Starship Theory

Starship Theory is a single-player strategy game where you build and manage a starship while surviving in unknown space. Oversee your crew's training, mine asteroids, trade with neutral ships, and research new technology to improve your starship. Brace yourself for various challenges, such as hostile targets, collisions, and scorching heat while navigating the depths of space.

Play Modes

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

Reviews

49%

Audience ScoreBased on 720 reviews

gameplay22 positive mentions

story5 negative mentions

The game has a unique blend of survival, ship-building, and resource management, reminiscent of FTL and Rimworld.
The developer is responsive to community feedback and has been actively updating the game, showing commitment to improvement.
Once players overcome the initial learning curve, the game can be very enjoyable and addictive.

The game is extremely difficult at the start, often leading to frustrating experiences and frequent restarts.
There is a lack of tutorials or guidance, making it hard for new players to understand the mechanics and strategies needed to succeed.
Many players report that the game feels unbalanced, with random events and encounters that can lead to unavoidable deaths.

gameplay
72 mentions
31 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a steep learning curve and a mix of ship-building and survival mechanics, which can be both rewarding and frustrating. While the core mechanics are solid and the game offers a fun concept, players often encounter difficulties due to a lack of tutorials, resource management challenges, and bugs that can disrupt progress. Overall, the game shows potential but requires further balancing and content development to enhance the player experience.
- “However, if you set your end-goal as simply making the best spaceship you can put together, then you might find that the gameplay loop up until that point is quite satisfying and fun.”
- “The gameplay is fun, works, and doesn't feel like features are missing, which is more than can be said for many early access games.”
- “It has the potential to be a fantastic game, and I would argue it already has the core mechanics in place to be a great game.”
- “This game puts you in command of 4 people surviving on a small ship/escape pod building out and upgrading it until it's a full ship. It's a super fun concept, but I can't last more than 10 minutes because not 2 minutes in the game, you drift into an asteroid belt and are helpless. You can't move your ship; it's always going in a straight line, so no dodging. I can't turn on the mining laser for the mining ship or the guns on the military ship without the ship catching on fire from overheating. Adding more air vents does nothing; once I turn on the lasers for even 1 second, the ship catches fire, and I have to stop building to put it out and fix all the damage, leading to more asteroids spawning. I'm not prepared, and I slowly either burn or get pummeled until my ship blows up and it's game over.”
- “The main problem is there's only about 10 hours of gameplay. However, saying this, there is only about 20 to 30 minutes of gameplay once you know what you are doing.”
- “There is no tutorial, and some game mechanics are not obvious (e.g., that you can rotate components, needing an airlock to exit the ship, many options hidden in right-clicking things, etc.), which is part of the frustration you'll run into.”
story
27 mentions
11 % positive mentions
70 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely criticized for its absence, with players noting a lack of narrative depth, quests, and character interactions, rendering it a shallow experience. Many express disappointment over the limited scope, suggesting that the game feels like a framework for potential storytelling rather than a fully realized narrative. Overall, the consensus is that the game needs significant story elements and quests to enhance engagement and justify its premise.
- “You could find beacons that have messages in them, which could be silly messages, important messages, or plot/story messages if you ever decide to implement a story in this game.”
- “The story explanation is that it is an escape pod.”
- “Additional content like a bit more of a story setting and target might hopefully be added in the future.”
- “No planets, no exploration of the universe, no economy, no story.”
- “It was just a 30-minute long game with no story, bull.”
- “That issue addressed, the game is limited in scope and has no story, campaign, or multiplayer.”
stability
25 mentions
8 % positive mentions
4 % neutral mentions
88 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with many users reporting significant bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, making it feel unfinished and at times unplayable. While some players find it enjoyable despite the issues, others describe it as a cash grab lacking content and basic functionality. Overall, the game is considered buggy and unstable, with mixed opinions on its potential for improvement in future updates.
- “Runs great on Linux.”
- “Runs smoothly and has no glitches or crashes.”
- “This game is unfinished, buggy, and nothing but a cash grab.”
- “It was way overhyped... there's so many glitches and problems that it's unplayable.”
- “What can I say about this train wreck of a game? It had a lot of potential, but it is entirely wasted. What we have now is a very buggy mess.”
graphics
22 mentions
27 % positive mentions
59 % neutral mentions
14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the art style and potential for growth, while others criticize the lack of polish, frequent FPS drops, and issues with UI scaling on larger monitors. Despite some minor graphical glitches, many feel that the visuals are basic and could benefit from significant improvements to enhance overall gameplay experience. Overall, while the graphics are not the primary focus for all players, their shortcomings are noted as a detriment to the game's enjoyment.
- “Shares a similar art style to RimWorld and overall has a lot of potential for future growth.”
- “Graphics are good for what the game is and is trying to be.”
- “I'm playing on Debian 9 and have no issues beyond one minor graphical glitch when an enemy rebuilds a destroyed weapon.”
- “The game FPS drops quite often and that is hard to believe given how simple the graphics are.”
