Starsand

Starsand
N/A
Metacritic
72
Steam
68.753
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$19.99
Release date
17 November 2022
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
72 (714 votes)
Recent
70 (10 votes)

Starsand is a mystic survival game set among the dunes of an arcane desert. An open-world full of danger, vast environments and mysterious happenings await you! Explore, hunt, craft, build – and SURVIVE.

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Starsand system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 7
  • Processor: Intel i3 (4th Generation) or equivalent AMD, min. 2.0 GHz
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 or equivalent AMD
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 7 GB available space
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Markus
Markus

I was enjoying that game very much at the start. Since it turned to a stupid jump and run game a few updates ago, it`s abolutely unplayable anymore. The Devs also said it will be easier after the next, now last, update, no it isnt! The new area is shit, confusing, to much running around for nothing, too much jumping for nothing.
It was supposed to be a survival game, not a jump and run game.
I had a review here before, I was asked to take it away again by the Dev. But no, here it is again, they don`t care about the players, they don`t listen.
This is a 1.0 release now? Well, you finally lost me as a player!

Prometheus
Prometheus

This is a really well done Subnautica-like game. Has nothing to do with a certain book series that was recently televised really other than being in a desert, but it does have a pretty amusing story. The gameplay is fun and satisfying, the ambience is excellent, the game is just hard enough to keep you on your toes (albeit only on the hardest setting if you're not using ironman mode). Very unique environment. Constant updates and changes that leave the game in a playable and enjoyable state whenever you pick it up while still continuing to chug along and make progress.

TL;DR: Very reminiscent of Subnautica, all around fun and well made, Early Access done right.

P.S. Curvy horses are the best horses.

CHOO CHOO
CHOO CHOO

I hate survival games, but I really wanted to see the desert theme done well. I am happy to report that the desert in Starsand is decidedly above-average in terms of desertness. As for everything else it's still just a standard survival game, nothing special there. And the enemies are sandworms. But not even big, impressive ones!

So...eh. Mediocre, but it gets the thumbs-up for having a nice desert, as said.

Orangutom
Orangutom

The game looks nice, however it has a ridiculously small inventory. If you drop items on the ground to free a slot to craft something thinking you can pick up your spoils after crafting, you are sorely mistaken. The items disappear after about 5 seconds. If you get called to do something and escape to the menu screen and think the game will pause. It will not. It is extremely far from poi to poi and is boring walking through the sand. You go through this frustration and build a storage box to stop losing all your resources that take days in game to respawn and are so far spaced to get to and find that the storage box that you worked so hard for stores barely holds more than you can carry. It is not my kind of game. I lived in the desert, logs don't deteriorate instantly in a desert environment. That mechanic is not even realistic. frustrating players with limitations, don't make for great games. Freedom to do as one pleases within the strictures of the setting make for great games. This is too rigid to be enjoyable at it's current state. I'll try again in a year and see if it's mechanics meet up with it's asthetics and rereview the game, but in it's current state I'm would not recommend this game.

Anonymous
Anonymous

A Solid Survival Title


For the size of the development team, I was surprised by the amount there is to do. The whole make your own map mechanic pulls in the immersive feel and combined with the vast swaths of nothingness all around makes the risk of leaving your oasis real. There are a couple things that were annoying (feeding camel cast seems like it could improve) but that's to be expected with an indie title but it doesn't distract from the main gameplay.

Philadeos
Philadeos

Starsand is a VERY good survival and exploration experience in desperate need of a combat overhaul.

The survival aspects of this game are right on point. It is hard, but not overly punishing once you know what you are doing and have made some rudimentary gear. There is a really rewarding shift as you go from barely surviving to becoming a 'god of the desert'.

Exploration is a lot of fun. When you begin the game, the world seems massive and intimidating. Your ability to explore is limited early on, but it is essential that you do so as aggressively as you dare. Your ability to progress is largely linked to exploring ruins for new 'tech' to pursue the next level of equipment, structures, etc.

Combat, however, is where the game still needs the most work. I really like the idea of the xeno attacks, as they highly motivate you to progress as quickly as possible, but the way these combats take place is not well implemented at this time. There is almost no 'feedback' that your hits are registering/missing (especially in melee). AI is quite predictable and easy to trick, but I found the sheer number of opponents that I was facing eventually lead to me spending the entirety of a day dealing with xenos in a very slow and cheesy slog.

I encourage new players to simply disable the xenos until you learn the map and rudiments of the game and then enable them later to spice up the normal game play loop once you learn where most of the most essential things are located and how to survive and thrive.

This game is quite good, and could be outright great if the combat and xeno attacks are rebalanced and reworked. The "bones" of this game are there, it just needs a little work and polish.

Shunyaku
Shunyaku

Okay so, I DO feel this needs another revision. Sorry to anyone who found the previous useful but somehow too disparate from this.

The Dev is a prick. Kind of.
They are absolutely awful at handling disgruntled disgruntled customers, and gruntled I very much am not.

My central--heck, my ONLY problem with the game, is the death system. You can "disable permadeath" but what the nitwit calls permadeath I have always known as extreme hardcore or Iron Man mode, AKA "Permadeath" deletes your save. Disabling it means when you die you suffer an RPG-style end; "lol you suck reload an older save, loser" but obviously worded less rudely. Broke my freaking heart the first time it happened given I was expecting more of a 7 days event where I can respawn somewhere even if I lost my items. Yeah I'd have lost a TON of hemp, but the tech/story advancement progress I did care about.
Venting a bit about this basically got a "suck it up, Buttercup" from the dev, and then we got into this just insanely stupid back and forth that boiled down felt like they were insisting it was little more than a philosophical issue, as opposed to my feeling it was a proper game function issue and we deserve proper options and definitions for things. I mean, we're literally allowed to disable the existence of the freaking sole enemy of the game and CENTRAL piece of the actual story. This is *CLEARLY* not a game wherein intended minimum difficulty levels is a goal.

