Skip to main content

About

"Between the Stars" is a single-player spaceship action game with strategy elements. Command your crew, manage resources, and engage in real-time combat while exploring a vast, procedurally generated galaxy. Upgrade your ship, recruit new crew members, and make important decisions that will determine your fate in this immersive space adventure.

Between the Stars screenshot
Between the Stars screenshot
Between the Stars screenshot
Between the Stars screenshot

75%
Audience ScoreBased on 2,730 reviews
story596 positive mentions
stability62 negative mentions

  • Engaging story with well-written dialogue and interesting characters.
  • Fun ship combat mechanics that allow for customization and strategic gameplay.
  • Unique blend of RPG elements with dice rolls for decision-making and crew interactions.
  • Clunky controls and camera angles that can be disorienting during combat.
  • Repetitive gameplay with limited variety in missions and encounters.
  • Voice acting is often poor and detracts from the overall experience.
  • story
    2,242 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in "Between the Stars" is a central aspect that has garnered mixed reviews from players. Many appreciate its engaging narrative and character development, often comparing it to classic space operas, while others find it predictable or lacking depth. The game features a text-heavy storytelling approach with choices that can impact the outcome, but some players feel that the story can become repetitive and is hindered by bugs and unfinished content, leading to a desire for more variety and completion in future updates. Overall, while the story has potential and is enjoyable for many, it is still a work in progress that requires further development.

    • “Whether you’re a fan of space operas or just love the thrill of commanding your own starship, Between the Stars offers a gripping experience that’ll keep you coming back for 'just one more mission.' So, captain, are you ready to take the helm and save the galaxy?”
    • “Ultimately, this game is about enjoying the story and seeing how your decisions impact what happens.”
    • “The story has its cheesy clichés, but it's still better than the majority of what Hollywood produces: you can actually find space to care for some of the characters, and sometimes making what seems like the right choice actually has consequences for good and ill.”
    • “I did not find the story inspiring.”
    • “From the lackluster, painfully boring story, to the incredibly simplistic combat (just keep clicking on the enemy ship until it explodes), this game doesn't improve in any way over games in the same genre.”
    • “The story, which should serve as the backbone of any RPG, is another disappointment.”
  • gameplay
    614 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is a mix of engaging ship combat and decision-making elements, enhanced by RPG mechanics and dice rolls that introduce unpredictability. However, many players find the mechanics outdated and repetitive, with some aspects feeling poorly explained or executed, leading to frustration. While the narrative and customization options are praised, the overall experience is marred by bugs and a lack of variety in missions.

    • “The gameplay is a stellar blend of action and decision-making.”
    • “The ship combat is fun once you understand the mechanics.”
    • “The gameplay loop is engaging, and the main story and side missions are compelling enough to make you want to keep playing.”
    • “Unfortunately, it's bogged down by dated mechanics, a lackluster story, and poorly designed systems that ultimately turn what could have been a stellar journey into a tedious grind.”
    • “The core gameplay loop is incredibly repetitive: go to a point of interest and then face a choose-your-own-adventure style dialog tree.”
    • “The controls are preposterous, the gameplay is bland and boring, and very repetitive, and the story is a half-baked mess.”
  • graphics
    398 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game receive a generally positive reception, with many players praising the stunning visuals, detailed ship designs, and vibrant space environments that enhance immersion. However, some users note issues such as graphical glitches, outdated character models, and performance drops during intense gameplay. Overall, while the graphics are considered a highlight, they are accompanied by some technical shortcomings that detract from the experience.

    • “The visuals are stunning, with detailed ship designs and vibrant space environments adding to the sense of immersion.”
    • “The graphics are beautiful, particle effects are amazing, and ship design is good.”
    • “Graphically, the devs have done a stellar job of creating a beautiful game, with both the ships as well as space itself (stunning environments).”
    • “There are various other small glitches often graphical in terms of state.”
    • “No clear explanations or intuitive controls, graphics is by today's standards (as far as I have gotten) hardly even okay.”
    • “The story could be all right (if you get past the terrible voice-acting, the glitchy graphics, etc), but there's no immersion, and it seems to get to a certain point and you're left with canned dialog and plot.”
  • music
    158 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its ability to enhance the atmosphere and immersion, particularly in combat scenarios. However, several players find the soundtrack repetitive and overly dramatic, leading to frustration over its lack of variety and the inability to adjust volume levels separately from dialogue. Overall, while some appreciate the soundtrack's quality and thematic fit, others express a desire for more diverse and engaging musical options.

