User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 508 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 72 out of 508

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  1. 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.
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  2. 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.
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  3. May 19, 2023
    8
    Starbound is just on its own a whole another universe where you can build or conquer anywhere you want, create your own colonies. And enjoy the deep, sci-fi experience.
  4. May 10, 2023
    10
    Really nice Terraria like game. Lots of fun to play. However, as in any survival game, you have real problems when it comes to hunger and the UI is extremely small. However, the game is still great.

    I've now spent a few hours in the game and I really have to say that this is one of the best games I've played in 2022. The game is just awesome. ✅ A lot to do ✅ NPCs on most planets ✅
    Really nice Terraria like game. Lots of fun to play. However, as in any survival game, you have real problems when it comes to hunger and the UI is extremely small. However, the game is still great.

    I've now spent a few hours in the game and I really have to say that this is one of the best games I've played in 2022. The game is just awesome.

    ✅ A lot to do
    ✅ NPCs on most planets
    ✅ These NPCs often even have quests
    ✅ Many NPCs in space or on planets sell or buy things
    ✅ A lot of items that you can use well
    ✅ A lot of recipes you can find. Example 1. You collect a mushroom and learn a recipe such as Boiled Mushrooms.
    ✅ You have several classes that you can play
    ✅ Ingame commands for players who would like to test something or play as admin
    ✅ Achievements
    ✅ Sounds are good
    ✅ Great atmosphere
    ✅ Many skills such as those from Metroid. I won't say what it is because it would be a spoiler ;)
    ✅Many different animals 7 creatures
    ✅You can also capture animals, just like in Pokemon

    ❌ Unfortunately no minimap, at least I haven't seen it.
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  5. Jan 31, 2023
    8
    Without mods this game is just ok but with several mods it is a very good game.
  6. 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.
  7. Sep 25, 2022
    9
    So much fun. 2d minecraft with spaceships, how could you possibly go wrong? Really fun with friends too.
  8. Sep 2, 2022
    8
    Nice game lot of thing to do : fight, collect, build, do some quests, equip, upgrade, grow crops, space travel etc...
    The thing is there is TOO MUCH objects to collect, assemble and craft, you have to spend hours just to make 1 good equipement or find 1 good weapon.
    Good that there is easy access to admin console tho, it can save you hours without ruining the fun if you use it from time
    Nice game lot of thing to do : fight, collect, build, do some quests, equip, upgrade, grow crops, space travel etc...
    The thing is there is TOO MUCH objects to collect, assemble and craft, you have to spend hours just to make 1 good equipement or find 1 good weapon.
    Good that there is easy access to admin console tho, it can save you hours without ruining the fun if you use it from time to time only
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  9. 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.
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  10. Jun 11, 2022
    8
    Starbound is exactly what a space adventure should be. There is so much stuff to do and the playability of the game is really good too. Recommended to people who would like to experience a new universe with charming artstyle and a what seems like an infinite collection of cosmetics and building blocks. Terraria but in space but also better :)
  11. 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.
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  12. May 15, 2022
    8
    A fine game that, though it feels a bit unfinished, can be one of the most addictive games possible. The story telling is nice, though a little wonky at times, and fun weapons ranging from pistols to assault rifles to giant hammers and swords to rocket launchers. It may look like space Terraria, but it is far from it. The modding community also adds a lot if you feel it is unfinished andA fine game that, though it feels a bit unfinished, can be one of the most addictive games possible. The story telling is nice, though a little wonky at times, and fun weapons ranging from pistols to assault rifles to giant hammers and swords to rocket launchers. It may look like space Terraria, but it is far from it. The modding community also adds a lot if you feel it is unfinished and can easily fill in the gaps. I only wish I could pet the Fluffalos. Expand
  13. 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
  14. Feb 14, 2022
    10
    For me one of the best games of all time.
    It is a combo from Terraria and No man sky but better.
  15. Dec 5, 2021
    8
    Starbound (in its final form) is a fun 2D sci-fi take on the whole "survivalcraft" sandbox craze from years ago, with an emphasis on exploration and adventure. Building and crafting options are extensive, but are mostly optional in comparison to something like Terraria (which is still incredibly fun to this day.)

    In spite of Starbound's checkered development history led by Chucklefish
    Starbound (in its final form) is a fun 2D sci-fi take on the whole "survivalcraft" sandbox craze from years ago, with an emphasis on exploration and adventure. Building and crafting options are extensive, but are mostly optional in comparison to something like Terraria (which is still incredibly fun to this day.)

    In spite of Starbound's checkered development history led by Chucklefish founder and exploitative punk Finn Brice, the game is still well worth playing and exploring--even in 2021.
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  16. Aug 6, 2021
    8
    очень хорошая игра с хорошим саундтреком (довольно грустным) , сюжет плохой , но в этой игре сюжет - не главное.
    игра похожа на террарию.
  17. Jun 4, 2021
    10
    This game gets flack for stuff that has been resolved years ago. This is one of those games that you play for 2 weeks straight then don't touch for a year and then you do it again. Beyond that, there are massive array of mods to enhance the experience to the point that its almost a new game. However the base game is nothing to scoff at, it is full of NPCs and a amazing bunch of in-depthThis game gets flack for stuff that has been resolved years ago. This is one of those games that you play for 2 weeks straight then don't touch for a year and then you do it again. Beyond that, there are massive array of mods to enhance the experience to the point that its almost a new game. However the base game is nothing to scoff at, it is full of NPCs and a amazing bunch of in-depth and interesting races. The exploration is amazing and the progression is perfect. Upon each playthrough you WILL find something new, whether it is big or small it will be something interesting and worthwhile. BUY THIS GAME, it is worth it, especially with friends. Expand
  18. May 17, 2021
    8
    It's safe to say that Starbound is one of the best games of its kind. I've sunken close to 500 hours into this game, and since its first early access stages it's improved tenfold. However, I do have to admit that the game is best played with mods, so steam is where you should be buying it. Admittedly the story is a bit tiring at times, but what I like is that you're not actually requiredIt's safe to say that Starbound is one of the best games of its kind. I've sunken close to 500 hours into this game, and since its first early access stages it's improved tenfold. However, I do have to admit that the game is best played with mods, so steam is where you should be buying it. Admittedly the story is a bit tiring at times, but what I like is that you're not actually required to play it, you can mess around and progress normally without doing any missions. Modders have already fixed most of the gripes I have with this game, and if you have an issue look it up on the Steam Workshop and no doubt there will be a mod for that exact issue! Expand
  19. 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.
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  20. 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
  21. Dec 25, 2020
    7
    Meglio di terrarria in ogni aspetto, ma meno coinvolgente e profondo rispetto ad altri nel genere.
  22. Dec 13, 2020
    7
    Terraria in space! The exploration is more fun than Terraria, but the combat is worse.
  23. Oct 15, 2020
    9
    Music in this game is masterpiece, it really make me to find these theme and hear again. Other things like graphic and mechanic, storyline some are good some bad but overall, it's fantastic .
  24. 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.
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  25. Jun 30, 2020
    8
    Ah, Starbound. Before I begin this review let me say that I've put in around 500 hours since the game's initial early access release on Steam.