Every last other thing is great, which just adds to my rage on the issue I've taken here.

The thermal mechanic is IMO pretty cool; the hunger/thirst features are manageable; the building interface is decent. Harvesting, crafting, hunting, exploring. It's immersive, and I need to admit the dev and I have it seems some fairly similar opinions on quite a few things, conflict aside.

DESTROY a smaller oasis tree population, take the wood and any gathered food to a better bigger one. Make habit of using coconut water for thirst until you can make a leather water skein. Save often. Hemp regrows fairly fast, seek all tech scrolls you can--though tech unlocks in sequence no matter what--, I have no idea where you burn the gathered flowers for it's alleged ritual but it seems neat. Camels are your friend, Hyenas suck noodles, Ibex' are beautiful but skittish, frogs are hilarious, and crocodiles are delicious.

It's fun. It's worth buying and playing. But, lord, do I dislike the dev.

Nikko
Nikko

Where do I start with this game? I have no clue how Starsand is not popular! I also don't know why there are not enough guides out there, which is why I am making a Fandom page for it. Starsand is a very fun yet brutal game which takes place in the desert where there are mysteries the player will uncover. Would highly recommend this game!

GamingWithBacon
GamingWithBacon

This is an absolutely brilliant survival game. The story and the world is steeped in history. It is really amazing to explore the game and uncover new mysteries. You struggle to survive as you build, craft and find new tools, animals and enemies.

AMROTH
AMROTH

I picked this game up in early access and have been following the updates as they come out and now with 1.0 I have finished the game. As a lover of survival games, I have really enjoyed Starsand. Whilst it feels comfortable and familiar in terms of some of the survival mechanics, the game itself feels really unique and different than all the other games I have played in the genre. The game doesn't hold your hand, you are on your own to venture out across seemingly endless sand dunes to find the secrets. If you like survival, I definitely recommend this game. I'd also like to shout out the devs and support team who are extremely active and communicative.

SlyMarbo001
SlyMarbo001

everything were all star stuff

https://youtu.be/wMGyY6ufADE

stardust too

Long ago in a galaxy far away...

i spent literal eternity in the desert

i saw the sands of time pass

i walked on forever

i was a pilot? was i transporting something gold through the desert?

i imagined wealth being dragged onward

like a penny being pushed by a germ left in peace it evolved into a man

kool aid...

the sun... like an enormous nuke going off forever its so massive it just hangs in the sky giving us this moment in our consciousness

one day well evolve to push trees over for a living but that was the past

a warp space time flowing in weird ways i find myself in a time of monsters turning my life into their toothpick to mindlessly indulge in their mad fantasy to ruin my survival

this is STARS AND

do u like the sand? i like the way it feels...

may all ur bodily fluids be all good and well komeraden

https://youtu.be/1avMbrLfG1A

paulakrijger8
paulakrijger8

Played for 8 hrs so far. Mechanics are quite easy, Playing on easy to start with to get a feel for it. Juggling space for items is interesting. No issues so far, no glitches. Exploring quite different in a desert, no landmarks except dunes lol. Enjoying it.

W3iRdFl3X
W3iRdFl3X

The controls for the gamepad are terrible, why doesn't anybody test these things?? The right trigger doesn't refill the water bottle, the bow doesn't work right because I cant aim with it to shoot it. I'm going to stop playing this game until the controls are better. I almost want to request a refund, It's a shame because I really like this game.

CyberKnight
CyberKnight

This game is wonderful! The scenery, the music, the constant quest for the next item in the story or just for basic survival! This game has a bright future (No pun intended) and I cant wait to see where the story goes!

aj.finley333
aj.finley333

It's an early access game, so what I would complain about is already in the works to get fixed. Such as the building metrics with the stairs. But what is currently in game was challenging and fun. I very much enjoyed the progression, discovery, and story that was built in, and I'm looking forward to the next stage of its development. Crocodiles! Or are they alligators?

roboman54
roboman54

This game is very good once you get use to dealing with the crawlers every other day. They are relevantly easy to deal with. As long as you don't stay in one place for too long, The more you are in a place for consecutive days the more crawlers come for you. First one, then two, then three and so on. It's every other day they come so day two, one comes. If you remain in the same place on day 4 there will be two and so on.

But then you don't really want to stay in one place as you have to wander the desert and find other recipes for crafting, building, etc.
AND discover the Pyramid and the story it has to offer....
OH and I LIKE THE STORY ;) hint hint nudge nudge...How was that Test... don't mention his name... OOPS (whispers) sorry. :happy_creep:

[SIN]kbrown2020
[SIN]kbrown2020

The game has potential, however having the aliens spawn in exponential numbers is absolutely nuts! I makes exploring impossible after 8 days to 12 days when all you can do is run from the mobs. not to mention they are some real sponges. There needs to be a co-op in this game and reduction in spawn numbers. Lastly more areas to explore.

deryklink
deryklink

I loved it. I saw a ton of negative reviews where people were whining about the lack of buildings and structures, and after playing through the whole game it is clear that these people never made it past the challenging first part of the game. There are many different structures and even a different landscape beyond the dessert to find and explore. The visuals of this game are astounding and paired with the depth of interactivity, this game is worth playing in early access. I can't wait to see more!