    • “The music is beautiful, and really draws you into the events and setting as you read through what is essentially a short novel.”
    • “This game's music is really good, and sets the mood very well.”
    • “Great sense of immersion into a futuristic sci-fi galaxy, wonderful screenshot opportunities and music is amazing.”
    • “The music is overwhelmingly out of order here!”
    • “After a few hours of gameplay, game events become so repetitive that you want to tear away one of your limbs to use it to kill yourself... the same track in the background is so annoying after some time of playing that you have to suppress the music.”
    • “Music way too loud and drowns out dialogue - the volume of the dialogue cannot be adjusted separately from the music.”
  • humor
    74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is frequently highlighted as a standout feature, with players enjoying its quirky dialogue, self-aware jokes, and absurd scenarios, such as flying through a sun or encountering bizarre side quests. While some moments may lean towards cheesy or cringe-worthy, the overall comedic tone, combined with sarcastic characters and unexpected twists, keeps players entertained and engaged. The game successfully balances humor with darker themes, creating a unique and often hilarious experience.

    • “The characters are humorous and sarcastic.”
    • “Came for a funny space game, stayed for existential dread and emotional damage.”
    • “The game is also remarkably self-aware and funny because of that.”
  • stability
    74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is described as having significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, particularly in inventory management and quest progression. While some players report enjoying the experience despite these problems, others find the bugs to be game-breaking or frustrating. As an early access title, expectations for stability are low, but many users hope for improvements in future updates.

    • “For an early access game, the content that exists is fully functional and bug free.”
    • “For an early access game, it's really bug free and worth a try; the price is good, I've had worse for the money.”
    • “Interesting story, fun gameplay, and relatively bug free considering it's so new.”
    • “Still quite buggy and some of the side stories don't trigger or complete properly, issues with selling equipment and captives and missing text.”
    • “It's buggy with quest menus showing things like 'go to [queststation] to turn in cargo', missing enemies, duplicate weapons, people, and other items in the inventory, and the shop logic is bugged too (you can sell the same prisoner over and over again for infinite money).”
    • “And it is buggy in a way that you can't even proceed further after 1 hour of playtime, due to mission bugs etc.”
  • grinding
    70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, particularly in combat and upgrading systems. While some appreciate the opportunity to grind for better gear and ships, others feel that the mechanics are outdated and lead to a slow-paced experience that detracts from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the consensus leans towards grinding being a significant drawback, often making the game feel more like a chore than an engaging adventure.

    • “Surprisingly not grindy.”
    • “It's not too grindy, even if you want to save up for a nice ship.”
    • “Space traveling isn't tedious.”
    • “Unfortunately, it's bogged down by dated mechanics, a lackluster story, and poorly designed systems that ultimately turn what could have been a stellar journey into a tedious grind.”
    • “Interesting concept and some of the aspects of the game are fun, but it is very grindy and the ship combat currently is completely underwhelming.”
    • “Very tedious game.. can't really find anything good to say about the game.”
  • optimization
    50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting bugs, performance issues, and frame stuttering that detract from the overall experience. While some improvements have been noted, such as responsiveness from developers and updates aimed at enhancing performance, the game still struggles with high system requirements and inconsistent frame rates, particularly on medium settings. Overall, players express hope for future optimizations, acknowledging the game's potential despite its current shortcomings.

    • “It is pretty demanding on video resources for what it is, but I am sure more optimization will come as development continues.”
    • “Being early access, there are a few areas to improve upon of course, but the game is perfectly playable, enjoyable, and the performance is good.”
    • “A game with a decent performance that needs to be polished (and needs a finished campaign).”
    • “It's poorly optimized garbage with higher minimum requirements than many of its contemporaries, and much higher actual requirements than the listed minimum.”
    • “Has potential, but it's terribly unoptimized; on medium settings, I can barely push 30 fps with this game, and I have a decent computer that can run most things.”
    • “Poor technical optimization, repetitive gameplay.”
  • atmosphere
    26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive qualities, enhanced by a pleasing soundtrack and sound effects that create a living universe. While the voice acting is noted as needing improvement, players appreciate the engaging mission writing and the overall ambiance, particularly during space battles. However, some reviewers feel that the atmosphere could benefit from more depth in storytelling and character development.

