Minecraft and Terraria Major Influences to Starbound, Says Developer

Starbound, the extraterrestrial sandbox adventure game where the player can turn an empty plot of land into a bustling city, didn’t just pop out of thin air. The concept for the upcoming indie title is something that wouldn’t have been considered before the launch of hits like Minecraft and Terraria, and Chucklefish's community manager,Molly Caroll understands that fact. In a recent interview with Gameranx, Caroll discussed her team’s part in this burgeoning block-based genre.

“The whole block-based genre is pretty inspirational. The amount of people who have built careers out of building incredible structures in games like Minecraft, or just filming themselves playing them, is amazing,” Caroll said. “So yeah, we’ve definitely been inspired by that, and all the creative freedom those games allow people.

“But Starbound’s also got a lot of adventure game elements– for instance, you can examine all the objects in the game world to see a description. The full release will have a central quest line and shorter missions. We’re aiming to create a universe that’s really rich with lore, on top of just making a good sandbox game.”

Temples and villages dot your own unique world in Starbound, and whether or not these locations are populated or completely empty is up to the game. There’s plenty to get excited about here, and those interested can expect a release on PC, PS4, and Vita sometime next year.