JosefinaDwild
JosefinaDwild

1 hour in i had to ask for a refund. The game isnt stable enough to play in my pc. I can run cyber punk without lag and play shooters online without drama. Yet this game is causing 4 mayor glitches not worth dealing with.
1- The game has gone to black screen of death after waking up.
2- Theres a Water bottle refill glitch, the game refuses to let me refill my bottle. No water, no exploring.
3- wont let me aim the bow or spears either.
4- on top of having a water glitch n black screen of doom!? the game wont let me save the game either. The options are there but no mater what i press n hold? NADA nothing zip zero!
Im highly disappointed, i was looking forward to this game. But i dont think people should give it a try at where its at with those glitches. Wait a little longer. No water, no save is not survival. Its literally an execution. I'll probably give it another go in a year. I love survivor games and anything about building from zero is fun for me. Yes i understand its early access, but come on! why green light something without the basics mechanics being functional?

VacuumSniffer
VacuumSniffer

So far I'm enjoying the game a lot. The graphics are gorgeous, the animals are well animated, and the ruins are intriguing, particularly the deserted villages. The sky at night is pretty, and the two moons are trippy to look at, particularly with the spyglass.

I do, however, have some issues with a few things. The map doesn't appear to be aligned to North as one would expect. This makes navigating a challenge, and it's easy to get lost. It took me far too long to figure out how to tame and ride a camel, as the game offers no help for this. Some resources like clay are too scarce to allow building anything other then wood structures without doing a lot of trekking and a lot of patience. There are still items in the build table that I can't build, as I can't find plans, and I've visited every ruin. And, like some other games (I'm looking at you, NMS), you can build chairs and tables but you can't do anything with them but look at them.

Would I recommend the game? Yes, absolutely. Even with the annoyances it's still a fun game, and because it's early access I would expect the devs to polish the rough edges. Now, if I could just figure out what to do with all the weed in the temple ruin...

MadMaxine
MadMaxine

I have played this game for a few hours a day, the past few days, and i must say, i LOVE it. I realise that it is early access and therefore i wont commend on things like what should be added to the envirement, and such. I do have a few wishes though:
- my experience is that the basic inventory is really way too small. I needed to take some really good loot out to be able to store even better loot although i really wanted to keep it all. So to make a short story even longer, my tip for you, count the items to be found in the game, and use that number as a guide to determine the number of slots. Please?

- The Map. It fits the game The icons, the style, magnificent. So i wouldnt suggest any change in that regard. However, i do want to ask if it is possible, to make our own position and the direction we are looking at, vivible on the map or in what ever else way, it would be a whole lot better.

If i have more requests, i will let you know, but for now these are my biggest wishes.

Dont stop with this game, cause it is really good.

francois_gr
francois_gr

Very stripped-down, self-guided priority survival game, requires planning and forethought in balancing exploration and risk management.

tim.ih5k
tim.ih5k

Survival - limited to the desert as you all know. The lack of mapping is a killer, but .. consistent with.. if you were there and all you had was paper. One dune much like the rest. I think the Resources could be "measured" (I didn't die from resource constraints.. shocker) better for challenge, but, like many games, this becomes the granularity of the game, controls you can add in the future.
In many ways it has a really good basis for a game that needs.. more levels. It is good for the level it has (I feel I got my $ worth, so no complaints), but I think it could do .. much more, on more levels. I think as they add things.. It can become a much more - multi-leveled game.
Screw it- I’ll go on. I liked Death Stranded because.. ⅓ of the way into it - the game changed. 2/3rd of the way in, it changed again. I really liked that. And I would like this game to do that. Do the Desert thing, explore, but then at some point, change because you did everything in the sand… (catacombs under the pyramid - for hours? Different monsters?). At this point, we are level one.. I have hopes.

Paid Actor
Paid Actor

The game is fun exept theres some blurprints that i pick up and they crash my game putting me back at my base

startac43
startac43

I do not understand why there are so many negative reviews for this game misleading details towards other potential gamer

there is in fact a vast amount of sand dunes and desert to explore there are relics that you need to find 4 in total as of today i just reached the 3rd one i haven't found the temple and the pyramid yet but i am still exploring this map there is indeed more hunting and building mechanics to this game that have to be found and learned iv enjoyed this game so much so far and still finding a lot of hidden things so far iv learnt how to build the forge to smelt the ore and dry the brick clay iv also found the water well there are hyenas to kill and loot a number of scorpions some contain meat some you only get a stinger from

Bottom line is get out there survive stop whining about not finding things you obviously haven't looked hard enough for because believe me if you'd have explored the entire map id love to know exactly how you have done so in so little time i haven't even uncovered all the map yet as you have to explore the map and put down markers and an icon on the map using the map icons ruins for buildings the oasis icon for water and trees and food which is plenty throughout the game there is frogs deer antelopes and camels hyenas scorpions and the giant worms that attack you which is the part of the survival try clicking survival mode instead of relaxed mode you may find what your actually missing out on

As of today iv built my base my first forge my sword my steel spear you have to unlock these items via exploring and learning the blueprints which are called artefact prints look inside every container there easy to miss as there stone with a lid on and loot inside there's plenty of cloth in one area alone on the map along with some rope and also ingots and clay bricks already in the abandoned small buildings at the far right of the map if you've discovered the building before the one where weed or capa as its called in game is being grown you'll see a message on the side of the wall where the half of the Egyptian map is broken saying rocky desert sands no water written on the wall this isn't a game you can just go into and complete and be a bad ass its a game that's being developed and naturally enjoyable

Hence why the game is called early access meaning not fully completed and released if your an ex game dev like myself or currently a game developer you'll understand this meaning of early access

anyway i give reviews normally after vast amounts of hours exploring the games first but after reading so many wannabe Rambo gamer comments on here i couldn't help but put the truth of the game out there

for those that are actually interested in this game ignore the negativity everything put in the negative comments are not true

there is a lot to do in this game you get to build a base you have to survive not only the harsh elements of heat and sand storms but also repair your built home as the sand damages it during storms there plenty to do in this game once you get your first lot of leather from an animal you'll be able to make a leather water holder which holds exactly 8 sips of water in total if you have that and the bottle on your bar there's more than enough water to get from one side the map to the other without dying of dehydration if you know how to use it wisely being ex armed forces i know naturally sips of water are better than filling your whole bar up and ending up with a empty canteen

also use the balm wrappings that you make for protection against the sun the balm wraps there easy to acquire and make the only thing i can say about the progress of hunting is it is near impossible at first to hit and kill an animal as they run off too quick

so use a spear and practice on frogs first two pieces of meat fills your health also make a home or to start with the camp as you'll need it to save the game if you don't make one and you quit the game you'll loose your progress and have to restart so main steps to make sure you do first is

