Fit check
Is Starsand worth it for you?
We tell you who should skip it, too.
Play it if you…
Good fit- Survival-game players who want desert exploration rather than a settled environment
- Players who enjoy gathering, crafting, and constructing shelters in open worlds
- Adventure players who want environmental hazards alongside mysteries and puzzles
Skip it if you…
Saves you a refund- Players seeking a compact survival setting may find the 64 km² desert scope too expansive.
- Players looking for a relaxed pace may not suit the heat, cold, thirst, sandstorms, and hostile creatures.
- Players wanting a survival game focused mainly on shelter management may prefer a narrower base-building structure.
Our take on Starsand
Rather than placing survival in a familiar forest or settlement, Starsand makes the desert the central obstacle. Heat, cold, thirst, sandstorms, and sparse shelter replace more forgiving terrain, while a mystery involving two moons adds an unusual story layer.
What is Starsand?
Starsand is an open-world survival game set in a mysterious desert after a marathon runner is caught in a sandstorm.
Players explore more than 64 km² of desert containing monuments, artifacts, and creatures while searching for water, shade, food, and shelter. Gathered materials support weapon crafting and shelter construction. Heat, cold, thirst, sandstorms, and changing daylight affect movement and energy use. Insect-like predators and other enemies threaten the character, while fire and explosive coconut grenades provide defensive options. The journey includes puzzles and a story about two moons, an extinct civilization, and the character’s attempt to discover what happened and return to an earlier life.
How Starsand plays
- 01Open desert world
- The explorable environment covers more than 64 km² and contains monuments, artifacts, and creatures.
- 02Environmental survival
- Heat, cold, thirst, shade, and energy use affect activity across the desert.
- 03Shelter construction
- Collected resources can be used to make weapons and construct a base for protection.
- 04Changing conditions
- Weather shifts and day-night changes require planning during the journey.
- 05Mystery and puzzles
- Puzzles connect the desert journey to two moons and the history of an extinct civilization.
Starsand compared to similar games
Starsand combines open-world desert exploration, environmental survival, shelter construction, combat, and puzzle-led mystery. Mr. Prepper focuses on preparing an underground shelter and resisting an authoritarian government during a nuclear-war threat, while Starsand places survival across a large desert with weather, thirst, hostile creatures, and an extinct civilization’s mysteries.
Starsand: platforms & release
Is Starsand worth it?
It is worth it if: survival-game players who want desert exploration rather than a settled environment. Skip it if: players seeking a compact survival setting may find the 64 km² desert scope too expansive.
Where can I download Starsand?
Use the Download Now button on this page: it opens Starsand's store page, where you can choose how to get it.
What platforms is Starsand on?
Windows only.
