The game Starbound requires a lot of knowledge, or a lot of persistence. The controls can also be difficult to use, but more effective once a player learns how to control their avatar.

There is a main tool the player starts with, a matter manipulator. This is the most useful tool in the game because it allows you to harvest resources, and research objects, which is vital to the game. To control anything, you must move your mouse in the direction and spot you want to attack or mine. This can be very hard and overwhelming to do, but once tamed, it is more accurate than many other types of controls.

Once the player has figured out the controls and fighting and has chosen a species and vanity for their avatar, they can pursue the game path. The main goal of the game is to stop a force, trying to destroy the universe, and this force is also what started you on your journey, attacking Earth, the planet you resided on. You start on a planet with core fragments, which are needed to get out of orbit. It is smartest to loot this planet as much as possible because it is one of the easiest environments, so you can be more prepared for the next planets. On this same planet though, you will establish contact with the arch, where you meet someone to progress you farther in the game, as well as a trading post. This NPC explains that the only way to defeat the threat to the universe, the ruin, is by collecting 6 artifacts to put it back into its prison. This is when the true games begin.

At the arch, the player are given a mission to get crystals for your ship, which will allow you to leave the solar system. You will collect these crystals at a mine, that has been taken over by a being. This is the first boss you will fight. The mobs needed to kill to pass to the boss are very damaging and have a lot of health. The strategy to beat them is to always have high ground or a position where you can attack them, and they can’t attack you(they are ranged). Fighting them head on is not an option. Once you get to the boss, you can not attack it with your weapon, and it requires you to avoid beams produced by the being in the center. The main difficult is the maneuvering, and there will be more of the mobs, but they can be easily avoided. Once this boss is beaten, you can travel throughout the galaxy. And to move forward, you must research and find the species that have the artifacts that you need. Once you find them, there will always be a boss to defeat, to get the artifact. This is the journey of Starbound!