1 follow the tutorials that's provided on basic survival aspects and two make sure you have a point to save at if you do not have a save point you will not be able to save your game i learnt that the hard way also make the heavy carrying bag and equip it it gives a lot more slots but bare in mind you can fill these slots very quick if you keep picking up stones and stuff you don't need right away

The food in the game includes meat from animals frogs hyenas and other sources then you have the natural habitat such as coconut trees date trees which each provide 2 of each object you have to climb them to get them
there are also banana trees mango's and a fruit plant that grows on ground level you'll also obtain seeds from bananas and date fruits make sure you keep them as you can plant them and get 12 bananas from two trees they grow pretty fast too

anthonyholmes2266
anthonyholmes2266

I LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT BUT YOU SHOULD NOT DECREASE THE AMOUNT THAT CAN BE STACKED, THE BAGS AND STORAGE BOXES DONT HAVE ENOUGH SLOTS. ALSO THE GAME ALSO SHOULD BEABLE TO BE CO-OP WHERE PEOPLE CAN HELP ONE ANOTHER IN THE GAME.

SwampyRooster
SwampyRooster

So far, I absolutely love it. I'm a big fan of survival games but I'm not really into solo play. With that being said, I've played this for 15 hours solo so far and I am having a great time, and the devs said they plan on multiplayer eventually. It is very challenging and stressful at first, but not too much that it's bad, just enough to make you appreciate every little recipe that you learn and every new food item that you find.

My absolute favorite thing about this game is the camels. My boy Naeem has been with my from hour 4, and we've seen a lot together. I had a bit of trouble when i didn't feed him quick enough, and it broke the saddle and saddlebags I had spent so much time on making. Also I'm having an issue where he refuses to eat out of the trough.

The base building is fun, and I like that eventually there are a few options on what kind of material you can use. Only complaint there is that you have to destroy wooden walls and foundations, and then place the clay one. This makes it so anything on top of the wooden foundation is broken (walls, doors) which wastes resources.

Recently I've tried building some wooden spikes to defend my base, but they didn't seem to do anything to the aliens. they got stabbed at least 15 times each, and I still had to through two spears at them. And a heads up if you are fighting several aliens, make sure to grab your spears after killing each one because the bodies despawn quick and they take arrows or spears with them.

Without revealing too much, there is eventually a place where you are supposed to be able to light an old lighting system. However, no matter what i did, I couldn't light it with my torch. This kinda took away from the atmosphere of the place and made it a little disappointing when I imagined how cool it would look if it actually worked.

There is also another area where you come across a lot of vertebrae and ribs, which are suuuuuper long and large. way too big to be human or camel, so I figured it must be from the aliens. Which as a biologist is a bit painful to see, because they are clearly invertebrates and shouldn't have skeletons lol.

All in all, great game so far. Can't wait to see where this goes and what future updates will have in store.

Kevlar_Hoplite
Kevlar_Hoplite

This game is - different. An interesting experience, an odd story, a unique environment. My only complaint is that it punishes my preferred play style - slow, methodical, deliberate, comprehensive - and demands that you strike out boldly into the dangerous unknown with no deliberation or delay. That isn't necessarily a bad thing since it is good to get outside of your comfort zone sometimes.

Anzacs-1960AU
Anzacs-1960AU

Can get a bit boring but push through and it has some little secret gems to find, and word has it each update will have new stuff added to it and more to the story.

Xur
Xur

I like this game for the desert atmosphere and survival aspect. No other game has hit on these notes and I expect a lot from the developers in the future. What I personally would like to see? More pyramids, puzzles rooms, booby-traps, and sarcophagos dwelling mummies! Nothing would make this game more brutal than a blunderbuss and some sand screaming mummified corpses attacking your base or popping out of a dune to get you! Find their burial sight and collect mummified remain from jars. Maybe use it for Alchemy lol, not nothing too extravagant. What else? Screw those little mosquito swarms, give us giant ones! Give us the ten plagues (Maybe not all)! Give us king cobras, taming it with the basket and flute. Poison arrows, wild boars, giant scorpions! Scarab swarms. Nothing tells me to leave a room quicker when I notice a bunch of Scarabs are swarming from every angle. Swarms, swarms, swarms. Locust swarms, Say good-bye to them crops. Infestations, say good-bye to the bases integrity. Give us camel fur lol, why not? Give us more to fight, more to craft, more to mine. Give us the elements, give us more survival, give us more to plunder and to avoid. Give us more, more, more! Masking to cover our scent. Maybe even throw in a small tropical jungle? Give us magic, hell why not? Voodoo. How about Anubis, StarGates, Runestones, Talismans, Alien technology! Lets get a tech tree going! So much could be done with this game, so I'll never stop loving it for it's potential alone! Gave me a Morrowind feel. Great game, thank God!

