The Last Starship

About

The Last Starship is a single player strategy game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Introversion Software and was released on February 14, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

"The Last Starship" is a sci-fi strategy survival game where players must build and manage a last surviving starship. Gather resources, manage systems, and navigate through procedurally generated galaxies, facing challenges and enemies along the way. The game features crafting, building, and exploration mechanics, with an emphasis on survival and resource management in a procedurally generated universe.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 560 reviews

story18 positive mentions

stability10 negative mentions

The game has a solid foundation with a lot of potential for future updates and improvements.
Ship building and customization are enjoyable, allowing players to create unique starships tailored to their playstyle.
The game offers a mix of gameplay elements, including resource management, exploration, and combat, which keeps the experience engaging.

The game is currently very unfinished, with many features lacking explanation and depth.
There are numerous bugs and performance issues that can disrupt gameplay, including crashes and glitches.
The tutorial is minimal, leaving players confused about core mechanics and objectives.

story
160 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
84%
5%
The game's story is currently underdeveloped, with many players noting that it feels unfinished and buggy, leading to abrupt endings in storylines and incomplete missions. While there are engaging elements and a mix of mission types, including combat and resource management, the overall narrative lacks depth and variety, often resulting in repetitive fetch quests. Players express hope for future updates to enhance the storyline and mission complexity, as the foundation shows potential for a more immersive experience.
- “The new story missions tie the game together, providing a sense of purpose as you fly around upgrading your ship and crew.”
- “The story missions have been engaging and are well written.”
- “It's a lot of fun building your ship out and saving up for new ship components while completing missions and jumping around the sector.”
- “The storyline is still under development and I hope to see more with each iteration.”
- “Currently in the game, the story is limited to running away from the void, and the tiddles (a Star Trek tribble knockoff, that often breaks the game) quest in the second sector; that is it.”
- “As far as storyline, there is almost absolutely nothing here.”
gameplay
111 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
70%
5%
The gameplay of this early-access title offers a solid foundation with engaging ship-building mechanics and a mix of resource management and missions, though it currently suffers from limited content and a lack of clear tutorials. Players appreciate the potential for emergent gameplay and the regular updates that expand features, but many express frustration with unpolished mechanics, particularly in combat and navigation. Overall, while the core gameplay loop is enjoyable, it remains a work in progress, with significant room for improvement and expansion.
- “With the early-access model, this game keeps getting regular updates, which do change the gameplay slightly every now and then, so it is fun to return to it once in a while, build factory ships, and get involved in epic starship battles.”
- “Gameplay-wise, there's a solid mix of building, resource management, and missions.”
- “Even in its alpha stage, the game is captivating and thought-provoking, providing a unique and engaging gameplay experience.”
- “If you like doing the same thing over and over again and putting 50+ hours into a save to have faulty game mechanics force you to lose all that effort, then this is your game.”
- “It is enough developed to be convinced that this is a good idea, but this game has currently enough bugs and very unpolished moments that the gameplay is ruined completely.”
- “The new 'battle stations' button is so buggy - disappearing even when it should show up - that the combat mechanic is basically just gone.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
52%
11%
The graphics of the game are a mix of stunning 2D artwork and simple, clean designs that evoke a nostalgic arcade feel, reminiscent of titles like Prison Architect. While some players appreciate the stylish visuals and satisfying effects during combat, others note the presence of placeholder graphics and a lack of polish due to its early access status. Overall, the graphics serve the gameplay well, though they may not be the primary draw for players.
- “Stunning 2D artwork and parallax meets space sci-fi with factories, stations, and starships!”
- “The graphics are stunning and the gameplay is smooth, making it easy to lose track of time while playing.”
- “The visuals are simple yet stylish, and it's easy to see how the devs' previous hit game, Prison Architect, influenced them.”
- “Being in early access, it is of course still rough aesthetically and with some gameplay bugs like loading saves.”
- “You will find placeholder graphics here and there, and overall it's still a bit barebones.”
- “Yes, it is early access and very early in development, so you won't see a totally polished game yet and you will see a lot of boxes which are placeholder graphics.”
stability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
91%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous bugs affecting gameplay, particularly in the main storyline and new features like storage crates and battle stations. While some players report game-breaking issues and crashes, these occurrences are relatively rare, and many acknowledge that the game is still in early access, suggesting that bugs are to be expected. Overall, despite its instability, players find the game enjoyable and express confidence in the developers' commitment to addressing these issues.
- “If this game was bug-free, I would rate it 9/10 for its category.”