    This is by far my favorite sandbox game. The music, the art, the different races, and the overall theme are all things I love. The story quests are a little weak in my opinion; I love the idea but playing them more than once is such a drudgery.
    Ah, Starbound. Before I begin this review let me say that I've put in around 500 hours since the game's initial early access release on Steam.

    This is by far my favorite sandbox game. The music, the art, the different races, and the overall theme are all things I love. The story quests are a little weak in my opinion; I love the idea but playing them more than once is such a drudgery. My other complaint is that character builds aren't very customizable as there are only a few gear slots that determine everything about your character. Not even the race of the character makes a difference, which is a bit of a downer.

    Also, don't forget to save planets; it's nearly impossible to relocate a planet you've been to if you don't save the coordinates (which is thankfully easy to do). I haven't given the new endgame bounty stuff much of a shot but it looks great.

    Starbound is absolutely worth picking up, even after all these years, if you enjoy sandbox games. You will never run out of places to explore.
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  26. 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.
  27. Jun 19, 2020
    4
    I really wanted to like this game. Terraria in space. It sounds amazing! But its just not fun. The gameplay loop is just... unsatifisying. The UI is a mess and just confusing, just like the entire game. Its just confusing. Why make an open world sandbox, with tutorials, a story mode and fetch quests. What game do you want to be Starbound?! Soundtrack and mod support are pretty good though.I really wanted to like this game. Terraria in space. It sounds amazing! But its just not fun. The gameplay loop is just... unsatifisying. The UI is a mess and just confusing, just like the entire game. Its just confusing. Why make an open world sandbox, with tutorials, a story mode and fetch quests. What game do you want to be Starbound?! Soundtrack and mod support are pretty good though. Wouldn't reccomend. Expand
  28. May 9, 2020
    8
    Очень интересная и привлекательная 2D песочница, чем-то напоминающая террариа. Только в отличии от террарии в игре меньше контента, но это исправляется модами. Еще в качестве минусов хочу сказать что очень редко выходят обновленияОчень интересная и привлекательная 2D песочница, чем-то напоминающая террариа. Только в отличии от террарии в игре меньше контента, но это исправляется модами. Еще в качестве минусов хочу сказать что очень редко выходят обновления
  29. Feb 12, 2020
    10
    If you're a fan of Terraria then you'll love this game and despite what people say, they have some heavy differences. Starbound has a large focus on exploration and items whilst Terraria is more focused on boss fights. Both are excellent games in their own ways.
  30. Feb 9, 2020
    10
    Игра замечательная как для созидателей, кто может построить собственную колонию, так и для разрушителей и любителей экшена. С обновлением 1.14 в игре появился новый сюжет и возможности. Все это подталкивает игрока на новые приключения.
    В рецензиях с низкой оценкой от пользователей большинство плохих оценок стоят за неоправданные ожидания, а все баги и неприятности, найденные в 2014-2016
    Игра замечательная как для созидателей, кто может построить собственную колонию, так и для разрушителей и любителей экшена. С обновлением 1.14 в игре появился новый сюжет и возможности. Все это подталкивает игрока на новые приключения.
    В рецензиях с низкой оценкой от пользователей большинство плохих оценок стоят за неоправданные ожидания, а все баги и неприятности, найденные в 2014-2016 годах давно исправлены.
    В игру советую заходить с друзьями, так намного веселее и интереснее, но если такой возможности нет, то в starbound вас всегда развеселят забавные диалоги и фразы персонажей.
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  31. Feb 7, 2020
    10
    This is a late review but all of the gripes from early patches in the games life have been revisited, with more content being added on a somewhat regular basis. The game-play is fun and engaging, with the movement getting better and better as you progress throughout the game. It's non-linear story is, while not the most original, is fun and unique in it's own sort of way. All and all it'sThis is a late review but all of the gripes from early patches in the games life have been revisited, with more content being added on a somewhat regular basis. The game-play is fun and engaging, with the movement getting better and better as you progress throughout the game. It's non-linear story is, while not the most original, is fun and unique in it's own sort of way. All and all it's just a fun crafter that you can spend hour after hour enjoying. Expand
  32. Nov 17, 2019
    10
    why is the user score for this game so low lol, i see that most of the negative reviews are from release date when the game was unfinished early access. this is ridiculous reason to rate a game 0/10.

    heres a 10/10 to counter the ridiculously low scores.
  33. Feb 1, 2019
    0
    The game was in development for years now and out of beta yet in reality this is not out of beta nor can be called a beta. The game is broken and thanks to it's terrible performance for a long time unplayable. It's a waste of time to even write a review about it. Just avoid this garbage.
  34. 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*
  35. 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.
  36. Dec 2, 2018
    9
    Definetely in my top 10 favorite games of all time. The exploration and adventure aspect of the game is on point, the story is very entertaining, the survival side of the game is not easy but not too challenging and the new content that gets added every month or so makes it even better of a experience. The crafting is perfect, not too demanding neither too easy again. Basically this gameDefinetely in my top 10 favorite games of all time. The exploration and adventure aspect of the game is on point, the story is very entertaining, the survival side of the game is not easy but not too challenging and the new content that gets added every month or so makes it even better of a experience. The crafting is perfect, not too demanding neither too easy again. Basically this game is perfect for a person that likes adventure because of the massive universe you are dropped into and left free to do whatever you want. I absolutely love the game and it's experience! Expand
  37. Nov 28, 2018
    8
    Starbound is a game dear to my heart. It has all the warmth and magic of my SNES favorites in an expansive, seemingly-endless sci-fi universe ready to be explored, conquered, and colonized. The controls are smooth and easy to master. The graphics are simply charming, and the soundtrack is pure magic. For such an inexpensive product, Starbound really is a wonderful experience. If you likeStarbound is a game dear to my heart. It has all the warmth and magic of my SNES favorites in an expansive, seemingly-endless sci-fi universe ready to be explored, conquered, and colonized. The controls are smooth and easy to master. The graphics are simply charming, and the soundtrack is pure magic. For such an inexpensive product, Starbound really is a wonderful experience. If you like pixel games, then this might be the one for you. Have fun. Expand
  38. Oct 30, 2018
    0
    Полная хуйня не работает мультиплеер. Говно. Полная хуйня. Одна звезда
  39. Oct 23, 2018
    10
    I'm really flabbergasted to see a 7,2 for user score. I suppose it's votes during early access. But Starbound changed since this period. It became a really complete game. Pixel art is marvelous. The story is cool and you've some greats awesome updates ! Like Mechas and spaces stations. You've such possibilities to have fun, especially with your friend.
  40. 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.
  41. Jul 3, 2018
    4
    It's Jule 2018 and the last update was in Oct 2017.

