So You Want to Play Starbound?

If you know me, you know I’m a gamer. I play all sorts of things, but I’m especially drawn to games with great storylines and well-written characters or games where I can explore and build. Or any combination of the above. Which is why I picked up Starbound a few months ago. This one really seemed like a great option for me, with the open gameplay, endless exploration options, and the chance to colonize a galaxy. But holy cow, I found the first few hours frustrating. In fact, it took me four tries and four characters to actually get into it. Which is really too bad, because it’s turned out to be a great game. Exactly what I asked for, with only a couple kinks that prevented me from connecting with it right away.

So, for everyone else out there who might be hankering for a sci-fi survival and exploration game, I’ve put together some handy tips and hints to get you through the first couple hours when you might be wondering what you’re doing wandering around this planet with a matter manipulator (the sci-fi equivalent of a pickaxe) and a broken sword. Welcome to “A Beginner’s Guide to Starbound.”

Starbound (2016)
Developer: Chucklefish
Platform: PC (also available on Mac and Linux)

Starbound is an extraterrestrial sandbox adventure game! You’ve fled your home, only to find yourself lost in space with a damaged ship. Your only option is to beam down to the planet below and gather the resources you need to repair your ship and set off to explore the vast, infinite universe…

No spoilers, only hints.

The basic premise here is your home planet has been destroyed, and you’re cast adrift in a broken spaceship. It’s up to you to gather resources, fix your ship, and head off to destroy the big bad guy. Or…don’t. There’s nothing stopping you from ignoring the one who destroyed your planet and doing whatever you want. It’s up to you.

If you’ve played Terraria, you’ll be pretty familiar with a lot of the mechanics, only now you’re in a science fiction setting instead of fantasy. If you haven’t played Terraria, think Minecraft as a side-scroller. Your main mission, should you choose to accept it, is to gather resources and survive. Although I wouldn’t recommend choosing not to survive. It’s expensive and not a great look.

You really can play however you want; roam the galaxy as an explorer, settle down and colonize, hunt outlaws, or beat the big baddie. In my opinion, it’s the most fun to do all of these. But there’s very little in the way of guidance, especially if you’re into the exploration and colonization aspects. Half the fun is figuring stuff out, but if you’re like me and want to know if you’re doing something the right way or in the right order, it can be a little frustrating.

Which brings us to our list of tips:

1. Try everything. The game will explain some things but only as you try them. Pick things up, open the crafting menu, and yes, actually build the inventing table, which will allow you to access the rest of the crafting interfaces. There is no quest that tells you to do this. You can advance the main quest line, yes, but you’re going to be wondering why you’re constantly dying.
2. Whether you want to colonize this planet or not, you’re going to want to build some shelter and grow some food. Go ahead and do this pretty early. Food’s important (imagine that) unless you’re playing on casual mode. And while you can forage and cook what you find, it will eventually become necessary to have a steady source of food that you don’t have to pry from the claws of the local monsters. I kept waiting around for a tutorial or quest to teach me about farming, which never showed up. Like I said, this game expects you to try things.
3. Same goes for crafting some armor and better weapons. You will likely spawn on a planet with a mine. Go ahead and look for it. And if you’re brave enough to go spelunking, you might even find some weapons and armor down there, but as with the food, salvaging isn’t as reliable. There are options to buy better gear, but you’re less likely to find them or be able to afford them until you can get off planet. And trust me, dying multiple times in a row is a real drag when you lose your stuff and 30% of your money every time you do (again, unless you’re playing on casual).
4. Speaking of combat…#1 tip for combat in Starbound is back up. Keep backing up. And try not to get cornered. Don’t be a hero and try to stand your ground. That’s the best way to wind up a dead hero with an empty wallet. Find or make a ranged weapon as soon as you can. I told you crafting would help. It’s tempting to just use your melee weapon since whacking things on the head is a lot easier than pointing a bow, but it makes you a target. If you can hit them with a sword, they can hit you, too. And there’s plenty of times that I’ve beaten a bigger enemy than I should have because I managed to find a sniper perch and just pot-shot them until they keeled over.
5. The one exception to this is the broken sword you start the game with. Keep it. Stuff it in a locker somewhere you can find it again. I didn’t. I regret it. ‘Nuff said.
6. Eventually, you’ll be able to get off world. Even if your goal is pure settlement or colonization, you’re going to have to do some exploration. You know, to gather all those resources you need to build anything. You’ll have to follow the main quest line a bit in order to fix your ship enough to fly. But pretty much once you’ve got your FTL drive working and some fuel to put in your tank (try looking for some on your local moon), then you can head off in whatever direction you like.
7. And exploration is dangerous. So, bring along some good equipment and food. Here’s a handy tip: have a couple flags on hand wherever you go. You can use them as teleport points from your ship. Which means if you die, you don’t have to hike as far to retrieve all the goodies you dropped. It’s also nice for all those villager quests that require traipsing around the galaxy.
8. This one’s not really a tip, more like a heads up. As you explore more and more planets, you’ll find needy people who want to ask you for favors. If you make some friends (run their errands for them), they might offer to come with you on your ship. This is how you get crew. And gathering crew is one of the ways to upgrade your ship. So far, building out my ship is my favorite part of the game.
9. And last but not least: upgrade everything. I don’t just mean armor and weapons and your ship. I mean do the quests in the outpost that upgrade your jump and dash abilities, which are useful for mountain climbing and getting out of pits. Upgrade your matter manipulator. The faster digging is especially nice. Upgrade your crafting tables. Did you know you could do that? As you upgrade crafting tables, it’ll give you more options for better and better gear and crafting materials. If you’re stuck, chances are there’s something you can upgrade to help you.

This is by no means a comprehensive list for the entire game. I’ve barely scratched the surface here. These are just some of the things that tripped me up when I started playing, and I think if I’d gone in with a better understanding of them, I would have enjoyed the game a whole lot more right off the bat. And it wouldn’t have taken me four tries to really love it. So, go out, explorers. Go forth and see where the solar wind takes you.

Have you played Starbound? What’s your favorite thing to do? Is there anything you’d add to the list?