    • “The game creates a perfect atmosphere in which you can immerse yourself.”
    • “Last but not least, the atmosphere is amazing, ships docking at stations and a living universe wherever you go, also credits to the music and sound effects giving you an all-immersive galaxy.”
    • “The soundtrack is really good and helps to build a good atmosphere.”
    • “Somehow it reminds me of 'Schleichfahrt'; there's also been storytelling by text boxes, but the atmosphere in battles was denser there. I know it's early access, and the story is not bad, but the only thing that's lacking for me is to illustrate more of the epicness of the main story and more depth of the characters. Maybe also more strict consequences of the shown behavior.”
    • “- needs to have a more lively atmosphere.”
  • emotional
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it capable of evoking laughter and tears through its engaging story and character moments, while others criticize the narrative as boring and lacking depth, making it difficult to form emotional attachments. While certain tragic scenes and heroic character deaths resonate with some players, others feel that the emotional impact is undermined by predictable dialogue and a lack of investment in the characters. Overall, the game offers a blend of emotional highs and lows, appealing to those who appreciate a mix of humor and existential themes.

    • “It's rare that I encounter a game that allows me to become emotionally attached to the characters and the overall story.”
    • “I laughed, I shed a tear, and most of all I thoroughly enjoyed my playthrough of Between the Stars.”
    • “The story is great and the prologue can make you shed a tear.”
    • “From the lackluster, painfully boring story, to the incredibly simplistic combat (just keep clicking on the enemy ship until it explodes), this game doesn't improve in any way over games in the same genre.”
    • “Boring story”
    • “Boring story”
  • replayability
    20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers high replayability due to multiple story branches and diverse gameplay choices, including different ship loadouts and text adventure options influenced by die rolls. However, some players find the random missions repetitive and express concerns about the depth of replayability in the main story, which only reveals significant branches later on. Overall, while the game is enjoyable and has potential for replay value, some users feel it lacks content at this stage and hope for future expansions to enhance the experience.

    • “There are many forks in the main story, so the replay value is quite high.”
    • “Replayability offers multiple ways of approaching ship loadouts and choices, so while I wouldn't say it offers thousands of hours, I could easily play this over and over to a good degree.”
    • “It's a nice space dogfight game and has a lot of replayability.”
    • “Found the random missions a bit too repetitive, and the replayability of the main story might be a problem; there seem to be some very serious branches, but that starts only deep into the story.”
    • “- lack of replayability at this point - I guess it's because the game is not done. Hope more will be added as I can see this becoming a Kenshi in space, which I can really get behind.”
    • “Now get to that completion, devs -- maybe expand the sandbox options a little too (more engagement & contract options, more ships to play with, and definitely more unique weapons) -- will help replayability.”
  • monetization
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviews on monetization are mixed, with some players perceiving the game as a potential cash grab due to its early access status and reliance on asset packs, while others argue that it reflects a genuine passion project. Overall, the sentiment suggests a need for improvements to shift the perception away from monetization concerns.

      • “Fix the game and maybe I'll change my opinion, but this game to me felt like a cash grab that tied up time for a refund.”
      • “Weapon system is like those mobile game ads where you drag and drop several guns onto random parts of the ship.”
      • “First off, don't let the 'early access' designation and ships pulled from asset packs fool you: this isn't a cash grab, it's a work of passion, and it's got a lot of it.”
    • character development
      6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

      Character development in the game is highly regarded, as players appreciate the impact of their choices on character statistics through a 'perk' system. The design encourages strategic point allocation, enhancing the overall gameplay experience and contributing to the fun factor. Players also enjoy the dynamic elements like pop-up quests and loot mechanics that complement character progression.

      • “This is not a bad thing, however, as each choice the player makes has an impact on the player themselves. Character development can actually affect statistics using a sort of 'perk' system as you advance.”
      • “General thoughts: After playing for nearly 6 hours, this game is a hell of a lot of fun. Great RNG and character development, love the pop-up quests, the loot mechanic, trying to find a black market as I type this.”
      • “Character design is fairly important and raises the question of how best to assign your points.”
      • “This is not a bad thing, however, as each choice the player makes has an impact on the player themselves, as character development can actually affect statistics using a sort of 'perk' system as you advance.”

    Buy Between the Stars

    11h Median play time
    11h Average play time
    7-17h Spent by most gamers
    *Based on 42 analyzed playthroughs

    Videos

    Similar Games

    Starpoint Gemini 2 Image
    Everspace 2 Image
    SpaceBourne Image
    Starpoint Gemini Warlords Image
    Starpoint Gemini 3 Image
    SpaceBourne 2 Image
    Cosmonautica Image
    Stellar Tactics Image
    Star Traders: Frontiers Image
    Everspace Image