    The devs could swear they're doing the console version or whatever but the fact is - we have abandonware here. They had some ideas for 1.4 then "delayed" the release, then gave up cuz "weee, XBox". Come on, anybody who wanted to play SB already played it on PC. An endless universe. Great graphics. Great music. Great concept. A
    It's Jule 2018 and the last update was in Oct 2017.

    The devs could swear they're doing the console version or whatever but the fact is - we have abandonware here. They had some ideas for 1.4 then "delayed" the release, then gave up cuz "weee, XBox". Come on, anybody who wanted to play SB already played it on PC.

    An endless universe. Great graphics. Great music. Great concept. A crapton of neat ideas, but like 5% of them is finished. A cemetery of ideas, if you want.. The story sucks. The balance is crap. The devs is mostly ignoring negative feedback and for some (no) reason put their own good findings in gameplay on the shelf: racial perks? yeah, cool, but no; item tags? sure, but they will be invisible; mode without stuff drop on death but with hunger? FU player. And you got nothing to do here in like 48 hours at best. Old Terraria has more content and more challenge than SB in it's current form.
    Yeah, you could say "SteamWorkshop" and mods, but guess what - Terraria was great -without- any mods.

    The devs act now like the Novakids they've introduced - took Terraria, reworked it, then lost the interest and left the game half-baked. I loved Starbound until they dumped it. Sooo salty.
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  42. 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
  43. Aug 22, 2017
    9
    This is one of the best games I've ever played. It's easy to get absorbed into this procedurally created world and all its oddity. Most of the poor reviews on here are about the game not having been completed and should be updated.
  44. Jun 18, 2017
    10
    Amazing game, so much todo, so much to explore, so much to build. Possibly better than Terraria - advice may vary.
    PS Look at the date of the reviews, the game has deeply changed as of version 1.7, June 2017, and is still being updated with content.
  45. Jun 17, 2017
    10
    LA VERDAD YA HE JUGADO TÍTULOS PARECIDOS DE CRAFTEO COMO TERRARIA PERO NUNCA ME LLAMARON MUCHO LA ATENCIÓN , STARBOUND LO TIENE CASI ABSOLUTAMENTE TODO, DESDE MECÁNICAS DE ATAQUE HASTA AUTOS VOLADORES, ES UN BUEN JUEGO SI QUIERES PASAR UN BUEN RATO DE AMIGOS. PERO ES EL MEJOR SI QUIERES CREAR EL MUNDO QUE SIEMPRE SOÑASTE
  46. Jun 10, 2017
    9
    After the developer decided to release Update 1.3 (The Spacefarer expansion update) the game has become really awesome. Not only you can explore planets but you can also explore space and space stations. The game now is really huge with plenty of things to do also there is a significance gameplay improvement all around with the latest patches. The game is huge and very entertaining it'sAfter the developer decided to release Update 1.3 (The Spacefarer expansion update) the game has become really awesome. Not only you can explore planets but you can also explore space and space stations. The game now is really huge with plenty of things to do also there is a significance gameplay improvement all around with the latest patches. The game is huge and very entertaining it's one of the best indie games despite the low quality graphics Expand
  47. Mar 20, 2017
    9
    Really cool game! I love the story a lot and I love that you can explore other unknown planets just like Mass Effect. In my opinion I think this game is a combination of Minecraft, Terraria and Mass effect! (In a good way) Love the art style, really shows that pixel-based games can turn out to be amazing games! I give this game a 9/10!
  48. Jan 18, 2017
    10
    Amazing 2D story driven sandbox game, similar to terraria but you are able to explorer a limitless amount of planets that have a very wide variety of creatures, biomes and landscapes. with a lot of hidden dungeons and treasures to find, even recover old artifacts from fossil locations.
    You can meet NPCs that are interested in being a crew member of your ship that will help enhance your
    Amazing 2D story driven sandbox game, similar to terraria but you are able to explorer a limitless amount of planets that have a very wide variety of creatures, biomes and landscapes. with a lot of hidden dungeons and treasures to find, even recover old artifacts from fossil locations.
    You can meet NPCs that are interested in being a crew member of your ship that will help enhance your team if you choose to have them along or just leave them on the ship to continue to enhance your ship in various ways.
    a lot of random side quests can be gained from the various NPCs that dot all of the planets.
    Build anything like you can in minecraft but with a lot more variety of block types and furnishings to add a lot of appeal to the decor. then you can add people to each building or house and create your own civilization.
    with the update of 1.2 you are now able to terraform any biome into whatever biome you like.
    there seems to be more updates to come and more fun to be had in the coming months and years.
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  49. Jan 15, 2017
    1
    tries to recreate Terraria but just feels empty and repetitive

    I had high hopes for this since I bought it in beta, but the deveopers overextended and cut their losses into one boring, homogenous, "you have to stop an ancient evil!" storyline, instead of the "you break down in the middle of nowhere and have to make the best of it, explore the galaxy" thing it had previously. All races
    tries to recreate Terraria but just feels empty and repetitive

    I had high hopes for this since I bought it in beta, but the deveopers overextended and cut their losses into one boring, homogenous, "you have to stop an ancient evil!" storyline, instead of the "you break down in the middle of nowhere and have to make the best of it, explore the galaxy" thing it had previously. All races are the same except for looks, and things like the race unique ship AI have all been removed.

    You probably be better off spending less money on Terraria.
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  50. Jan 13, 2017
    4
    Not worth playing. The beginning of the game I was motivated to play. Soon after, the game becomes repetitive as you progress, the controls become cumbersome. It really lacks true depth. I get a slight lag when there is lot going on and slows my movement down to change equipment that causes me to die.
    There is infinite building but you can't get the detail easily and no benefit building
    Not worth playing. The beginning of the game I was motivated to play. Soon after, the game becomes repetitive as you progress, the controls become cumbersome. It really lacks true depth. I get a slight lag when there is lot going on and slows my movement down to change equipment that causes me to die.
    There is infinite building but you can't get the detail easily and no benefit building on these worlds. Just a standard building game. I can't seem to get the benefit of more crewman either.
    The last boss is virally impossible for me at least since it's near impossible to dodge and the lag slows my play down just enough that I can't heal by one click or even two clicks of the mouse.
    Overall, becomes boring and the controls are too cumbersome for boss battles. What a disappointment. The critics score is too high. Less than average game.
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  51. Jan 9, 2017
    8
    I've been with Starbound since the late Koala stages (they named their beta stages after animals, instead of 0.1 or 0.38) and I say 'pick this one up' as much as I did back then.

