January 22nd sees the arrival of Flock, Magical Delicacy, Tchia, The Case of the Golden Idol, and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess on consoles for Game Pass Standard subscribers. They’re joined by Gigantic: Rampage Edition, playable for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers, and Starbound. January 28th sees the arrival of two brand new titles – Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap and Eternal Strands.

Both are playable on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Shady Part of Me debuts on January 29th for all tiers, and Sniper Elite: Resistance sneaks in on January 30th for Ultimate and PC Game Pass. The month caps off with Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector on January 31st for cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.

But wait, there’s more, as Far Cry New Dawn will be added for all subscribers on February 4th. Of course, there will be titles leaving the service on January 31st. Check them out below.

• Anuchard (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Broforce Forever (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Darkest Dungeon (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Death’s Door (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Maquette (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Don’t Starve Together

Expanding upon Klei Entertainment’s excellent survival experience, Don’t Starve Together is more than just the base game with co-op mechanics. It offers three modes – Survival, which turns dead players into ghosts that drain the sanity of the living; Wilderness, which puts each player in a random location; and Endless, where players can respawn endlessly. With its plethora of content – from DLC like Reign of Giants, Shipwrecked and Hamlet to new characters and free updates – Don’t Starve Together remains one of the premiere multiplayer survival experiences.

Starbound developer Chucklefish has been keeping busy. Along with support for its sandbox side-scrolling space title, it’s also working on two new projects.

Chucklefish CEO Finn “Tiyuri” Brice recently discussed both projects with PC Gamer. The first is “a more modern spiritual successor to Advance Wars that retains some of the pixel charm”. Fire Emblem was earlier noted as also being an influence for the turn-based strategy title.

“The goal is to make good use of modern tech, online multiplayer, [Steam] Workshop support, that kind of thing.”

The second game has been described as an “RPG/Sim, something like Stardew Valley meets Harry Potter” that’s set in a magic school and will have classes, dating and day-night cycles. The potential title for the game right now is Spellbound and you can check out an art-style test for it below.

Starbound players won’t have to worry as more updates are incoming. We’ll keep you updated on the above two projects in the coming months though.

The game is currently still going through its development cycle. But thanks to the Steam Greenlight Program, the game is currently enjoying the benefits of having the currently playable build being tested by the gaming community. The game entered its public testing stage on December 4th of 2013. Unlike many games, testing wasn’t reserved for one specific platform; the beta/alpha build of the game is playable on Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux operating systems.

Despite going through testing on PC platforms and still being very much an unfinished product, the game is slated to come to PS Vita, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 upon its completion. There have been no plans to release the game on Microsoft’s Xbox One or Xbox 360 announced yet.

The game’s official release date has not yet been revealed for the various platforms, but since the Greenlight launch, it has been accepted that this was the games official PC launch, with PS Vita, PS3 and PS4 launch dates to be confirmed at a later date.

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• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Starbound receives near constant updates to the core game, the visuals and sound department as well as new content patches, however this brings with it some concerns. Players have expressed the view that the game is getting updated and having new things added all the time, but still it shows no sign of having a clear end goal or finishing point.

The game was developed and runs on a custom made video game engine and is largely (if not wholly) written in C++. This helps the game support a lot of external features, hence it’ success with the modding community.

Starbound was first officially announced by Tiyuri, the games founder and director, on April 13th 2013 when he launched a pre-order slot on the humble store (the webstore made available by humble bundle) that resembled a Kickstarter project. This raised over $230,000 in just 24 hours.

This money was used to fund the development of Starbound and the gaming community flocked to the game in droves pledging money in ever increasing amounts. By the end of April, all of Starbounds tiered incentives had been bought into and all of the three stretch goals had been reached. By this point, the game had raised over $1,000,000 and it was ready to enter its Beta stage.

Following the commencement of the Beta, the game had received over $2,000,000 in pre-orders and it was finally released on Steam on December 4th which marked the beginning of public access and testing. Since then the game has continually been updated, for better or for worse, and has seen a huge community grow around it. By the end of the first week of January 2014, the game had sold in excess of 1,000,000 copies.

Story

As with most games of a similar design, the plot is kept intentionally vague. This isn’t due to a lack of creativity on the part of the developers; it’s to impress upon each player the uniqueness of their playthrough.

Gameplay

Starbound is visually similar to many other games in the exploration, building and combat genre. It shares similarities with the hugely popular game, Terraria in both terms of visuals, gameplay mechanics and construction mechanics. But the similarities are to be expected when players are tasked with tackling exploration, building and combat on a 2D plane.

Whereas Terraria was more of a game that challenged the player as they dug deeper into the world, Starbound is very much a hostile environment that forces players into combat situations much more often and generally represents a much greater challenge in terms of gameplay, but this is balanced by the vast array of weapons and armours that players can make use of. The combat focus of the game makes it considerably more fast paced, calling for quicker reaction times and more accurate control of weapons than some other games of a similar nature.

