Starstruck Vagabond, published by Second Wind, developed by Yahtzee Crowshaw is addictive. Very addictive. How addictive? I’ve beaten the story of the game, and yet I want to spend more time playing the game right now, but I am instead writing this review to tell you all about it.
You play as a semi-customizable (character name, body type, and hair style) space trucker, tasked with ferrying various space bits and bobs around an ever expanding galaxy. However, this already addictive gameplay loop is only the tip of the iceberg of a larger story the game wants to tell you.
A life simulator inspired by the likes of Stardew Valley, with dashes of Harvest Moon and Elite Dangerous thrown in for good measure, the core gameplay loop sees you trucking various cargo of all types throughout the galaxy. This is made more complicated by varying factors; limited cargo space that you need to manage efficiently, radiation filled containers that ruin adjacent crates contents, systems failing, causing containers to be ruined, and other organizational efficiency tests that will at times, make you question your own sanity.
That sounds complex enough at times, but then Starstruck Vagabond's other core gameplay loop kicks in; ship maintenance. This secondary game mechanic must be performed quite often and includes things like having to repair your spaceship from damage it takes during flight by hitting asteroids, having to clean out air cyclers and filters, and having to align warp pipes, all while dealing with random pests invading your ship that can cause all kinds of chaos if not dealt with swiftly.
Throughout the 15-20 hour runtime of the main story, you will encounter multiple crew members who will assist you on your journey through the stars. Your interactions with these crew members is one of the absolute highlights of Starstruck Vagabond, and it's here that Croshaw’s humor, crafted by years of online video, essay, and book writings, really shines. Simply put, if you enjoy Croshaw's works, you will enjoy the writing and humor this game wears proudly on its sleeve.
The central story of Starstruck Vagabond sees the emergence of a giant, purple egg in the center of the galaxy. To really give much more than that as a descriptor is giving too much away, and I think you’ll just want to experience this for yourself. Trust me.
Like other genre titles, finishing the main story does not mean you’ve completed the game. Once you’ve rolled credits, you are free to take on new side missions, delivery jobs, and even crew requests for as long as you want to. The continued play-a-bility of the title long after rolling credits is a huge bonus, and surprising given the game has been developed by a one man dev team.
For a 16 bit send up, this game looks and sounds incredible, taking notes once again from games like Stardew Valley on how to do more with less. Its incredibly inspiring to see that meaningful, passionate games can be made in this style in 2024.
I’m also happy to report that an often underlooked component of games in this genre, the music, is wonderful. The music is the perfect nostalgia hit for this reviewer, and I suspect it will resonate with quite a few fans of the 8 and 16 bit era of gaming as well. It hits all the right notes (pun intended) and never feels like it's forced in any situation.
Not all is sunshine and rainbows, however, as I did encounter a few glitches during my gameplay. The most annoying ones were during some ship combat, for some reason hitting an object with my ship lasers would cause the game to crash to desktop. Another instance occurred when cargo that I had removed off of my ship and delivered appeared again and again after flying to different planets.
Overall, this is a game well worthy of your time, especially if you like non-sequitur humor and life simulator titles. I cannot thank Second Wind enough for the opportunity to review this game, and I cannot wait to see what else Yahtzee has up his sleeve.
Key provided by Second Wind Group for review purposes.
“Addictive, funny, and well paced. The best life-simulator I've played in years. ”
Starstruck Vagabond doesn't break new ground, but it doesn't have to. It instead perfects the life simulator genre with a solid gameplay loop, great humor, and surprising heart. Its a testament to what games can be when passion, not profits, are at the forefront of your game design.