    If you've played Terraria, then you're already in a familiar field: 2D Minecraft-like, except this one is a bit more floaty. The Combat can seem kinda slow and unbalanced at times (in both directions, mind) but
    I've been with Starbound since the late Koala stages (they named their beta stages after animals, instead of 0.1 or 0.38) and I say 'pick this one up' as much as I did back then.

    If you've played Terraria, then you're already in a familiar field: 2D Minecraft-like, except this one is a bit more floaty. The Combat can seem kinda slow and unbalanced at times (in both directions, mind) but the real area Starbound shines is the exploration.
    Beam down to a Planet, scour it for ores and/or treasures, or just enjoy the scenery above and below ground all the way to the Small Meteorites orbiting the atmosphere above or the planet's molten core bellow. When you're finished, tell Scotty to beam you back up, find a new planet, and repeat.

    Of course, the game does still have it's faults.
    During it's Beta phases, there was no real goal in how to progress through the game, aside from 'get the bestest gear ever.' Now that it's released we finally have a story driven plot:
    Some big tentacle monster destroyed Earth, and you gotta stop it form destroying the rest of the universe, somehow. Sounds Noble, right?
    Unless you focus on the story, it can get outright forgotten about. That's a good and bad thing: There's so much to do anyway, but it's part of the game that just feels lackluster compared to everything else. It can easily be plowed through in a few hours, although there was a recent update that adds post story content. I've not checked that out yet

    Apparently some people have been having problems just running the game since it's official release. I do not know why, it's always run smoothly for me. Try running it in a different display mode, is what I'd suggest (if windowed, try fullscreen, etc).

    And the mods, oh golly the mods. At once point the Devs made it a clear goal to make the game as easy to modify as they possibly could, and it still shows today. As of right now, Starbound's Steam Workshop has a little over two Thousand separate mods for it, although totaling to 3500. The second number, however, includes the outdated mods that were abandoned due to a dry update period.

    Overall, I say get this game, and get a friend or two to get this game, too. The vastness of space is best explored with buddies.
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  52. Jan 7, 2017
    10
    amazing game.... there's not much to be said as I haven't really played hundreds of hours (yet) but from the first intro I can tell its already an awesome game. the soundtrack is literally epic, and I don't use that word lightly or often, but in this case its fitting. Every new track I hear is well timed with the games cutscenes and events and sends shivers down my spine.

    The graphics
    amazing game.... there's not much to be said as I haven't really played hundreds of hours (yet) but from the first intro I can tell its already an awesome game. the soundtrack is literally epic, and I don't use that word lightly or often, but in this case its fitting. Every new track I hear is well timed with the games cutscenes and events and sends shivers down my spine.

    The graphics are awesome (for a 2d tile based game) and the particle effects add a lot to the scene (rain is especially nice looking, when its wind for example).

    but the main thing that seems to keep me hooked is the sheer volume of content... there's just SO MUCH. I played a while online with my brother (who has played a lot more of the game than I have) and he has an amazing arsenal of bizarre and interesting weapons, all very different from each other.

    My only issue with the game is the performance. I couldn't get the 64bit version to launch and the 32bit version I can play never gets above 50fps on my machine (which isn't a beast pc but can play AAA titles just fine.) however for this game, anything above 30fps really is fine, is still looks smooth and doesn't feel choppy at all...