RevenTheBear
RevenTheBear

looks good but has a Looooong way to go. needs more stuff like sand worms, giant sand worms. maybe open it up to mod'rs. as of now i wouldn't recommend anyone buy it. I finished it pretty fast. i'll give another review on it after some updates.

celticwitch
celticwitch

Great game design. haven't beaten the game so not sure about the story. I rarely concern myself with story in survival games though. classic survival mechanics manage heat, water, food, build base, defend base. crafting is a little different than other games. inventory is small you will need to manage your inventory constantly. They are taking community feedback and adjusting though.
Gamer Scoring: (1-5)
Overall: 3
Graphics: 4
Gameplay: 3
Audio: 4
Combat: 3
Crafting: 3

Pros: new concept ( Alien desert), great music, good graphics, large map.
cons: small inventory, hardcore only, short ( I have watched play-throughs and it is short about like the forest, or stranded deep.
Overall good game

BrecMadok
BrecMadok

Very unfinished game. Not worth $15, sale price, when you can get 7 Days to Die. Yes it's been out for years, but this game is soooo unfinished, it feels like it was literally created in a week if that. It looks like more time was put into the back story & demo videos. The intro quests to get you into how the game works & what you can do has, AFAIC, a dead end hoping you found a specific resource needed & doesn't tell you how/where to get it. I bought it for the desert survival. Getting used to the targeting was odd. Having to be at a specific place to save the game is also a big downer. Some people have full time jobs & family to take care of & can't just take the extra 15+ mins to walk/run back to wherever you are set up to save. Lastly what felt like a forced encounter, the 1st time a giant centipede thing shows up, is pretty much guaranteed death. So you die, roll back to last save. Oh, couldn't get back to a save? Oh well, waste another 30mins to get back to where you were, hopefully. There's still hope this gets some updates & gets better. Has some promise.

Update - My comment on being out for years is about 7D2D. 2hrs is plenty of time to get invested in a new game in the same genre I've been playing for decades. Games like Archage, Ark, Atlas, Conan, The Forrest, Green Hell, Satisfactory, Stranded Deep, Rust, Just Survive, New World, Raft, Subsistance, and more & more & more.

Krimson
Krimson

I pretty much play every survival game, this is top 5. Unique landscape of a vast desert. You can almost feel the heat of the mid-day sun beating down upon you. On your last drops of water and it just dawned on you, you're lost, got turned around, how long have I been walking.. stop, use your instincts to guide you.

SpartanSPNKr
SpartanSPNKr

A very challenging and rewarding survival game with a HUGE open world desert and a gorgeous soundtrack. Can not recommend this game enough.

Kestrel
Kestrel

Wonderful game! I'm 15 hours in and don't see an end in sight yet. I restarted my save a few hours in because I didn't enjoy fighting enemies. They're sorta one dimensional and more of a nuisance than a real challenge. Starting a new game lets you choose enemy difficulty (or turning them off) along with survival difficulty. I really appreciated that choice.

I'm enjoying it purely for the survival and exploration parts. It's a bit like the early game in DayZ... but in the desert, no PvP, and a cool mystery that you need to unravel. The gameplay is what you'd expect from a survival game. You craft tools, use them collect resources, build stuff with those resources, and explore the large map all while keeping yourself fed. There are some environmental challenges which was nice.

What made this game stand out for me was:

1) The atmosphere! The love and passion for this project really came through. The visuals, sound, story, etc all come together beautifuly.
2) Stable. No crashes, no bugs, and great framerate. Super quick to launch into the game.
3) No QoL mishaps. Nothing in the game was annoying for me. Nothing was tedious.

I really hope this developer continues building this game and other games like it in the future. It scratches an itch that no other game has and I've been gaming for 20 years.

Shaggs
Shaggs

If you like deserts, this is a yes. A fun and atmospheric survival game. It looks like the devs are working hard on it too. I like it!

Slujimi
Slujimi

Interesting survival game. Pretty hard at first, but after you learn how to orient yourself around the maps, things get easier.
Can't wait for the next update :)

Not Enough Settings
Not Enough Settings

It's nice not something we haven't seen before, for sure. I do hope future content to flesh it out more. It has so much potential. I mean we don't see ancient Egypt styled game a lot if at all. Just imagine the possibilities here; mummies, puzzles, curses (magic maybe?). More meaningful exploration not just go there get the thing move on. But a more dungeon like experience with dangers and traps that you have to prepare at least 2 days for make every trip feel more like an expedition, rather than push auto-walk and run in a straight line to get to a location and then hit reverse. The bugs, the main enemy of this game at some point their numbers grow to an alarming amount hindering exploration and base building. Give us a way to cull their pop. Like for example add nests that when you destroy them, their numbers dwindle destroy enough and you get a total reset, to 1 bug per 48hrs until they grow back up and repeat the process. I can go on forever but i won't, i don't want to be pushy and i am certainly not demanding anything. Hell i don't even write reviews :P but something about this game got my attention, and just wish to see to get the care that it deserves! If you want to give it a go sure go for it the price it's ok you spend more at a vending machine!

JediHlaalu
JediHlaalu

This is my new favorite survival game. Yall. It's amazing. Please just play it. It's like a cross between 7 Days to Die and Conan Exiles, with some Journey mixed in. In fact, I've never seen a game do distances as well since Journey and I doubt we will anytime soon.

I didn't realize how much I needed a real great desert survival game until I played this. The map alone is absolutely brilliantly done. You don't appear on the map, but you can make a large marker from sticks (Which btw ... why can't I do that in Minecraft? Or 7 Days? Or any other game, that's BRILLIANT!) and that will appear on your map. So you can place icons and mark locations based on this mechanic.

Fantastic game, absolutely cannot wait to see where it goes. Also excited about the devs announcing working on multiplayer, so that's going to be great too!

bigguy80
bigguy80

Short review....I like it. The graphics are good the gameplay is good, and I assume it will get better with time. I have nothing really to complain about at this point.

dullah
dullah

Really enjoying this game. Love the open world survival genre going into what feels like the Sahara desert. Survival mechanics and base building are pretty simple at present. Can't wait to see where the game goes from here.