- “The support for large monitors is nonexistent, making it impossible to tell what anything is (even after you turn on tooltips which are for some reason disabled by default), and while there is an option to scale up the UI, it introduces a bunch (more) graphical bugs.”
- “The graphics do need some work; the 'people' are basically jumping beans with faces.”
grinding
15 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, with resource gathering and combat feeling overly drawn out and lacking excitement. While some acknowledge that there is a rewarding element to grinding, many express frustration with the slow progress and high resource requirements, leading to a sense of boredom and a lack of meaningful goals. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a significant drawback that detracts from the enjoyment of the game.
- “Dev abandoned it before it was complete; fun for a bit, quickly gets boring and tedious.”
- “The amount of resources required to build anything and the very small amount produced by asteroids makes the game extremely tedious. By the time you even have the resources to keep your crew alive, you're forced into constantly fighting ships with 2-3 higher level guns and no longer even have time to mine. The fights take so long you're basically doomed at this point.”
- “Resource-gathering is tedious, progress is very slow, combat is brainless, and there are no random events or loot to spice things up and make runs different from each other.”
music
11 mentions
45 % positive mentions
27 % neutral mentions
27 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received positive feedback, with many users praising its quality and ambiance, describing it as well-made and fitting for the game's atmosphere. Reviewers appreciate the soundtrack's ability to enhance the gaming experience, noting its charm and ability to create an engaging environment. Overall, the music is considered a strong aspect of the game, contributing to its appeal.
- “The soundtrack is pretty good.”
- “Sixth, the music: I have to say that the devs have managed to source/create some really decent music.”
- “That being said, the game is already interesting, the music is good, there's a good amount of progression and challenge in it.”
- “There are so many variables in this game that make it addictive and exciting, not to mention the eerie space music.”
- “All this store page entry needs is the option to buy the soundtrack!”
- “- decent soundtrack”
replayability
9 mentions
33 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
Overall, the game is praised for its balanced difficulty and engaging mechanics that contribute to its replayability, particularly through RNG and ship-building challenges. However, some players feel that certain elements, like the mining minigame, detract from the overall replay value, and concerns about the game's development status suggest limited long-term replayability. While many enjoy it for a single playthrough, opinions vary on its lasting appeal.
- “Honestly, this game is amazing; it has a very balanced difficulty and is very replayable.”
- “RNG gives this game replay value.”
- “Building a decent ship is quite a challenge and adds a lot to replayability.”
- “The only problem was that replayability is somewhat hurt by the mining 'minigame' as some refer to it.”
- “The game doesn't have as much replay value as I'd like, and I believe development has ceased; however, it is good for a single playthrough.”
- “Well, the game was abandoned. I had fun while I played it, but probably not a ton of replayability.”
monetization
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The monetization of the game has been widely criticized as a cash grab, with many users feeling that it was released in an unfinished and buggy state, lacking proper updates or support after its initial launch. Reviewers express disappointment that the developer seemingly prioritized profit over quality, suggesting that personal circumstances were used as an excuse for the lack of ongoing development. Overall, the sentiment is that the game exploits its audience rather than delivering a polished experience.
- “It started out promising, but turned out to be a cash grab like most of these EA games.”
- “This game is unfinished, buggy, and nothing but a cash grab.”
- “The original idea is great, but it feels like a cash grab before he popped out a baby.”
humor
6 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is noted for its unexpected moments, such as trade pods hilariously bursting into flames when warping near stars. Players find enjoyment in the comedic aspects of gameplay, often leading to amusing mistakes that can be entertaining to watch and learn from. Overall, the humor adds a lighthearted element that enhances the gaming experience.
- “It's very funny to play, looking forward to new features :)”
- “Not the reason for the negative review though, I simply thought that was hilarious.”
- “You can watch some YouTube videos and in ten minutes you know how to start the game without making funny mistakes like me.”
optimization
5 mentions
20 % positive mentions
20 % neutral mentions
60 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting significant performance issues, bugs, and lag, particularly when handling larger tasks. Many believe that the core mechanics require a substantial overhaul to improve playability, and while some players have not encountered bugs, the overall demand on system resources is deemed excessive for the game's current state.
- “I have encountered no bugs at all, though the game is not well optimized (demands more from your CPU than it should); no doubt something the dev intended to get to at the end, but never did.”
- “The game has a lot of potential, but the bugs and performance issues make it bad.”
- “Furthermore, the game itself is badly optimized; queuing larger tasks like building bigger compartments lags the game significantly until every tile to be changed is queued, leading me to assume the very core of the game needs a massive overhaul before being completely playable due to lazy layout and lack of structuring.”
- “In addition to being prone to graphical and performance problems, and having a very steep learning curve that consists of reading a few hundred pages of other people talking about it, the game itself isn't fun.”
emotional
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is not directly addressed in the provided text, which focuses on gameplay mechanics rather than emotional engagement or experiences. Therefore, no summary can be derived regarding the emotional impact of the game from this content.