Starbound gives players a choice of what their interstellar story should be. Its backdrop is a universe threatened by the forces that destroyed the player’s home, with an epic campaign of characters, bosses, dungeons, and quests for those pursuing a heroic route. The game also supports a quieter kind of exploration: settle on a planet, farm, build, or travel onward in search of unusual creatures and places.
That flexibility is grounded in concrete systems. Players command and customize a starship, explore procedurally generated planets, gather resources, craft equipment and furnishings, and build everything from a secluded cabin to a space station. Planetary colonies can bring tenants who offer gifts and may ask to join the ship’s crew. Captured monsters can fight alongside the player, while three modes change survival stakes: Casual removes the need to eat, Survival requires food and drops items on death, and Hardcore uses permadeath.
The game is designed for both solo play and online drop-in, drop-out co-op, and its moddability lets players add items, races, planet types, dungeons, and quests.