QuikaVica
QuikaVica

I'm really enjoying this game. I've played it through a few times (albeit noting that it's in Early Access and the Developers themselves have said there's more of an ending yet to come). The desert setting of this survival game presents a particular challenge that makes navigation really tricky and the combination of endless dunes, unrelenting heat and the need to stay hydrated and fed definitely forces you to think and plan ahead.

Underneath this survival challenge is an interesting sci-fi story that has a lot of potential for future growth, and without wishing to spoil anything, make sure you're ready to fight by day three.

I've noticed the Developers are responsive, engaged with the community and regularly producing updates. I'd also like to give some credit to the sound design and music. It really helps the game feel immersive.

Mblak
Mblak

I would give it 5 stars if it had full controller support like it says it supposedly does.
With some people that have trouble with their hands I to use a Xbox controller, can't fill water bottle with RT, can't aim nor shoot without using a mouse.
I've looked up support and it seems that many people have had the same problem but they haven't been answered.
It's like they're being ignored.

Wickerman
Wickerman

Pricey for the (lack) content, good start to a good game. Not even close to & days to die or Conan, Yet, this could be. The Compass is messed up don't go by it too much. Should have a hud dot on the map when you open it, it doesn't. Not a bad starter game of something that could be really good, alot more content and work to go developers.

FuryFireSage
FuryFireSage

So empty. You run for 30 seconds just to get a single rock. It also has everything straight ahead. Find water. Run in a straight line across desert to visible oasis. Chop tree, lo and behold there is a single tree across the dunes. Kill an animal. There's only one. A hyena. while this is early access and has all the right elements for a good survival game, it's just not fun. I would have expected the first oasis to have things trying to murder you as soon as you got there.

Hex: :(
Hex: :(

End game is finding a weed powered super suit.
No, really.

I'm tentatively recommending it on its potential, I enjoyed it but would love a better compass. As a full release I would say no, but this is very much a work in progress and if it holds course it will be a fine survival crafty game.

Quickshadow
Quickshadow

I wanted to like this game, it seems like a desert version of valheim. However, there's no tutorial, you almost die trying to get to the first "location." The controls are rough, the physics are okay but need work. Seven months into early access, I expected a bit more. Maybe if I wait a year it will be ready.

Haarah
Haarah

Positives
+ Stable game, no crashes, no visual bugs, runs well on average PC
+ Visually addictive, catchy environment of desert/rocky areas
+ Nice resource gathering, farming, and crafting experience
+ Interesting concept of ingame map that you need to draw/develop from scratch by yourself
+ Active Discord, direct interlock to development team who really cares
+ Already access to various unofficial mods, but only several useful (people just start with them)
+ Variety of supported languages

Needs to improve
- Glitched UI when using widescreen (can be fixed by unofficial mod)
- Semi hard-coded controls - a lot of keys cannot be changed
- Major performance/FPS drops during sandstorms or when using more than a few light sources at base
- So far, short story and not so many activities to do once you complete it
- Base building is moderate, new pieces, equipment and deco options needed

Ruric
Ruric

In it's current state I cannot recommend it due to visual accessibility issues.

Currently it has issues with Depth of Field, which is already at an extreme blur level, but the setting for it doesn't work properly causing the obscene amounts of blur to turn back on in any of the following situations.

-Closing and relaunching the game
-Sleeping
-Swimming (which is the best way to reduce your heat)
-Randomly for no apparent reason

This results in you having to CONSTANTLY go into the menus and toggle the setting on and back off, and the blur is so bad that for the 'tree climb' because of how the camera is angled, you can't make out things even 1ft in front of your character.

Then there's the movement. Currently it's in a 'floaty' state, taking about 0.5s to 1s to fully come to a stop, at normal walking speed after canceling any movement inputs which is just...silly and causes a 'back wobble' effect to make it feel like you lean so far forward while walking that you have to lean back to get upright again.

Waris
Waris

Lets put it this way, this game has so little in it, you would think it doesn't offer anything. Well wrong. I have never seen a game with so little, offer so much. Well done and PLEASE keep adding.

iongantas
iongantas

This is terrible. I died in like five minutes without encountering anything other than the boundary of the game. I couldn't interact with the one plant thing I was able to come in contact with and there was no suggestion of which way to go, other than not toward the boundary. It was also dramatically unclear what my stats or anything were doing.

As someone who has a somewhat positive view of Medieval Dynasty, this is terrible, and I feel robbed.

Mclovin#HowlGG
Mclovin#HowlGG

Actually am enjoying this game, it is a little low quality janky but the concept is amazing , i just want a DUNE survival game like this maybe like conan but 1st person and more like this but DUNE spice farming and stuff would be amazing!

charmsadmin
charmsadmin

This is a good start. There are a lot things to criticize at this point, however. It's a basic "survival" game in that you have to build your own tools, and get water and food.

One thing I don't like is that you have to be at your own shelter to save the game, or sleep. The game requires you to explore a vast desert, with not much in between oases, ruins, and pyramids. Travel time is long. So in order to save your progress, you have to find your way back to where you started before you can save.

There are no real "tasks" to accomplish in the game. You just build stuff to survive. And then you keep building stuff. When you find ruins or a pyramid, you can collect "free" objects and find "scrolls" which unlock other things you can build.

One other annoyance, there is a limit to the number of items you can carry - not a weight limit but a physical count - 12 objects at first. You can carry 20 logs, but the "log" counts in one slot. Eventually you can build a storage bin, which also has a limited number of slots. So when you are far from your shelter, in a pyramid, worried about running out of water or food, and you find something good, you might have to drop something else.

