The main story itself requires players to visit planets of specific types in an attempt to locate several artifacts that open up the Ark. While Starbound features a number of sandbox design features the core experience still provides significant structure for those that want an overarching purpose to their adventure with the ability to easily swap between story progression and general exploration according to the players whims. Not limiting itself to a single world Starbound encourages players to explore multiple procedural generated planets where you’ll find varied resources, inhabitants and other challenges. Starbound is a 2D side-scrolling game that weaves together creativity, adventure, exploration and action into a galactic adventure.
