Starbound is a pixel-based “Terraria clone”. That’s the best way to describe it - you gather materials, craft things, fight monsters… But this is set in space, and you can travel to different planets in your upgradable ship. You can also mine fuel from moons, but man those moon ghosts don’t like that. It’s fair to say at this point that Minecraft has spawned its own sub-genre, with no shortage of imitators and cross-pollination with action games, RPGs and even shooters.

One newly formed studio and successful crowdfunding campaign later, Starbound was born. Adding onto the traditional wilderness survival setting with sci-fi staples like laser pistols and be-tentacled aliens, it also allows the player to travel in space to thousands of different planets, each the size of one Terraria world. The number of weapons, monsters, gear and resources has at least quintupled, and the game is easily moddable for endless expansion. The Steam Workshop is already abuzz with custom environments, equipment, and playable races.

The most notable difference from other games of its genre, however, is the story—It has one, first off. And though it may seem counter-intuitive for such an impossibly huge open world to be built around a strict narrative, Starbound does it right: with no boring, mandatory stretches and deference to the core gameplay.

The only instance of hand-holding is the tutorial, which shows you the basics and also puts your character in context. As a newly-inducted member of a galaxy-wide organization known as the Protectorate, you must escape their headquarters amid a monster attack. You learn how to handle the Matter Manipulator, an all-purpose mining and building tool, then make your way to a starship and blast off, crash-landing on an unfamiliar planet.

Incidentally, players can skip straight to that last part with any character, leaving the sort of cold open expected from other crafting sandboxes: You’re alone in the world with only the clothes on your back and must live off the land, slowly building an empire from the dirt. The next few quests simply guide the player towards things they’d want to do, such as finding fuel for their ship and tinkering with that big metal obelisk on the planet’s surface. I accidently skipped the tutorial and i was clueless at first but then one of my friend stepped up, showed me all the basics and even helped me with quests and building items etc. Adding your friend to your party and join your session was a great help tbh!

The story of Starbound doesn’t hamper enjoyment of the open world, but rather enhances it. What’s more important to discuss is the history and design philosophy of Starbound. Chucklefish not only crowdfunded the game, they released it in early access—two phrases that turn the stomachs of many a gamer, and rightfully so. But they made it great by listening to community feedback and continually hammering away at the game, going through many iterations and experimenting with different features, to make it the best possible version of itself. They held themselves responsible for making good on their promises and earning the money invested in their project, and the results speak for themselves.

Starbound is the kind of game you’d expect to be a cluttered mess, but all of the pieces work in tandem to create a dynamic experience with many interesting features and solid fundamentals.