All in all, I think it has potential. Toplitz was also behind Medieval Dynasty which was an incredible game (and still is) so I think they will guide this one to something better.

blkdragon13
blkdragon13

All in all it is a good start for game.
Good points -- For the most part it was glitch free for me, but the game itself is rather basic at this stage. The core mechanics are fairly solid at this point (except interfacing with the camel, it is a bit fiddly.) I would recommend. I look forward to what they add to it.
Bad Points -- It is light on content. I played through the in just under 16 hours. Needs lots more to do/build/develop. Definitely looking to see how the story progresses. Also it needs dedicated server/multiplayer mode.

6.5/10 for now

Dermatrode
Dermatrode

great little indie survival, kept me going till the end of story of what's available so far in EA, wanted to find all craftable items too, nice sci-fi desert vibe & atmosphere, base building is fine too. still a bit rough around the edges (still an early access title), so that's fine and can be improved. combat could be refined too, has definitely potential for a full release if they keep adding story and maybe another biome or two, i really like this one.

Raven
Raven

Its hard, dont recommend for casual gamers who just want to relax. you die, and its game over even if you do have a bed. I must admit, after response from dev, i only notice the game over. i did not think about the bed would act like a save option where yo could load your game from the moment you saved. I still did not find that that to satisfy my gaming experience as i would rather had to re spawn. if your interested to read dev response, and my answer to delve deeper into the issue, be my guest :)

mentalpatient
mentalpatient

is actually pretty fun and fun to explore but on day 12, three aliens will attack your base at the same time and you obviously can't tank three aliens damage, but if you step foot in your base, they disappear, so you can't go on your roof to shoot down at them and let your base tank the damage. So even if you manage to find rocks which you can barely find anywhere and lucky if you find a stone node, you will never have enough rocks to make enough arrows or other stuff that requires stone that you need for your survival. As, soon as you open the door to your base, the aliens will reappear and all 3 will kill you in no time. I will have to upthumb this game because it's fun and immersive but not being able to find stone anywhere and multiple monsters despawning when you go into your base needs to be addressed :) They should attack your base a little bit and you should be able to kill them while on your roof or platform with a bow and arrow or throwing your spear. Great game though and amazing atmosphere. The water and food needs to be slowed down too!Thumbs up!

lianagheorma92
lianagheorma92

I know that this is a work in progress so my review only reflects the game as it is on 9/26/2022 so my opinion can change and if it does, I will update this review.
My first criticism is that there is no option to play as a woman. And for games in this genre this is unacceptable. So many women play survival crafting games that it's mind-boggling that they don't offer this option. Makes me wonder why they didn't make any market research.
My second criticism is that the tutorial is too short. You aren't told many things like which weapon would work best.
Lastly, if you suffer from motion sickness, this may not be a good game for you. There is no option to play 3rd person or any options to make your experience better. The settings are minimal.

Cuddles_HTF_Mae
Cuddles_HTF_Mae

I would rate this a 7/10 for a couple of reasons, first positive then not. 1. The game has a interesting story and a bunch of places to find. 2. the building is a bit eh but so far its fine. 3. The soundtrack is actually decent for this game.
downsides: 1. The game is incredibly buggy, but it could be fixed. 2. The game has no aliens (for me at least) so it makes to game incredibly boring at times. 3. The clay parts for building take way to much, tho that can be fixed too. All in all, I would recommend to support it right now to be able to continue this game, or you can wait for the full release.

Viera
Viera

Hi General folk: great game if you like survival crafting, and a bit of added exploration, 8/10 so far, the devs seem to be still working on it so might get better still yet! :)

Hi Developers, (**other folk, spoilers alert)

Great game so far: a few things though - shouldn't the aliens be burned if they go through the campfire to attack me? Just might be a cool way to help kill them, but doesn't seem to work presently. Another thing was that whenever I restored the game with the bow and arrow active, it always came back with the arrows not showing, and have to switch weapons to get them back (only a real problem really if saved at a critical time, true). I had the problem where the crocodile died but the animation kept going (zombie croc!). I retrieved a second artifact from the Canaba Temple, but I seem to only have one in total after picking it up (is this a bug?). Overall though, really stable and hasn't crashed so far.

I really loved the atmosphere of this game, and the little touches like the sparks when you hit metal, the sun flares etc. Appreciate all your work, thanks!

Cheese0verlord4
Cheese0verlord4

Definitely recommend Starsand to those who love survival games. Great story and the graphics are amazing. I think the map system could be a bit better as it is hard to work out where you are going and where you have been, as the map is mostly dunes of sand.

Engelis
Engelis

Its like a Desert Subnautica with a bit more combat ! I loved it so far , will certainly replay the game again when it has released out of Early Access ! It really gave the creepy feeling of traveling in an open desert ! And liked planting the Ber'Nabaj ! :D

DEMONICDEATH
DEMONICDEATH

Very amazing game. It is very easy to die but enjoyable. Crafting and story is good. I would recommend giving it a playthrough.

DragoNess
DragoNess

very well balanced survival and crafting game. I have enjoyed playing it and can't wait to see where the developers take the game. very responsive discord group for this game. Although I do not recommend reading to much in the discord till you have thoroughly explored and played the game to avoid spoilers. well worth the money spent on it.

wolfton87
wolfton87

It is just like stranded deep. Small areas you can live in and get resources but glitchy. The UI is not very user friendly. If you have cash to spare I guess its ok but if its between this and something else get the other game.

アルベルト Pietralunga
アルベルト Pietralunga

Small indie desert survival, fits a nice niche. Gives vibes of Green hell and The Long Dark, but has its own unique vibe. So far, worth the money. Can't wait for co-op to land.

