You can see exactly what I made of the game way back then by reading our Starbound Early Access review.Įverything you’d expect from a sandbox was already there during beta: crafting, building, multiplayer, space travel, merchants, bosses and this gargantuan scope. What was it like on release?Ĭompared to a lot of other Early Access games, Starbound launched with such a big menu of features, craftable items, colourful monsters and potential adventures that it almost felt complete, even back in 2013. According to SteamSpy, over two million copies of the game have been sold, and in the last fortnight it’s been played by over a hundred thousand players.Ĭhucklefish has been criticised for the long development time, but obviously it’s not stopped people from jumping into their starships and exploring the procedural galaxy. While Starbound is now in its third year of Early Access, it retains a respectable playerbase. There’d be Items and gear that could be crafted, worlds waiting to be mined right down to their core, and all manner of things waiting to be built, from rustic cottages to massive futuristic bases.Īnd of course the galaxy would be full of hostile alien lifeforms to slaughter or run away from, and all manner of weapons from giant axes to laser rifles. What was the pitch?Ī sci-fi sandbox adventure game where players would create a custom character that could be human or one of several alien races, such as the ape-like Apex and floral Florins, which determined the style of their ship.Ī whole galaxy would be there to explore, with players teleporting to worlds complete with distinct biomes and NPC settlements.

The developer, Chucklefish, released the beta version of the game on Early Access, believing that it was “already pretty fun,” and wanted to ensure the community had a chance to help them shape the game. And also because you could play as a freewheeling medieval robot flitting through space. It was one of the first Early Access games that we decided to review, and ultimately we recommended it thanks to the surprisingly large amount of content available even at that early stage. Starbound landed on Steam way back in December of 2013, capitalising on the popularity of games like Minecraft and Terraria, with which it shares a lot of DNA.

Starbound not launching through steam