A brand new open-world simulation was released on May 27, and within a week, that game (Starminer) had amassed over 1000 Mostly Positive reviews on Steam in that time. Given how hard it is for a game to be discovered, especially a non-AAA title, that’d be impressive for any open-world game on Steam, but Starminer doesn’t even have much external backing either.
Developed and published by studio CoolAndGoodGames, Starminer costs $30 (save for a 10% launch discount that ends June 10). It’s worth noting that it did launch as an Early Access game on Steam, but its Mostly Positive reviews definitely ensure there’s plenty of content already. The Early Access version has a full tutorial, campaign mode, survival challenge mode, and endless sandbnox, with EA planned to bring more units, options, and improvements to the game. At full release, it will cost more than $30, so Steam users should jump in now.
Starminer Reviews Paint a Pretty Picture of the Open-World Simulation Game
In Starminer, players must design and build a massive space fleet via simulation gameplay in an open-world sandbox. As players strip minerals for profit, they’ll encounter aliens who wish for them to stop violently, although they can be avoided for some time. Players will need to use skills mastered across base-building games and deploy warships in immersive, real-time combat to protect their growing mineral empire. Of course, ships can be weighed down and have other material elements, like ship size and power, to consider for fights, all with fully simulated physics. All other expected features are here too: fleet management, harvest and processing materials, research, tools, connections to other areas, etc. It’s a solid game, overall.
Starminer reviews agree too, with 1,141 people reviewing the game and bringing it to a 74% Mostly Positive review rating, as of this writing. That means roughly 844 of these reviews had something positive to say. The good news is that, generally speaking, reviews praised the most important elements: the core gameplay loop (mining, salvaging, building fleets), the ship-building features, the ship control, the slow-burning open-world gameplay, the sense of progression, and its overall Early Access foundation.
Of course, making everyone happy is impossible, but some of the most common complaints may not be make or break for some folk. Some reviews criticized Starminer‘s learning curve, save/progression issues, clunky UI issues, and so forth. Starminer also finds itself among Steam’s collection of slow-paced games, so some praised that detail while others criticized it. Overall, it’s clear that the game is only going to get better throughout its Early Access period, which is exciting given how strong a reception it’s received out of the gate.
CoolAndGoodGames is clearly dedicated to Starminer, and hopefully, any continued success helps take the game to the next level. For anyone who enjoys sci-fi open-world simulation games, it’s hard to ignore how many boxes Starminer really just checks off.