- “The stability of the game is impressive; I rarely encounter crashes or glitches.”
- “I've played for hours without any issues, which speaks volumes about its stability.”
- “The game is very unfinished and a bit buggy, especially along the main storyline.”
- “The new 'battle stations' button is so buggy - disappearing even when it should show up - that the combat mechanic is basically just gone.”
- “The only caution I can give you is that if you are unfamiliar with early access games, it is still in development and can be buggy; it can crash at any time, not have all the features of the finished game, and your save games can stop working or be deleted from version to version.”
grinding
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly in later stages where activities like water filtration and food farming lack depth and become repetitive. Combat mechanics are poorly explained, adding to the overall sense of tedium, while issues with ship repairs and construction processes further contribute to the grind. However, there is hope that future updates introducing new game modes and systems could alleviate some of these concerns and enhance the gameplay experience.
- “Becomes tedious in the later stages.”
- “These activities simply lack depth, and they become tedious quickly.”
- “The teeth-grinding game-science featured in TLS as a whole is just unattractive.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The optimization of the game receives mixed reviews; while some players praise its excellent performance and immersive design, others report significant issues, particularly during combat and as ship complexity increases, leading to crashes and poor performance. Overall, there are concerns about the game's optimization, especially in relation to its combat mechanics and system feedback.
- “Well coded and designed, boasting excellent performance and satisfying immersion!”
- “I remember the early versions of their previous game, Prison Architect, struggling when it got to 30 prisoners, but in this game you can have multiple ships, each that you've fully designed from scratch, flying around doing different tasks in different places, each with crew walking about inside and some with production lines going on, and I haven't had any performance problems.”
- “This game isn't optimized; they force fighting on you, and the battle part of this game is the worst part of it.”
- “Poor performance as your ship grows; it crashes all the time, combat is rather bland, and feedback on how systems work isn't there.”
- “Hope they stay focused on the performance of the engine as well.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game shows significant potential for replayability, particularly with its focus on exploring diverse star systems and pursuing various careers. However, as it is still in early development, the current content is limited, which may affect overall replay value. Users note that while there are promising features, issues like random crashes and incomplete systems may hinder the experience.
- “It's still in development, but it already has a ton of potential and replayability.”
- “The ability to explore colorful star systems while pursuing your chosen career adds an extra layer of depth and replayability.”
- “The emphasis now should be on mirroring the replayability of previous titles while still capturing the FTL rogue-like spaceship scenario.”
- “It's in very early stages of development, so there isn't a huge amount of content or replayability.”
- “Alpha 8: I got the game while it was on offer, and it's much better than the free weekend. There are still random crashes, so save often. It's far more playable, but I'm still not sure if contracts are working right. They mention other systems, but yet there are none.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The game's music has received positive feedback, with users praising the soundtrack for its quality and ability to enhance the overall experience. The background music complements the game's pacing, creating a relaxing yet exciting atmosphere that aligns well with the gameplay. Overall, the soundtrack is appreciated by music enthusiasts and contributes significantly to the game's immersive feel.
- “Great background music to boot!”
- “As a music nerd, I really like the soundtrack so far.”
- “The game will force me/you forward to be the literal 'last starship' as the galaxy is slowly consumed behind you/me, yet, confusingly, the game's pacing is quite relaxing, with exciting music following the mood, creating a chill and enjoyable play feeling at its forefront.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the humor in the game, particularly enjoying the charismatic developers' updates and the comedic elements like the "tiddlets mission," which features a clever Star Trek reference. The community looks forward to more humorous content in future updates, highlighting the game's engaging and lighthearted tone.
- “I am so glad to see this game is getting frequent updates, each coming with a dev diary update video on YouTube from the funny and charismatic developers Chris and Mark at Introversion.”
- “The Tiddlets mission is the highlight of the game so far, a funny reference to Star Trek, and I look forward to them adding many more of these fun episodes as you go through the game (which I really hope are coming soon).”
- “There were also a number of funny issues.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express skepticism about the game's monetization, with some feeling it may lean towards being a cash grab rather than a genuine product. Despite this, there are those who still appreciate the game enough to overlook potential concerns about its financial model.
- “I liked the game enough originally that I'm willing to dedicate all four of my brain cells to believing this game has not been an asset flip or a cash grab.”
- “The monetization system feels exploitative and detracts from the overall experience.”
- “It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls, making it hard to enjoy the game fully without spending extra money.”