Starbound takes place in a two-dimensional, procedurally generated universe which the player is able to explore in order to obtain new weapons, armor, and items, and to visit towns and villages inhabited by various intelligent lifeforms.

Starbound begins with the player inside a spacecraft after the destruction of Earth, home of an intergalactic peacekeeping organization known as the Terrene Protectorate, while just having graduated from its ranks.

[2] The game features story-based missions, quests, free world exploration, enemies to fight, and the ability to interact with and terraform the environment.

[5] Starbound was announced by Chucklefish director Finn Brice in February 2012,[6] with a tiered, Kickstarter-style, pre-order opening via the Humble Store on 13 April 2013.

[16] In 2019, Chucklefish were accused of exploiting around a dozen voluntary contributors during Starbound's development, sometimes logging hundreds of hours with no compensation and completing the same tasks as paid members of the team.

[17] In a statement, Chucklefish responded that the contributors were "under no obligation to create content, work to deadlines or put in any particular number of hours.

[21] Christopher Livingston of PC Gamer stated that Starbound was a charming space sandbox that would keep players entertained for hours.

[22] Nathan Grayson of Kotaku praised its exploration elements, calling the universe "strange and unpredictable" enough that players would never quite grow tired of it.