PROS:
+ Early access with steady updates: the devs are delivering what they are promising with no delays
+ Unique alien desert environment: the desert atmosphere feels real.
+ Hardcore exploration: craft your own landmarks and fill your own map, no hand holding. It is easy to get lost, but it feels so much more rewarding than automatic map markers. Also, getting lost is part of the game, and it prompts new discoveries.
+ Story is fine so far: not cringe and not super compelling either. Plenty of content to justify the price

CONS:
- Janky combat: combat feels hit and miss. It is not easy to understand if you land a hit, or if you are close enough to be hit or not. I really hope the devs will work on this aspect.
- Janky unit interface: the UI feels... meh. It doesn't look good, and it requires too many clicks \ drag and drops to craft stuff. It really cries °indie game° out loud.

heavy_schmeat
heavy_schmeat

A solid survival game. Interesting story line and unique items to craft/use, but is bogged by an steep early-game learning curve. Enemies are too tough at the beginning and for those with a lack of patience (like me) it gets frustrating when they are constantly bothering you. Some mechanics of the base-building are not as smooth. Overall, decent game.

Beeskii
Beeskii

I would rate this game as good, not quite great yet. love the premise of desert and alien. and the soundtrack, there's this one catchy tune that always gets me.

I finished the game in 31 hrs, there was a bit of messing around in that too.

there definately needs to be more content, and id love more alien technology to use

johntrapani
johntrapani

Tough game, you will die! But its fun and has a good crafting system

KRUSH
KRUSH

While there are plenty of opportunities for improvement I am enjoying the game and think they have a nice IP to build upon.

Anubis
Anubis

Definitly worth your money right now. Good game so far. Lots of work and love have been put in. Its EA so its going to be rough on some minor points to be expected. But as long as they keep updating it. This game will be bad ass when its finished.

Liquidous
Liquidous

I can't get the water bottle to refill. It says to hold RT but it doesn't work and don't seem to have the option to remap key bindings. Any ideas?

Wijik
Wijik

Been really enjoying the game so far. It makes me think of a baby between the long dark and green hell. Equally empty and desolate like the long dark (in a good way! its the desert after all) but the open land makes navigation a real treat to incorporate. Resources don't feel as scarce as I thought it would be but I don't mind it, makes for a slightly more casual play through.
One thing I'd like to see is perhaps better optimisation. My GPU can handle the game just fine on high (100-120fps) but it runs at 100% and sounds like a jet engine. Even changing to medium still makes the gpu run at full blast so pretty strange.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Another great survival, love the theme and all its parts! Dont stop now you're on a roll !

Hypo
Hypo

This game seems like it has immense potential. Atmospherically the game is amazing. It really gives you a sense that you are lost in a vast unfamiliar territory.

The game falls short however because the UX design is horrible. The story is the only enjoyable part of the game, and it gets ruined by the survival aspects. Even on the easiest difficulty the survival stats get in the way too much.

AtypicalChuck
AtypicalChuck

I love the desolate land and the feeling of dread not knowing if I'd make it to the next oasis. I hated when I fully kitted out my camel and the son of a bitch left because I didn't feed him every 5 seconds. I wish the top area of the map was better fleshed out it feels a little slapped together. Still this was a great time for what I paid!

Rick_Battosai
Rick_Battosai

very little for the amount of grind.

eo5649
eo5649

This could be soooo good. I wanted it to be good. It is not.

imperatorspqr
imperatorspqr

Do not buy this game (yet) if you use an ultrawide or super-ultrawide monitor. Stopped playing immediately when the UI stretched far beyond the bottom of the screen (and the toolbar icons/boxes were so large they took up like 1/3 of the vertical real estate of the screen).

The "settings" screen does say, when you select your resolution, that wide resolutions are "not fully supported yet," but there is no mention (that I've seen) of this limitation on the store page. I understand that this is EA, but UI issues like this are relatively straightforward to address, so there's really no excuse these days for the ultrawide support not to be there from the beginning.

I love survival games, and I may come back to this in the distant future when they've figured out more of their issues, but for now, I can't recommend it.

Edit: my native resolution is 5120x1440 (32:9 aspect ratio)

Mookxz
Mookxz

I can't recommend this game if you are expecting to get your bang for buck in its current state because I pretty much completed what the game had to offer in 9 hours. That being said I did enjoy the time I spent in this game. I will be coming back for another play through once there has been a few more major updates.

If you do decide to purchase it I recommend playing on medium if you want a more balanced play through due to easy being a walk in the park. the main reason for this is I didn't get enough materials to craft the armor before i finished the story. I think this could possibly be due to earthquakes not happening when inside a building which causes the enemies to not spawn.

I feel like the game needs a little more direction for progression as you can wonder into a place that gives end game materials and basically skip a chunk of progression quite easily.

- Some POIs around the map feel a little too close and not spread around well enough.
- The sword was quite buggy and underwhelming on hits. Not sure if this could be fixed with a better hitbox or not but when swinging away at an enemy 50% of the hits would land. Possibly a hit animation bug but not sure.
- Coconuts are op! Mabe reducing the stack amount might fix the issue as coconuts were all i needed to survive as there are plenty around and give you both a lot of water and decent food. Could be fine in medium/hard tho.

Looking forward to a final release. Good job so far Dev's

huck841
huck841

Fun survival game with limited help for crafting items. Fumble around and find out!

Eyolf
Eyolf

Did not spawn enough useful resources. Terrible combat mechanics. Way too far to walk inbetween interesting places

Maj Dan
Maj Dan

The thumbs down is only because there is no way nuance to a yes/no answer. I love everything about this game except the combat and hunting. I'm not sure how to describe the hit boxes... Hitting what you aim at is, shall we say, unpredictable at best. I get it is supposed to be difficult, but currently I find it too much for too little. I will see what future updates bring, but I am not enjoying it at the moment.

wardjinn ☥
wardjinn ☥

"omg it's empty" it literally says desert you dumbos

Angry Kitty
Angry Kitty

Early access, but a fun survival game. Get a bow and arrows first :)