Starship Corporation

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"Starship Corporation is a spaceship-building simulation game that challenges you to design and construct ships for a vast interstellar market. Customize every aspect of your creations, from fuselage to interior layout, and train your crew for various missions to test the ship's capabilities. Your choices will impact your ship's performance, price, and reputation in the galaxy."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

42%

Audience ScoreBased on 742 reviews

gameplay18 positive mentions

stability104 negative mentions

The game has a unique concept that allows players to design their own starships and manage a shipbuilding corporation.
Ship design is engaging and offers a satisfying puzzle-solving experience as players try to meet specific contract requirements.
The developer is actively working on updates and improvements, showing commitment to enhancing the game.

The game is plagued by bugs, crashes, and performance issues, including long loading times and unresponsive UI.
Crew management is tedious and requires excessive micromanagement, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
Many features are incomplete or poorly implemented, leading to a frustrating experience for players.

story
220 mentions
7 % positive mentions
85 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game is generally considered weak and lacking depth, with many players finding the campaign and sandbox modes repetitive and uninspired. While the core gameplay revolves around ship design and management, the missions often feel tedious and poorly executed, leading to frustration with micromanagement and bugs. Overall, players express a desire for a more engaging narrative and improved mission variety to enhance the gaming experience.
- “I liked the combination of ship layout, corporate strategy, and real-time missions using the ships designed.”
- “At the heart of Starship Corporation is the designing of ship layouts to fit specific criteria given by some customer or to fulfill a certain mission.”
- “If the game was more refined and had a good story to follow or goals to meet, I could play this game for hours.”
- “The story needs to be developed; it is a bit weak and boring.”
- “The actual campaign and sandbox parts of the game, after a few turns, become dull and repetitive - there isn't really any challenge and it's actually quicker just to trade in captured ships than do the missions that aren't profitable.”
- “Issues that have been known to the developers haven't been fixed in 2 years, and the further you progress with the storyline, the more issues start rearing.”
gameplay
122 mentions
15 % positive mentions
82 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The gameplay has been described as a mix of intriguing mechanics and frustrating execution, with many players noting significant issues such as a clunky user interface, numerous bugs, and a lack of a comprehensive tutorial. While the core ship design and puzzle-solving elements are appreciated, the overall experience is marred by performance problems and unbalanced mechanics, leading to a feeling of incompleteness. Many reviewers express hope for future improvements, recognizing the game's potential but currently finding it difficult to recommend.
- “The core mechanics of the ship design—balancing your design's resource needs with its capacities, trying not only to fit everything within the hull but also to keep everything accessible to the necessary crew members, and making the ship sufficiently capable for the customer's needs while also keeping it as far under budget as possible—are solid, despite the occasional balance complaint.”
- “This game is a promising concept that, when it works, makes for unique gameplay that's interesting to explore.”
- “From the puzzle mechanics of actually designing a ship, to the grand-strategy and business management that reminded me so much of Paradox games.”
- “The gameplay is lackluster; there is really no way to get connected to the game.”
- “The tutorial was also very poorly written, often jumping all over the place and fails to properly describe what you need to do, showing a clear lack of understanding from the devs on what the actual mechanics are meant to be.”
- “It's very buggy, takes a long time to load and process turns, and is under-developed in several areas of gameplay.”
stability
108 mentions
4 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
96 % negative mentions
The game is widely criticized for its severe stability issues, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and crashes that significantly hinder gameplay. Many users describe it as an unfinished and poorly optimized product, often rendering it frustrating to play. Despite its potential, the lack of ongoing development and persistent instability lead most reviewers to recommend avoiding the game unless on sale, as it remains a "buggy mess."
- “That doesn't mean it's bug free, but nothing serious so far.”
- “I cannot recommend this game (not even when on sale) as the game is a buggy mess, there are quite a few things that don't work as intended or are left unfinished or simply make no sense and that will remain this way since according to the discussions and evidence shown there, this game has been abandoned quite a while ago.”
- “It's very buggy, takes a long time to load and to process turns, and is under-developed in several areas of gameplay.”
- “The problem is that the game is horribly buggy still... you first notice this when you load it... it takes 2-3 minutes at least to load.”
optimization
50 mentions
8 % positive mentions
56 % neutral mentions
36 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting significant performance issues, including slow navigation, long loading times, and lag that worsens as ship complexity increases. Many players note that the game struggles even on high-end machines, indicating poor coding and a lack of optimization for modern hardware and interfaces. While some see potential in the puzzle-solving mechanics, the overall experience is marred by these technical shortcomings, leading to frustration and a diminished enjoyment of the gameplay.
- “It seemed like it could be another whole world of puzzle solving and optimization unto itself, but I can't say for sure.”