    so to sum up..... I got several new AAA games for Christmas this year and yet starbound is the game I will be playing for 2017.
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  53. Dec 16, 2016
    2
    the game is boring past the first 10 hours of discovery. for me this game is dull and boring. The crafting is extremely limited. I remember m friends telling me about this game and i played it and it just sucked. this game is no where near done.
  54. Dec 15, 2016
    9
    For me, Starbound lived up to the hype. I was an early beta player and playing it after 1.0 was like playing a whole new game. Good times solo and playing with a buddy, base building feels good and tech skills and developer dungeons keep it interesting.
  55. Nov 29, 2016
    2
    Disconnected and barebone mechanics render a shallow experience that's already grindy by nature.
    If the goal was to conquer the galaxy, for example, then things like building colonies, upgrading ships, terraforming and so on would be useful features.
    But your mission is to scan all the furniture in the universe! And not as you go along, but in racial order! Performance issues still
    Disconnected and barebone mechanics render a shallow experience that's already grindy by nature.
    If the goal was to conquer the galaxy, for example, then things like building colonies, upgrading ships, terraforming and so on would be useful features.
    But your mission is to scan all the furniture in the universe! And not as you go along, but in racial order!
    Performance issues still exist after 5 years. Large amount of content was cut from the game like racial differences, lore, weapons, tech, armor... And they added same monsters to every planet!
    Visiting other planets gets old fast, cause of frequent deja vu.
    2 points are for pixel art and soundtrack.
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  56. Nov 25, 2016
    9
    If you like adventure games, this is the game for you. Land on a planet, travel across the surface to find old ruins and secret laboratories, or trek through a cave into the vast underground to find old, ruined outposts, underground cities, underground jungles, graves, and MOAR secret laboratories. A captivating game that will suck you in. It's a bit slow to start, but, if you put time andIf you like adventure games, this is the game for you. Land on a planet, travel across the surface to find old ruins and secret laboratories, or trek through a cave into the vast underground to find old, ruined outposts, underground cities, underground jungles, graves, and MOAR secret laboratories. A captivating game that will suck you in. It's a bit slow to start, but, if you put time and effort into this game, the payoff will be amazing. THIS is what gamers should play rather than that unfinished repetitive mess that is No Man's Sky. Expand
  57. 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.
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  58. 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.
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  59. Sep 2, 2016
    9
    I bought this game and i wasn't expecting much, on the first day i played like 10 hours straight, the game has a story and hundreds of items that you can collect, some weapons have a extra skill and adds a little more strategy to battles, the bosses are fun to fight against but that don't applies to the common foes, that are really dumb and just run to attack.
  60. Aug 25, 2016
    3
    This game has had excellent appeal during its Beta and Alpha stages, and I absolutely love the freedom of exploring planets and stuff. HOWEVER level design in challenges that have since been introduced give it an almost "rogue'-like appeal. I absolutely detest this, and this prevents me from enjoying the game that I know is stuck behind these extremely, extremely, frustrating and punitiveThis game has had excellent appeal during its Beta and Alpha stages, and I absolutely love the freedom of exploring planets and stuff. HOWEVER level design in challenges that have since been introduced give it an almost "rogue'-like appeal. I absolutely detest this, and this prevents me from enjoying the game that I know is stuck behind these extremely, extremely, frustrating and punitive challenges. I will never play that game, and I will never forgive Chucklefish for this. Expand
  61. Aug 25, 2016
    8
    Al fin después de tanto tiempo, sacaron la versión final de este juego que prometía tanto. Gráficos bonitos, historia irrelevante, pero entretenida. Muchas cosas para hacer, super divertido con amigos. Terraria del espacio vaya.
  62. 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
  63. 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.
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  64. Aug 13, 2016
    0
    Welcome to screen saver simulator. Yes that's what this game is, a screen saver. Yes it's nice, graphics are calming music is soothing but I don't want to call it a game. Just because you press few buttons and move around doesn't make it a game (well it does, but a game with 0 score)
  65. Aug 13, 2016
    9
    Please do not take into account most reviews here, the game has finally reached version 1.0, the story is in and you can do whatever you want with the game as well, i have been on this ride since the beggining and i guarantee it is worth the shot( for the newcomers even more since all that you try will be new)
    the art is superb, the amount of content is awesome, if you like sidescrollers
    Please do not take into account most reviews here, the game has finally reached version 1.0, the story is in and you can do whatever you want with the game as well, i have been on this ride since the beggining and i guarantee it is worth the shot( for the newcomers even more since all that you try will be new)
    the art is superb, the amount of content is awesome, if you like sidescrollers with build mechanics and resource gathering you will love this one!!
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  66. Aug 12, 2016
    10
    You really gotta take reviews before the proper release date with a grain of salt. This game did have a long period of early access, yes, but what many people forget is that this is an indie game that only charges a fourth of the price of a full game release and still managed to actually deliver a full game's worth of content. It's arguable whether this game would actually be worth $60,You really gotta take reviews before the proper release date with a grain of salt. This game did have a long period of early access, yes, but what many people forget is that this is an indie game that only charges a fourth of the price of a full game release and still managed to actually deliver a full game's worth of content. It's arguable whether this game would actually be worth $60, but its $15 asking price for an entire universe of sandbox planets to explore that all feel both familiar and unique, seven interesting races with dozens of codex entries that flesh out their background, a full-length campaign that integrates with your exploration to encourage traversing the universe, a crew system that gives unique followers and passive bonuses based on who you recruit, and full mod support for the community to do practically whatever they'd like with all of this... I honestly couldn't ask for much more beyond making the game fully 3D, but No Man's Sky seems to indicate that that may not be such a good idea.

    Starbound integrates Role-Playing with sandbox and exploration in such a unique way and only has a $15 asking price. For the over 400 hours of enjoyment I've gotten out of it, I would be doing it a disservice to not rate it a full 10. It's been a long journey through the stars for me, and I can forsee a longer yet one in the years to come.
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  67. Aug 9, 2016
    3
    Game is disappointing.
    The crafting is extremely limited. There is a total of 6 arbors to craft in the game. 6, with aesthetic variations.
    Seriously, the game is boring past the first 10 hours of discovery. There is no character whatsoever, everything is smoothed out and neutered. Story, graphics, ideas, possibilities. To release such a gut out product cut of functionalities
    Game is disappointing.
    The crafting is extremely limited. There is a total of 6 arbors to craft in the game. 6, with aesthetic variations.

    Seriously, the game is boring past the first 10 hours of discovery.
    There is no character whatsoever, everything is smoothed out and neutered. Story, graphics, ideas, possibilities.

    To release such a gut out product cut of functionalities present in early access after 5 years of development is a spit in the face of the customers.

    Never again Chucklefish.
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  68. 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.
  69. 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.
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  70. 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.
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  71. Aug 4, 2016
    8
    I bought Starbound while still in alpha (late 2013) and spent a fair amount of time on it, on many builds: I really don't understand all the hate that came up with 1.0 release.

    While it clearly misses some of the declared features (e.g. space combat or mechs - though you can easily get mech using mods) it delivers a satisfying and funny experience to the player. Simply put: 2d art
    I bought Starbound while still in alpha (late 2013) and spent a fair amount of time on it, on many builds: I really don't understand all the hate that came up with 1.0 release.

    While it clearly misses some of the declared features
    (e.g. space combat or mechs - though you can easily get mech using mods)
    it delivers a satisfying and funny experience to the player.

    Simply put: 2d art is gorgeous, combat is compelling and fun (wide array of weapon types), crafting is good (many recipes, blocks, upgradeable crafting stations, wiring for advanced building).
    Overall, the game is quite polished and fully enjoyable.

    The feeling? It's Great too: having a spaceship to "freely roam" the space while exploring new planets - where you'll often find caves, outposts, chests, and interesting stuff in general - really gets you involved and willing to spend lot of hours on the game.

    8/10, highly recommended!
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  72. 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.
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  73. 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.
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  74. 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.
  75. 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
  76. Aug 2, 2016
    10
    a Great game for COOP. I understand this game has some high negatives but I suspect this is due to the fact that this game was pre-alpha. It's now released and Awesome! even the pre-alpha game was a blast, but it ran out of content after 30 hours.

    I've played 30 hours with the released version so far and have no sign of running out of content! I'm excited and glad I supported this
    a Great game for COOP. I understand this game has some high negatives but I suspect this is due to the fact that this game was pre-alpha. It's now released and Awesome! even the pre-alpha game was a blast, but it ran out of content after 30 hours.