Players can create their own weapons and armour by collecting materials from the game world and using them to construct the item of their choosing. These may start as a basic zapper pistol and finish as a huge energy spewing cannon. Crafting meets creation when players start building. The only way to survive on a planet is to have a find or much more likely build a safe haven and this often comes in the form of a player constructed home. These can be made out of everything ranging from mud and reeds, to stone and metal. Each looks unique and each is a perfectly suitable home for our intrepid adventurers.

Each of the planets that players traverse in Starbound is (in their entirety) procedurally generated. This random generation of assets means that players are unlikely to ever encounter the same area twice; this of course leads to a vast and explorable universe with new twists and turns at every corner.

Although, to help increase this sense of adventuring wonder and the risk that follows dropping down to an alien world that has been previously unexplored, the game doesn’t just procedurally generate the terrain. The weather of the world, the enemies that inhabit it, the worlds gravity levels, the indigenous plant life, the behaviour and appearances of aliens and more are all features of each world that are randomly generated.

One of my personal favourite features of the game is that despite the random generation of the games universe, each planet comes with its own set of coordinates that once discovered can be shared amongst others, allowing them to locate and travel to that world. Thus enforcing the co-op aspect of the game.

The game begins with the player escaping their home world in a spacecraft, fleeing from some unidentified enemy that is destroying the planet. The guidance systems are failing and there’s no reliable means of navigation to aid you and so, you are thrust into the void of space in an escape shuttle, the Stygian black roiling around you. But by some astronomical feat, you touch down on a habitable world and from there, the journey is yours.

Characters

The players characters are made in a character creation screen and the only story and information attached to them is that which the player creates.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

There’s no doubting there’s an appeal to the game, one that has drawn sandbox gamers and adventure fans alike. There is an ongoing narrative, there is a clear-cut direction in most cases as to what you must do. Several months down the line and with the recent announcement of PS4 and PS Vita port, the appeal grows ever stronger. GamingBolt spoke to lead writer Ashton Raze about the mechanics of the game, including the procedural generation, similarities to Terraria and just the overall success the game has seen.

Ravi Sinha: Starbound has seen nothing but success since being available to pre-order, with one million copies sold since January 6th. How has that success changed Chucklefish?

Ashton Raze: January 6th was actually when we announced a million copies sold, so we have another month and a bit of sales since then! Not sure of any exact figures, though. The success has changed Chucklefish in a number of ways. We have an office now, and some new employees, and Rhopunzel has taken to demanding everyone call her ‘your majesty’. Nothing too extreme, but it’s nice to be able to expand now the game’s doing well.

Ravi Sinha: For a game like this, which relies on procedurally generated content, how do you get players to experiment with the various races, given the connection usually forged from the beginning of the game onwards?

Ashton Raze: Each species has its own unique set of NPC interactions, examination text etc, but we don’t feel a huge need to push players into experimenting. If they want to, that’s great, and if they want to stick with playing as the same species, then that’s great too! There’s plenty of content to find if you do want to replay the game with different characters, but it’s all about letting the player make their choices themselves rather than pushing them into any of them. We’ve created the game to very much allow people to play how they want, which includes things like this.

"We have different species, different narratives, different locations, different things to craft and find, different game mechanics. The similarities to Terraria are really only on a genre-wide level; Terraria's doing its own thing, we're doing ours, both games have pretty clear identities of their own."

Ravi Sinha: How did you go about creating the procedurally generated content? Were there a set of stats that were relied on when randomly creating planets, items and missions?

Ashton Raze: There are a number of generators relating to different things; biomes, weapons, monsters etc. They decide what to add to a planet when it’s created, which parts to use to construct a weapon, monster etc. The generators change depending on which tier the player has unlocked, so tougher planets start being generated once you get out of tier one, etc.

Ravi Sinha: One look at Starbound immediately reminds us of Terraria, which also takes place from a 2D perspective. How will Starbound distinguish itself from Terraria and other games in the genre in terms of content, story and missions, and how do the races help facilitate this?

Ashton Raze: Just like other games in similar genres, to be honest. We have different species, different narratives, different locations, different things to craft and find, different game mechanics. The similarities to Terraria are really only on a genre-wide level; Terraria’s doing its own thing, we’re doing ours, both games have pretty clear identities of their own. As the beta progresses especially, we’ll be adding a lot more narrative content which will obviously be entirely unique to Starbound.

Ravi Sinha: Starbound will be heading to the PlayStation Vita and PS4. What prompted the decision to target Sony platforms, and how cooperative has Sony been?

Ashton Raze: Sony actually approached us about putting the game on their platforms, so obviously they’ve been super co-operative and accommodating. Shahid over at Sony is doing some great work getting indies involved, and it’s something we’re really happy to be a part of.

