    Starbound started with a lot of promise - interesting story and free reign crafting. However as mentioned by other reviews - the crafting doesnt add a lot to the story or progress in the game and the infinite number of worlds becomes annoying when you are trying to remember where things are stored/found. I played about 20 hrs worth and realised I hadn't gotten very far so abandoned the game.
  36. JustABot
    Sep 9, 2018
    7
    This was actually a good game before the protectorate update, the update was good yeah but since the update playing it slowly made it boring.
  37. Alchemango
    Jan 16, 2019
    6
    Starbound wasted it's potential by shoving an un-fun storyline down the player's throats. The music and art are great, but the exploration is a bit underwhelming, since most planets are small, repetitive and a portion of them is taken by villages or other structures.
  38. InterestingName
    Dec 13, 2020
    7
    Terraria in space! The exploration is more fun than Terraria, but the combat is worse.
  39. Mazma
    Dec 25, 2020
    7
    Meglio di terrarria in ogni aspetto, ma meno coinvolgente e profondo rispetto ad altri nel genere.
  40. rampag
    May 12, 2021
    5
    I played the early stages of this game and now i return after years to see that this game, sadly, was clearly rushed making this game with "a lot" of features that are simplely bad done or even annoy.

    For example, crew thing, you are supposed to be able to recruit people. How? doing missions until someone like you enought, that is annoy itself because you wont have much options to    I played the early stages of this game and now i return after years to see that this game, sadly, was clearly rushed making this game with "a lot" of features that are simplely bad done or even annoy.

    For example, crew thing, you are supposed to be able to recruit people. How? doing missions until someone like you enought, that is annoy itself because you wont have much options to chose who give you missions, and doing a chain of random quest everytime you want a new crew member its just too much work.
    So after actually hours of doing random quests, nobody wanted to join... yes, even if someone give you various quest, it doesnt mean he will give you more or join to your ship, so all i did was a waste of time.
    The quests they give are the most boring and basic thing one can imagine, its just "go and kill this", "go and give me this", "go and talk to this dude" THE END, who would want to do this? the combat in this game is absolutly basic and exploration most of the time unrewarded.
    So, why i would spent so much time trying to get a new crew memeber doing quests if doing it is so boring? Because they FORCE me to do it as there is no other way (except hiring penguins) and i want to make my ship better and get other benefits.

    Someone here has given a 10/10 review telling us to dont listen the "haters" and check the game by ourself but the only think im seeing is the dev rushed the game so fast that they didnt test or play their game THEMSELF otherwise that **** mechanic would not be here.
    This is an example but there is a large amount of them where i feel everytime the devs didnt even tested enought and simplely, at some point, they gave up on this game so they rushed all the mechanic and things they promised to make it "work" and dont be looked like a scam game.

    Your pet in your ship will follow you around like a creep so there will be a lot of time when you will try to click in some object like your chair to flight another planet but your pet will be in front of such object so you would not be able to click, instead you will have to deal to find the exact pixel to click in your chair.
    This is another example where you can see that if the devs had taken a second to test, the would have found this problem and fix it as simple as making the pet dont follow you or just dont stay in front of an interactable object.

    Totally underserve amount of positive rating, the problem is not the amount of content, the problem is what kind of content, there are 10000 planets but only around 3 which are different enought, 10000 monster and again, only 3 which are different enought, 10000 quests (including main quests) that are simplely bland and uninteresting go from X to Y where the best i can say is some bosses are sometimes fun enought but there are no many bosses anyways.

    5/10 is what they deserve because indie and if you have a lot of time to waste and like this kind of game... well, who i am to tell you what to do?
    But honestly, im really dissapoint with this game and if all the games are rathing like this... im dissapoint with the user reviews... like... there are comments wit "10/10 wow, AWESOME" but 0 proof or reason about why that score... I could be wrong or this game just no be my taste but at least i give a reason.    … Expand
  41. jsommer7345
    Jun 8, 2022
    7
    A student of mine was very much into this game, maybe too into it. I started to play it, and I loved it right away. The universe in this space game is vast, more extensive than I will ever have enough time to explore. So, this platformer is vast. The culture in the game is thick, with lots to read and learn. It was great to relate with my student about this game, we had hours of timeA student of mine was very much into this game, maybe too into it. I started to play it, and I loved it right away. The universe in this space game is vast, more extensive than I will ever have enough time to explore. So, this platformer is vast. The culture in the game is thick, with lots to read and learn. It was great to relate with my student about this game, we had hours of time talking about it - he clearly thought this game was a 10/10. The game is similar to Terraria, but is placed in a futuristic background. It is so similar to Terraria, Starbound seems inspired from it. I loved the storyline of Starbound. I played the game for almost 100 hours.