    I've played 30 hours with the released version so far and have no sign of running out of content! I'm excited and glad I supported this game on Early Access.
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  77. Jul 31, 2016
    8
    Starbound is a great game and very enjoyable but it has some of it's flaws. Art style , music and gameplay of the game are great, follow that up with vast ammounts of planets (areas) to explore and you can have hours of fun. Combat was one of the things i loved most when it comes to this game because of pure variety it has, you have axes, guns, rifles, huge eyes laser weapons and so on...Starbound is a great game and very enjoyable but it has some of it's flaws. Art style , music and gameplay of the game are great, follow that up with vast ammounts of planets (areas) to explore and you can have hours of fun. Combat was one of the things i loved most when it comes to this game because of pure variety it has, you have axes, guns, rifles, huge eyes laser weapons and so on...
    It's Terraria inspired and it looks like Terraria but people who played both games will know the difference but games is really a game of it's own not a Terraria clone. Biggest weakpoints of the game are:
    -Interactions both with characters and items/blocks and the inability to hit something under you with weapons
    -Bad story it's just bad
    If you can overcome this flaws you will enjoy the game and you can look forward to updates with a lot of content that will give you another reason to explore. Also this game features a good multiplayer system where you can have tons of fun with friends.
    Best qualities of the game are:
    -Variety in combat, as i have said numerous weapons and great variety of enemies to defeat each with it's special attacks.
    -Music just good soundtrack for me at least
    -Art style it looks very nice and it's enjoyable to explore those beatyful looking worlds
    -Lot of content
    -One of the closest things to No man's sky with a galaxy to explore (lot smaller honestly) but if you are not able to play No man's sky this is game for you
    Conclusion: Starbound is a game with rocky start that's why there are so many bad reviews but now it's actually enjoyable game. Rare game that acutally isn't much overpriced. If you decide to buy it you can have tons of fun from it's many features from fun multiplayer to good singleplayer.
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  78. Jul 28, 2016
    0
    Four years. A million dollars and a complete development team.

    Four ♥♥♥♥ing years, a million ♥♥♥♥ing dollars and a complete godamn development team and the result is a mediocre edge of space clone that runs like crap. The game had a lot of promise, but the developers got so much money from pre-orders and early adopters they overdosed on hookers and cocaine and forgot they were
    Four years. A million dollars and a complete development team.

    Four ♥♥♥♥ing years, a million ♥♥♥♥ing dollars and a complete godamn development team and the result is a mediocre edge of space clone that runs like crap.

    The game had a lot of promise, but the developers got so much money from pre-orders and early adopters they overdosed on hookers and cocaine and forgot they were supposed to make a game after taking the money.

    Long periods of inactivity combined with procrastination led to disjointed updates and developers so utterly disconnected from the community that the majority of old time players who gave a ♥♥♥♥ about the game left and only the fanboys remained.

    The game started out with an intresting premise. Multiple differenct races each of them explore space for its own reason with its own goals, it's own allied and enemy races creating conflict and generating and truly living breathing world, its own tech and it's own special abilities, exploring to find the reason why they left their planet in the first place.

    You could be a pirate, a researcher, a space bandit fighting for your own cause beacuse your own reasons.

    Sounds intresting no?

    Well, what we got now is everyone is happy, everyone is united, no conflict, part of a united federation type deal, and your character is the newest graduate out to save the world with the other graduates from cthulu who hates all live and wants to see it gone because it gives an evil boner or whatever. (ORIGINAL PLOT ALERT, DO NOT STEAL).

    How do you save the world from cthulu? Do 5 incredibly drawn out, tedious fetch quests, 5 nonsensical dungeons and then you fight the boss.

    All races are the exact same with the only differences being cosmetic. (As opposed to earlier versions where you had unique armors with abilities and special weapons)

    Since beta from more than half the special abilities or techs (like nullifying gravity, flying, teleporting, FTL dashing, mechs ect) got completely removed , a massive ammount of custom/unique racial weapons in the game got gutted for no reason at all, the game went back to use a terrible "Damage on contact" combat system and the racial armors turned from unique special sets with different abilities to 12 different reskins of the exact same item, and ontop of that all, all the unique racial AI was removed in favour of everyone using the human one! WHY!?

    Also, in the 4 years that it has been out the devs never gave a ♥♥♥♥ to properly optimize it so it'll run at more than 10 frames per second on high end gaming PCs.

    But all that could have been easily excused.

    IF THE GAME WASN'T IN THE GAME FOR 4 GODAMN YEARS WITH A BUDGET OF OVER ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

    Honestly, I cannot in all honesty give this game a positive review, because it does not deserve a positive review.

    The developers took people's money, develivered a product that's even remotely close to what they promisd and took 4 years to do it. It's a mediocre game in a sea of mediocrity.
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  79. Jul 28, 2016
    9
    The 1.0 release is awesome. I played this game looong ago on early access, and while it had potential, it wasn't good enough. Now I have been playing non stop since release.

    It's a terraria, with some significant differences. Fighting and building are more separated. On planets, you don't fight much. There is fighting, just not a lot. There you dig, explore and build. Then, there are
    The 1.0 release is awesome. I played this game looong ago on early access, and while it had potential, it wasn't good enough. Now I have been playing non stop since release.

    It's a terraria, with some significant differences. Fighting and building are more separated. On planets, you don't fight much. There is fighting, just not a lot. There you dig, explore and build. Then, there are missions and instances, where you are not allowed to build or dig, where the real fighting takes place.

    Another major difference is that you improve your armor like in terraria, by crafting, but weapons are all found exploring. It's much more centered around exploring than terraria. On the other hand, there's less variety in useful items than terraria. I would say starbound has more blocks and decorative items, but it has less real usefull items (still has a lot).

    IMO 1.0 starbound is a very polished game and an awesome experience.
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  80. Jul 26, 2016
    10
    Incredible. I bought Star-bound from steam 4 years ago for 15$. It was worth its money THEN, now here we are four years later with the 1.0 update (Leaving Orbit). It took a LOOOONNNG time for the game to come out, but the reason it took that long is because the community kept growing. The Developers (Chuckle Fish games) were flooded with money, the kick starter goal was annihilated (in aIncredible. I bought Star-bound from steam 4 years ago for 15$. It was worth its money THEN, now here we are four years later with the 1.0 update (Leaving Orbit). It took a LOOOONNNG time for the game to come out, but the reason it took that long is because the community kept growing. The Developers (Chuckle Fish games) were flooded with money, the kick starter goal was annihilated (in a good way) and Chuckle Fish wanted to give the community, a game that was worth the money that the community had put in, and they did it. The music is some of the BEST MUSIC I have ever heard in video games, AND the music isn't loud and in your face its in the background as you're focusing on collecting ores or exploring an alien planet, this is competing with my favorite game AND one of the best games on Meta-Critic: Cave story. The art style is joyous to say the little detail is what pushes this game to a ten instead of a 9. Oh, and if you're reading: ignore the other reviews that say this game is a linear grind, because it's not. IT'S THE BIGGEST METROID-VANIA THAT YOU HAVE EVER SEEN (sorry for the caps I had to get the point across). But at the same time it's not, its a RPG, and a Exploration, and a Terraria-LIKE game it doesn't copy Terraria but the Tier system is like it. I haven't even begun to talk about the Bosses (No Spoilers). All of them are different and unique, (No Spoilers) The Final Boss, while not being too hard, is FUN, it is PURE FUN, I won't talk about his attacks (even though i want to). The quests, while yes, SOME being fetch/Delivery quests, they make sense. The People who give you quests live on an asteroid, so it makes sense that they might need some Iron or some Silver, that just makes sense to me. Sorry for rambling on this long, if you couldn't tell I really like the game, so I'll end this here with one last thing:

    BUY IT
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  81. Jul 24, 2016
    0
    This game has been in development for years, and finally has been "released",. While I am sure it is full of lovely content, there are so many utterly idiotic design choices that make this game nothing but a nightmare to play, that enjoying it is impossible.
    Super sensitive character movement, none intuitive menu systems, plenty of strange bugs, inability to hit things that are slightly
    This game has been in development for years, and finally has been "released",. While I am sure it is full of lovely content, there are so many utterly idiotic design choices that make this game nothing but a nightmare to play, that enjoying it is impossible.
    Super sensitive character movement, none intuitive menu systems, plenty of strange bugs, inability to hit things that are slightly below you with a sword, torches that light up a meter in front of you , toolbar system that does not remember where you had something moments ago, menus with single items that do not auto-select this item, forcing you to make extra clicks for no reason, convoluted food/ eating system, a pointless tutorial that teaches you nothing about how the game works, character dialogues that either stay on screen for ages and cannot be skipped, or go by so fast you do not get a chance to read them entirely.... there is not one intuitive design feature to be found.
    The developers should be embarrassed that they call this a ready to be shipped game when it is so painful to play.
    0 out of 10 for the utter idiocy of everything everywhere.
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  82. Jul 24, 2016
    3
    For a game that's allegedly finished it sure feels like a beta. Oh wait *launches game and reads the window*, it appears to say Starbound Beta.

    Joking aside this game has a myriad of problems, some good things too but mostly problems. Pros: Decent presentation Good soundtrack For me runs better than it ever has before but I understand a lot of people are having problems with it.
    For a game that's allegedly finished it sure feels like a beta. Oh wait *launches game and reads the window*, it appears to say Starbound Beta.

    Joking aside this game has a myriad of problems, some good things too but mostly problems.

    Pros:
    Decent presentation
    Good soundtrack
    For me runs better than it ever has before but I understand a lot of people are having problems with it. That being said it still has random frame drops on my machine. GTX 970, AMD FX-8350
    A lot of different loot and cool abilities
    Varied surface landscapes

    Cons:
    Incredibly poor UI decisions; draggable windows that don't stay put in between closing and pulling them back up, the hotbar can't be truly customized to put things where you'd like them, inventory/options/crafting all accessed from separate buttons (this is an issue for me because this game is similar enough to terraria that the UI feels like it should be the same)
    The questing is generally terrible fetch/delivery quests
    The varied planet surfaces don't matter when you spend a large portion of time underground
    Mining and digging a straight tunnel is tedious
    The endless save wipes between every version (this doesn't matter if you're new but for anyone whose been playing since the early access release this is a problem)
    The whole game is a grind

    I could go on and on but honestly it's not worth it. If you've played Terraria and think this looks good, just play Terraria again. All that being said if I have to give this game a score it gets a 3/10.
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  83. 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.
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  84. R77
    Jul 23, 2016
    4
    There were high expectations for this game after three years of development and a long beta process, and it missed almost all of them.

    The Good: - The music is excellent, and the game sounds great overall - The art style is fun - The variety of weapons (although the combat mechanics make this almost meaningless) The Bad: - The inventory system - which should be the core of a
    There were high expectations for this game after three years of development and a long beta process, and it missed almost all of them.

    The Good:

    - The music is excellent, and the game sounds great overall
    - The art style is fun
    - The variety of weapons (although the combat mechanics make this almost meaningless)

    The Bad:

    - The inventory system - which should be the core of a game with thousands of items - is badly broken. This is after years of testing. There are now five separate inventory screens, and the UI that controls them is clunky and frustrating. Items that used to stack no longer do, which leads to inventory crowding almost immediately.
    - The story is bland and unoriginal. This would be fine if it wasn't a mandatory part of the early-game, but you're now required to run the same broken dungeon you were in beta before you can do any real exploring. It still sucks.
    - The quest hub/town area has undergone only cosmetic changes since early beta, only now there's a story dungeon sloppily cobbled onto it.
    - You now drop healing items and other important items on death on the normal difficulty mode, which adds a layer of meaningless frustration.
    - Combat is the same 'try not to let the monster hit you' snoozefest as before, only now you sometimes have functional weapons when they aren't glitching out.
    - Enemy variety was supposedly going to be huge, but I found myself running into the same six aliens over and over. I guess this got scrapped?

    I know $15 isn't very expensive, but considering how much money these developers made through early access and what a long development cycle this had...I expected much more. Unless Starbound gets the fixes it still needs and an almost complete inventory/combat overhaul, I see no reason to come back. Save your money.
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  85. May 1, 2016
    3
    Boring. Incredibly boring. No meaningful content, progression feels pointless, combat mechanic is dull, exploring is only skin-deep (one "procedural" world is as good as any other). The one single plus is that some of the writing is decent. But oh man, that combat is terrible.

    A great concept ruined by its execution.
  86. Jan 19, 2016
    10
    This game is absolutely awesome. It is very fun, especially when joining an RP server or something. It doesn't update often, but it is absolutely AWESOME.
  87. 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.
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  88. Dec 6, 2015
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a good game even in Beta, with so much things to do, and explore, but it doesn't have a propose to continue the storyline, and doesn't have too much of story. The bosses are way to difficult with the maximum requirement, but having a strategy maybe will help you. It's nice to play it and see it evolve Expand
  89. Oct 11, 2015
    10
    I've owned this game since its first stage of alpha, and felt it was a very well put together game. The updates were slow for a while, but now, the developers are quite actively trying to improve the game. I'd recommend reading only the recent reviews, as things have greatly improved.
    The community is good, the gameplay is good, but in my experiences the game really shines as a
    I've owned this game since its first stage of alpha, and felt it was a very well put together game. The updates were slow for a while, but now, the developers are quite actively trying to improve the game. I'd recommend reading only the recent reviews, as things have greatly improved.
    The community is good, the gameplay is good, but in my experiences the game really shines as a roleplaying platform. The assets are very numerous, it's possible to change each individual color on any piece of clothing (with a third-party web-app called SBSE) and the RP communities are great. It's incredibly easy to create custom assets (such as guns, etc) that EVERYONE can see without needing mods, and is overall a very highly moddable game. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting a good adventure, and especially people who like RPing.
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  90. Oct 11, 2015
    10
    After the development's hiatus, Starbound is finally back into full-swing with regular updates and content. The recent addition of colonies adds quite a bit of depth to building in the game, and good things seem to be happening with the progression and combat. The art style is rather charming, and the game's humor keeps even some minor additions amusing.