- “You take a specification sheet and design a spacecraft to meet it, both in simple numbers (e.g. range = x light years) and in performance testing.”
- “It still has a way to go in both content, optimization, and polish, but that is to be expected as a newly released early access title.”
- “The performance of this game is terrible; you will spend most of the time in loading screens.”
- “Once you start connecting powerlines, cooling lines, fuel lines, air lines, and water lines, the game starts to lag, so it could use some optimization.”
- “Poor performance is a tell-tale sign that something is not implemented correctly.”
graphics
48 mentions
13 % positive mentions
67 % neutral mentions
21 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have been widely criticized for being outdated and poorly optimized, with many reviewers noting a retro aesthetic reminiscent of the late 90s or early 2000s. Users reported numerous graphical glitches and a lack of polish, particularly for a title not in early access, which detracts from the overall experience. Additionally, the user interface is described as unintuitive and distracting, further diminishing the visual appeal.
- “The ship module aesthetics look great, and the basic designer setup is really nice. There is quite a range of ship hulls and modules to pick from.”
- “The interface and graphics remind me of games I used to play on my old Amiga 500 with its nostalgic isometric views.”
- “Some of the graphics in the game have an almost mid-2000s retro quality.”
- “However, the sheer number of graphical hiccups and rough edges for a game not in early access is kind of mind-blowing.”
- “The graphics are basic and not that interesting.”
- “Don't get me started on the graphics... it feels like I am playing an old MS-DOS game.”
grinding
30 mentions
0 % positive mentions
7 % neutral mentions
93 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, with many expressing frustration over the cumbersome user interface and the micromanagement required for crew tasks and ship maintenance. The need for extensive planning and the slow pace of gameplay contribute to a feeling of monotony, making it feel more like a chore than an enjoyable gaming experience. Overall, the lack of automation and the repetitive nature of tasks detract significantly from the enjoyment of the game.
- “Game play is slow going and tedious at times.”
- “However, this game does take tedious to a new level.”
- “The entire user-interface for directing personnel is cumbersome and tedious.”
replayability
8 mentions
25 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability through its diverse ship design mechanics and strategic competition against rival builders, encouraging players to refine their strategies and adapt to different ship classes. Additionally, the expansive galaxy and various research options provide ample opportunities for exploration and replaying scenarios, enhancing the overall experience.
- “Fun game, lots of replayability.”
- “The replay value is in building your company and outbidding rival ship builders, becoming adept at how best to design a given ship class, as they are all drastically different and require various astute strategies to work efficiently, and refining those designs as you progress toward being able to build the hugely expensive and powerful warship classes.”
- “All the situations are playable, a lot of different rooms to research, a whole galaxy with tons of systems where you can build an office and start answering specific needs and a final mission.”
music
6 mentions
33 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its atmospheric quality and likening it to the work of Hans Zimmer, while others criticize the repetitive and uninspired ambient loops, suggesting players might prefer to mute it and listen to their own music. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a highlight for some, but many feel it is underdeveloped and not worth the current investment.
- “Nice details and really nice music - Hans Zimmer would be proud of this atmospheric music.”
- “The sounds are lacking and the short loops of ambient music are boring, which makes this one of those times the player should mute the music and play their own brand of music.”
- “This game is unfinished, not worth the money. Perhaps in the future, when it's actually a game, it will have music and the UI won't be so non-hotkey friendly.”
emotional
4 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional response to the game is predominantly negative, with users expressing feelings of frustration and disappointment, particularly regarding the game's design mechanics. Players feel a sense of being ripped off, indicating a strong emotional investment that was ultimately unmet by the game's execution.
monetization
4 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players express disappointment with the monetization strategy, feeling that the game's current state does not align with the promises made in advertisements. While acknowledging its early access status, many believe the gameplay falls short of expectations set by promotional materials.
- “Although I understand it is early access, and I'm sure there will be a lot to do, it's not like any of the ads would suggest.”
- “I know it is an indie game, but the advertisements promise a better gameplay than we have now.”
humor
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game often stems from its unfinished state, where crude polygonal ships are humorously enhanced with textures that suggest a deliberate design choice. Players appreciate the developer's effort to polish the game, finding amusement in the juxtaposition of the game's rough elements and the polished presentation.
- “This game was not really finished, but I have to give credit to the developer because they polished the unfinished game. Sometimes it's funny, like some of the ships are still crude polygons but have had textures added that make it look like that was the intended design.”
atmosphere
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its impressive attention to detail and exceptional music, with many reviewers noting that it evokes a cinematic quality reminiscent of Hans Zimmer's compositions.
- “Nice details and really nice music - Hans Zimmer would be proud of this atmospheric music.”