"Well, I mean, of course frame rates and resolutions *matter*, yeah. But they matter to the specific game, how it handles the frame rate/resolution, what kind of visuals the game is going for etc. Different games, different engines etc have different requirements and priorities."

Ravi Sinha: Why are you guys not bringing the game to the Xbox One?

Ashton Raze: While there are no current plans for an Xbox One version of Starbound, it’s not something we’ve ruled out.

Ravi Sinha: I am sure you guys must be targeting 1080p@60fps on the PS4. Am I correct?

Ashton Raze: Unfortunately we’re not at the stage to be able to discuss this any further just yet. We’ll release more details on the upcoming Sony versions in due course.

Ravi Sinha: Furthermore, as you must be aware of the power difference between the PS4 and Xbox One is resulting into resolution/frame rate debates. Do you think in the grander scheme of things, do frame rates and resolutions matter?

Ashton Raze: Well, I mean, of course frame rates and resolutions *matter*, yeah. But they matter to the specific game, how it handles the frame rate/resolution, what kind of visuals the game is going for etc. Different games, different engines etc have different requirements and priorities.

"I would hope we'll be adding some extra features in the coming months, yeah! There's still loads of things that aren't in yet, like the quests, the story missions, the various other things we've talked about in terms of how to make money in-game etc."

Ravi Sinha: As someone who has originally developed for the PC platform, what do you think about the PS4’s technical specs? Do you think it is built to last?

Ashton Raze: I would imagine it’s built to last for however long they intend the console cycle to last, yeah. That’s a bit of a strange question; any fixed-spec machine isn’t built to last indefinitely in terms of eventually being replaced, but the specs don’t necessarily have much to do with the console’s longevity.

Ravi Sinha: What kind of additional content can we look forward to with Starbound’s release? Will we see any additional races or other features in the coming months in the form of regular content updates?

Ashton Raze: I would hope we’ll be adding some extra features in the coming months, yeah! There’s still loads of things that aren’t in yet, like the quests, the story missions, the various other things we’ve talked about in terms of how to make money in-game etc. As for species, the Novakids are coming as playable obviously, and we’ll be adding some more NPC species akin to the Agarans etc.

Chucklefish Games’ Starbound could be classified as “Terraria in space” – but then Terraria could also be considered “Minecraft in 2D”. Regardless, the space trappings and ability to visit other planets in Starbound has helped it stand out enough to warrant a console release. However, it will only be arriving on the PS Vita and PS4. Speaking to GamingBolt, lead writer Ashton Raze explained the decision to target Sony platforms and outlined how cooperative the publisher has been.

“Sony actually approached us about putting the game on their platforms, so obviously they’ve been super co-operative and accommodating. Shahid [Ahmad] over at Sony is doing some great work getting indies involved, and it’s something we’re really happy to be a part of.”

As for why the game isn’t coming to the Xbox One, Raze said, “While there are no current plans for an Xbox One version of Starbound, it’s not something we’ve ruled out.”

As of now, Starbound’s beta is already available for PC, Mac and Linux, with the PlayStation platform releases still to be announced.

Indie games have absolutely exploded in popularity in the better part of the last two years. The games that have been developed outside of the influence of major production companies and in many cases, major, well known developers; have managed to spawn some of the most memorable experiences for gamers in recent history. Games like Minecraft and the new Shadowrun Returns and FTL, Gone Home and Rogue Legacy really helped to get the ball rolling.

Games like these show the world that a small, yet dedicated development team with enough money, support and spare time can make a game that is equally as entertaining as any of the big names, and sometimes more so. These developers blaze new trails in gaming, take risks and really try to inject some life into an industry that, frankly has a lot of stale or over-used ideas floating around in it. With the new consoles getting onboard the indie-train, the indie scene is really going to continue to pick up speed. With some great games coming in the near future, there’s even more to be excited for.

Starbound:

If this game looks kind of familiar,  you’re not exactly wrong. Starbound is being developed by Chucklefish and looks to be the successor to their popular title, Terraria. At first glance, the games do look incredibly similar, but this 2D theme is all that is similar. While you can still mine and explore the planet you start on, you can also traverse the galaxy, explore new worlds, find different resources, items and of course face the bad guys. In fact, if you run into the same monster that wants to kill you on another planet, it’s nothing but procedural luck of the draw.

Starbound is currently available for early release on Steam, but is still in very early beta stages. Things like balance and world generation are being modified regularly, sometimes daily. The quest system in place at the moment is not much more than a placeholder either. If you don’t mind having random character wipes, and want to help the developers refine the game to it’s finished product, then this early beta access may be for you. If not, you may want to wait for stage two of the three stage testing phases that Chucklefish has put in place, or maybe even longer. At any rate, Starbound certainly has a lot of potential and we’re seeing more of it almost everyday.