Starbound Alternatives and Similar Games

No doubt you’ve heard of this hugely popular 2D sandbox that used to be compared to Minecraft when it was new. But it’s much more than that, as Terraria not only has you building anything you want while mining for resources and crafting all kinds of things, it also features more action-packed combat with a variety of different enemies and bosses to slay. With this cute and adventurous title that has you exploring randomly-generated worlds full off huge caves coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2019, Terraria is truly a game that can be enjoyed on basically any platform out there alone or with friends.

No Man’s Sky may have had a rough launch, but the developers have certainly redeemed themselves since then, pushing out tons of great updates that have turned this huge space game into a much more beautiful adventure filled with interesting content. Multiplayer is now also available, letting 16 players enjoy the magnificent planets that No Man’s Sky offers together. If you were discouraged from getting this on launch, then you should definitely take a look at it again and see how far it has come since then.

RimWorld isn’t about adventuring deep into the unknown; it’s about managing a colony in dangerous planets. Colonists are randomly-generated and have their own strengths and weaknesses. Your story is shaped by the AI storyteller that you also get to pick, bringing you various events in your playthrough that keeps the game interesting as you try to ensure happiness and survival to your diverse crew. If you like management games, then you’ll definitely want to take a look at RimWorld.

In this open-world sandbox RPG, you’ll get to explore beautiful planets inhabited by many unique creatures. Planet Explorers can be played in a wide array of different ways thanks to its 3 single-player modes. You can progress through the story featuring its own specific planet with missions, characters and more, or you can do whatever you want in the procedurally-generated planets the adventure mode offers. If you want to simply build without anything getting in your way, then the build mode is the perfect place to do so. All of these modes can be enjoyed in co-op, or you can dive into 16v16 versus mode as teams try to reach a specific amount of points by doing a range of different actions. Create a farm, dig and manipulate the terrain as you battle tons of bosses in this 3D sandbox.

Although you don’t get to travel from planet to planet like in Starbound, Crashlands has you exploring a large alien planet in 8-directional movement as you meet a host of different characters with funny writing. Uncover their stories while focusing on your main one as you skillfully take down many enemies that inhabit this 2D world by dodging and attacking at the right time while using a variety of different gadgets. You don’t have to worry about your inventory, because in Crashlands your inventory is infinite and even knows how to manage itself, letting you focus on fun gameplay. Craft tons of items, build your base if you wish, breed and tame creatures and more in this comedic but action-packed open-world RPG worth checking out.

Junk Jack is a simpler 2D sandbox that lets you calmly build to your heart’s content as you craft portals to explore other procedurally-generated planets. Whether you’ll use recipes to craft items or switch to the Minecraft-style of crafting, Junk Jack lets you get creative with its electronics system as you farm, tame pets, fight and play with your friends. It’s certainly an interesting retro-styled title worth checking out.

Stardew Valley is a farmer’s dream. It gives you a beautiful pixelated 2D world to create your farm in, while also meeting a great cast of characters that you can become friends with. Take down monsters and find useful resources underground or get married as you enjoy fishing, cooking and customizing your character as well as your home. The highly-anticipated multiplayer is now available for PC, with consoles getting the update sometime later. If you like farming, then you’ll definitely love this adorable game whether you play it solo or in 4-player co-op.

King Arthur’s Gold puts much more focus on action rather than exploration. This 2D physics-based title features a range of fun game modes that are mostly much more enjoyable in co-op rather than solo. Custom content can be made, but the multiplayer gameplay is the core of King Arthur’s Gold with Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and more. With three classes that have their own key roles in battles to choose from, you’ll get to set up defenses while using a wide range of equipment, such as siege machines and explosives to destroy the enemy defenses. It’s not quite popular but you may be able to find an active server to hop in and enjoy the action-packed gameplay in. But if you can get a group of friends to play this great online-focused title, then King Arthur’s Gold is a great medieval-styled game to try out.

Earthbound is a fantastic old RPG with a modern setting that has you exploring various environments as you try to take down a dangerous evil. Travel with your party as you enjoy humorous dialogue and battle enemies with special attacks. Despite its age, Earthbound is a classic RPG worth checking out to this day.

This open-source 2D action RPG has you doing whatever you want while you level up by gaining experience from defeated enemies. Construct your base while you upgrade your robot that can do various things for you. Many weapons and other items can be crafted in this simple-looking game that is totally free for you to check out.

Regardless of the confusing-looking graphics, this complex 2D management sim has fantastic open-ended gameplay, letting you make your own unique story as you lead your group of dwarves in a procedurally-generated world. No two playthrough is the same, and while you can play the main Fortress mode, you can also play and control one character in Adventure mode which works as a turn-based RPG and has you living in the same world you’ve started in Fortress mode. There’s even a mode called Legends where you get to see the whole detailed history of the world you’ve played in both Fortress and Adventure mode. The price of Dwarf Fortress is free, so if you haven’t tried this in-depth game already, definitely give it a go.

Raise your space colony on an asteroid, starting off from a few unique characters while slowly growing your population called Duplicants. In these diverse procedurally-generated environments, oxygen is one of the things you will constantly worry about alongside the temperature of the areas your colonists live in. Making sure there is sufficient amount of food and drink while keeping everyone happy is another factor in this visually charming 2D survival game. As new updates come out, Oxygen Not Included will only get better. If you like management sims then you may like this space sim.