    Furthermore, the game has a
    After the development's hiatus, Starbound is finally back into full-swing with regular updates and content. The recent addition of colonies adds quite a bit of depth to building in the game, and good things seem to be happening with the progression and combat. The art style is rather charming, and the game's humor keeps even some minor additions amusing.

    Furthermore, the game has a surprising amount of potential for good builds and servers. My friends and I have built everything from space-bars to giant lasers, a steam-punk planet, an Avian home world, you name it! Even Terraria at its present height doesn't have this much potential for building flavor.

    Also, seriously, why is the OST so good? It's kinda ridiculous. They brought in some straight-up piano and fancy instrumentation for it. It's just another example of how damn ambitious this growing indie game has been.
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  91. Oct 11, 2015
    10
    I just can't get my head around people not recommending this game. Stupid haters are gonna hate a guess. I have put 170 well spent hours into this masterpiece. The soundtrack is beautiful, The gameplay is awesome. There is so much lore to the game that you could write a book as long as Harry Potter 5 for every piece of it. This is by far my favorite game, and I would recommend this toI just can't get my head around people not recommending this game. Stupid haters are gonna hate a guess. I have put 170 well spent hours into this masterpiece. The soundtrack is beautiful, The gameplay is awesome. There is so much lore to the game that you could write a book as long as Harry Potter 5 for every piece of it. This is by far my favorite game, and I would recommend this to anyone that likes science fiction. This game is like a cross between Terraria and Startrek, and it is filled with so many hilarious references. I absolutely ADORE this game and everyone that likes Science fiction will to. Great job Chucklefish. Expand
  92. 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.
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  93. Aug 24, 2015
    10
    Starbound is like space exploring adventure. Millions of planets to see and explore with randomly generated biomes and buildings. You can find villages, research facilities, castles, and the list goes on and on. There are currently 6 different races that all have their own unique weapons and armor. This game is still early access, but it still blows my mind on how awesome it is. FunnyStarbound is like space exploring adventure. Millions of planets to see and explore with randomly generated biomes and buildings. You can find villages, research facilities, castles, and the list goes on and on. There are currently 6 different races that all have their own unique weapons and armor. This game is still early access, but it still blows my mind on how awesome it is. Funny dialogue with random NPCs and cool biomes to explore. Speaking of biomes, there is a lot of em'. Underground slime biomes, mushroom villages, gnome villages, so many things to find.

    I love this game, and so should you.
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  94. 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.
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  95. Aug 9, 2015
    9
    I don't understand why people think there's nothing but a linear grind, when really you have a vast galaxy to explore as you like. Apart from that, you can on your travels come across and collect different outfits, weaponry, furnishings (A LOT) and find weird and wacky locals to interact with. There's been significant content updates since 2014, with another pretty significant update justI don't understand why people think there's nothing but a linear grind, when really you have a vast galaxy to explore as you like. Apart from that, you can on your travels come across and collect different outfits, weaponry, furnishings (A LOT) and find weird and wacky locals to interact with. There's been significant content updates since 2014, with another pretty significant update just around the corner from the time of writing this review.

    Those who keep comparing it to Terraria really shouldn't. I hated Terraria, but I love Starbound because the focus seems more to do with exploration than "survive this horrendous attack on your house", and the tools and crafting system seem more intuitive to me. Not to knock the survival genre game, but it's not my favourite, and Starbound has elements of combat within it, but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the game or lay waste to all your hard work within one bad blood moon attack.

    I'd also like to add that multiplayer really adds more enjoyment to the game, just because everything's more fun with friends, you can also set yourselves interesting challenges with the power of your imagination, like who can terraform a planet faster, or who can build the biggest monstrous building in a set amount of time. The options are literally only as limited as your brain power ;)
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  96. Jul 30, 2015
    9
    The game has been in development for longer than I care to remember. Every 'major' update we receive tend to be pointless. I remember the update where all they did was add in pets that do absolutely NOTHING. Not what I consider a major update. Meanwhile they've had a ridiculous amount of funding from people who pre-ordered the game on their website and have made little progress.
    And
    The game has been in development for longer than I care to remember. Every 'major' update we receive tend to be pointless. I remember the update where all they did was add in pets that do absolutely NOTHING. Not what I consider a major update. Meanwhile they've had a ridiculous amount of funding from people who pre-ordered the game on their website and have made little progress.
    And meanwhile Chucklefish are wasting their time and resources publishing countless other indie games when they can't even finish developing their own game!
    Expand
  97. Jun 30, 2015
    10
    Look a lot, and I mean A LOT of people have said things like game is unfinished. And it was abandoned by developers. They are ignorant fools with no creativity. I beg you to ignore them. Starbound is a great game. It may not have much content but it has endless amounts of servers and communities! If you have already beat the game, don't worry! It's just the beginning. Go find new friends,Look a lot, and I mean A LOT of people have said things like game is unfinished. And it was abandoned by developers. They are ignorant fools with no creativity. I beg you to ignore them. Starbound is a great game. It may not have much content but it has endless amounts of servers and communities! If you have already beat the game, don't worry! It's just the beginning. Go find new friends, or build a giant house, or build a giant house with your friends. Maybe make a faction or help someone. Or join one of the great player communities. Or use one of the endless mods made by players. Starbound is a canvas. Many people have drawn on it to make a beautiful painting. Now it is your turn to make your painting. What will you decide? Expand
  98. 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
  99. May 1, 2015
    10
    This game is being actively developed, and improves all the time. If you're considering buying it, I'd recommend only reading reviews within the most recent couple of months. Even in its current (unreleased) form, it's absolutely better than Terraria. The gameplay, effects, sound, and attention to detail are amazing - not to mention the massive amount of content. The most recent patchThis game is being actively developed, and improves all the time. If you're considering buying it, I'd recommend only reading reviews within the most recent couple of months. Even in its current (unreleased) form, it's absolutely better than Terraria. The gameplay, effects, sound, and attention to detail are amazing - not to mention the massive amount of content. The most recent patch hugely improved the way the game is presented, so quests and objectives are easy to understand and follow. This is a really, really impressive game. Expand
  100. Apr 6, 2015
    1
    Dear diary,

    We are on 2015 and Starbound is still an EA. Since I bought the game, I've married and now I have 2 kids. Hope someday my kids can see the game release.

    tl;dr: scam..
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. 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.
  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. 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.