What is the best game similar to Starbound?

The closest game to Starbound is Scrap Mechanic, scoring 95/100 on our similarity scale. They share 12 gameplay attributes, including sandbox freedom, adventure storytelling and survival mechanics. It's the most faithful alternative currently available.

What are the top games like Starbound?

The three closest games to Starbound are: 1. Scrap Mechanic (95/100, 12 shared attributes) 2. Stardew Valley (86/100, 15 shared attributes) 3. Space Engineers (87/100, 13 shared attributes). All share Starbound's most important gameplay attributes, ranked out of 16 candidates across 22 dimensions.

Is Stardew Valley similar to Starbound?

Yes, very much so — Stardew Valley scores 86/100 similarity to Starbound. They share 15 attributes, including sandbox freedom and deep RPG systems. It's one of the most direct alternatives available.

What Sandbox games are similar to Starbound?

The best Sandbox games similar to Starbound are Scrap Mechanic, Stardew Valley, Space Engineers and No Man's Sky. All share the Sandbox genre alongside other key Starbound attributes like sandbox freedom, adventure storytelling and survival mechanics.

How is similarity to Starbound calculated?

We compare Starbound against every game in our catalog using 22 gameplay attributes: genre, atmosphere, world structure, play modes, combat style, and more. Each category is weighted differently — genre matters more than visual style, for instance. The result is a 0-100 score reflecting how closely a game replicates the Starbound experience, not just whether it shares the same genre label.

Are there free games similar to Starbound?

Yes — Unturned is free and scores well on similarity to Starbound. It's a great way to test whether the play style clicks before investing in other paid titles.

16 Games like Starbound that you should try

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Starbound is hard to replace: few games combine sandbox freedom, vibe casual and sandbox world in quite the same way. We compared Starbound against over 6,700 titles across 22 gameplay attributes and found 16 genuine alternatives — not generic genre suggestions. Scrap Mechanic, Stardew Valley and Space Engineers lead the list, with Scrap Mechanic reaching a 95/100 similarity score. Every game here is ranked by how closely it replicates what makes Starbound special.

iRank82/ 100

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GenreSandboxSubgenreCrafting Sandbox

Top games similar to Starbound

16 similar games foundUpdated July 2026

Handpicked by our similarity algorithm, these are the titles with the highest gameplay match to Starbound. Each one has been evaluated across 22 real attributes — from combat style and progression mechanics to world structure and visual perspective — so every recommendation is based on how the game actually plays, not just its genre label.

#1Scrap Mechanic

iRank83

GenreSandboxSubgenreCrafting Sandbox

MultiplayerCo-opSoloOnlineMeleeSandbox WorldOpen WorldExplorationCrafting

Steam👍 92%· 117KRAWG👍 70%· 124

Year 2016Dev Axolot GamesPlaytime ~6hOn PC

✓ Same family of crafting sandboxes: sandbox freedom, adventure storytelling and survival mechanics

≠ Stands apart with deep simulation, base building and visual first person, while skipping deep RPG systems

16 Games like Starbound that you should try

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