    The graphics in Starbound look like they come from Minecraft, so it attracts a younger generation of gamers. I certainly would not have played this game if not for my student. However, to be honest, it grew on me after I started to play it. Starbound is geared to a young audience. Playing this game was almost embarrassing to admit to other adults that I played it, as it is purposely childish in its gameplay and in-game culture. In some sense, exploring planets got somewhat old, and late in the game, it has a loop in the gameplay experience. Explore, plunder, do a mission, repeat. While it is a vast universe to explore in Starbound, the mechanics are just too dull after a while.    … Expand
  42. OskehCat
    Mar 9, 2022
    6
    Honestly, this game wasn't really that great for me. The gameplay and graphics are fine, but I think the part I don't like is just the mission system and general story. As far as story goes, for a "sandbox" game there is a lot of it. The missions were really confusing at times, for example after leaving the first planet it shows you 5 other planets and says "go find this species". And itHonestly, this game wasn't really that great for me. The gameplay and graphics are fine, but I think the part I don't like is just the mission system and general story. As far as story goes, for a "sandbox" game there is a lot of it. The missions were really confusing at times, for example after leaving the first planet it shows you 5 other planets and says "go find this species". And it just was boring, walking around the entire planet and then oh, the species is not here, time to do this again. tl;dr: This game feels very unpolished, but I might come back to it another time.… Expand
  43. stupidopinion
    Jun 22, 2022
    7
    This game deserved the Terraria treatment. If it had gotten several more significant updates and touch ups this game truly would be something special among 2D sandbox games. As it stands it's still quite fun, with a decent enough story and some fun missions. There are features to the game that are underdeveloped, but as it stands I would still definitely recommend it. The modding scene isThis game deserved the Terraria treatment. If it had gotten several more significant updates and touch ups this game truly would be something special among 2D sandbox games. As it stands it's still quite fun, with a decent enough story and some fun missions. There are features to the game that are underdeveloped, but as it stands I would still definitely recommend it. The modding scene is surprisingly strong, but as the game stands by itself, it's solid but not much more.

    Also the race designs are just great, with surprisingly deep culture that I wish would be heavily explored in a future game. Cowboy starchildren, samurai fish, primal plant people, and more are all just such cool ideas and I love it.    … Expand
  44. jdmsjmsrscgm
    Sep 12, 2023
    6
    One of the biggest attractions of Starbound is the feeling of almost infinite exploration it offers. The game features a procedurally generated universe with billions of planets, each with its own characteristics, biomes, resources and challenges. The variety is impressive, and players can spend hours exploring exotic planets, mysterious caves, and alien cities.

    Starbound's 8-bit pixel    One of the biggest attractions of Starbound is the feeling of almost infinite exploration it offers. The game features a procedurally generated universe with billions of planets, each with its own characteristics, biomes, resources and challenges. The variety is impressive, and players can spend hours exploring exotic planets, mysterious caves, and alien cities.

    Starbound's 8-bit pixel art aesthetic is charming and nostalgic, evoking classic games from the 8-bit era. Despite its visual simplicity, the game manages to convey a sense of depth and atmosphere. The details in the landscapes, character animation and creature designs are remarkable and contribute to immersion in the game's universe.

    Starbound is especially fun when played with friends. The game supports cooperative multiplayer, allowing players to team up to explore, build, fight enemies, and complete missions together. Collaboration is encouraged, and building bases on planets is an important part of the experience, which makes creating a personal space and exploring the universe even more rewarding when shared with friends.

    In addition to exploration, "Starbound" offers rich building mechanics. Players can create their own custom bases, colonies, and even spaceships. Creative freedom is extensive, and the variety of materials and objects available for construction allows players to completely customize their spaces.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

54
#54 Best PC Game of 2016
32
#32 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
74
#74 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Everyeye.it
    Oct 24, 2016
    82
    Starbound is one of the very few games that gets both "open world" and "sandbox" done right. The amount of activities available is astounding and the best part is you can avoid them all, if you wish to do just that.
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  2. CD-Action
    Oct 14, 2016
    85
    The price to fun ratio is amazing, but Starbound’s biggest advantage is the freedom it offers. I took a long break from Elite Dangerous to play this indie gem – it’s that good! [10/2016, p.58]
  3. Games.cz
    Sep 19, 2016
    70
    Starbound is not as polished and debugged as other games, and sometimes it may seem repetitive. But compared to more "modern" sci-fi games its explorative, almost melancholic spirit and emphasis on building catches your heart. Spare a few hundred hours of your time, the ultimate boundary once again calls for the survey.
    Read full review
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