Star Traders: Frontiers
You are the captain of a starship venturing through a massive open universe. Customize your crew and take command at the helm of your very own ship as you explore a galaxy torn apart by internal strife, alien threats, and political intrigue.
Star Traders: Frontiers is a sci-fi, moddable and simulation game
developed and published by Trese Brothers.
Released on July 31st 2018 is available in English on Windows, MacOS and Linux.
It has received 3,560 reviews of which 2,999 were positive and 561 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.1 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 14.79€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Star Traders: Frontiers into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows XP, Windos Vista, or Windows 7 / 8 / 10
- Processor: 1.2 Ghz
- Memory: 1024 MB RAM
- Graphics: OpenGL 2.0 or higher
- Storage: 250 MB available space
MacOS
- OS: Latest macOS Version Only
- Processor: 1.2 Ghz
- Memory: 1024 MB RAM
- Graphics: OpenGL 2.0 or higher
- Storage: 250 MB available space
Linux
- OS: Ubuntu 14+
- Processor: 1.2 Ghz (32 or 64-bit)
- Memory: 1024 MB RAM
- Graphics: OpenGL 2.0 or higher
- Storage: 250 MB available space
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
The most in-depth RPG I ever played. Lots of customisations, play how you want, whether as a commander of an indestructible, big and strong ship, a spy which gather and sell intel for faction that you choose, an explorer looking for treasures, a merchant looking for a honest work, or a smuggler smuggling stuff, a pirate interrupting merchants/smuggler trade path, alien hunter, bounty hunter looking for criminals, and a lot more!
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The game is probably one of the most criminally underrated games I have ever come across. The developers (2 brothers) are more committed to the creation and support of their games than the extreme majority of game makers out there. Read other reviews and discussions about this game and you will see the depth mentioned repeatedly. Each play through can feel like a full complete experience on its own, but I couldn't even begin to guess how many times you would have to play the game to discover and experience everything. The depth being referred to is regarding narrative elements, mechanics, characters, and most importantly styles of play. There are dozens (at least) completely unique paths and even more captain builds to experience. Now throw in the fact that you can assemble and build different crews and officers each time through as well. They are well past 300 updates supporting the game. Each update that I have looked at seems to be a carefully crafted addition (new classes, story vignettes, and everything else you can think of) or it is research based balancing. They show no signs of slowing down, even with another game receiving a ton of attention in early access. There is a deceptively complex learning curve, but you have options in how you want to handle that. You don't have to be like me, where I try to learn about the mechanics as much as possible beforehand. This is the type of game where you can just dive in and learn as you go, which is probably the intended plan. You can still get a tone of enjoyment out of the game on your first play through, even if you are ignorant to how the game works and the options it gives you. The most important advice I can think of is don't try to experience everything at once (literally impossible dozens of times over). I suggest either choosing the your path beforehand (after you have some experience), or just roll with the punches and not stress about what you are missing. Everything takes time, from missions to docking at a station, so leave yourself a cushion to complete missions on time; don't try to cram as much as possible in. The very first play through (or even few play throughs) you should probably run with the main story. This will limit you because it will occupy a hefty percentage of your time, but it will also put you at odds with other faction(s), and it will be very difficult to work back into their good graces. After your 1st run in the game, i suggest going the main narrative route again; only making different decisions at the critical junctures. I am still super green with this game (the hours played is a big lie on my games because I have the bad habit of leaving them running in the background. This game in particular, because I would do some research and get distracted. So, listen to the veterans of this game if I have said anything that contradicts them; but I tried to keep it simple. This game is, and will be, a cult classic in my opinion. The Trese Brothers accomplished what they set out to do to an almost perfect degree. If you give the game just a little bit of time, and the genres/discription is up your alley; I think this you will be able to add this game to the exclusive personal list you have of games to continually come back to over and over again. I know I will.
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How do I even begin to describe this game. It juxtaposes endless depth and complexity with a blunt realism. Want to take part in a generational war of politics and power, at first as a small but important cog in the justice machine and later as a figure of legend who shaped the course of galactic history? Sure, that's the easy way to go. Want to completely ignore all that stalwart idealism and good of the people nonsense, do your own thing, and become a fearsome pirate scourge, a bounty-hunter of blood-dripping myth, an explorer who pushes the boundaries of human space, or the wealthiest merchant EVER? Those are character classes, yes. Here's the simple: Fly to a planet, land in an inhabited zone (if there is one on this world), buy water-fuel for your void engine (on most worlds, but not all), get any hurt crew fixed up (if there's a doctor in the house), replace any lost to combat or misadventure (if recruits are available), get the ship fixed up (if the local techbase can support mechanics), do some drugs in the spice hall (if there is one around the dump), and most importantly and everpresently: pay your crew before they space you. Then you can sell off your goods in the Exchange to make room for whatever they've got in this place at a reasonable price. For more advanced pursuits, you can run some anti-smuggling/piracy patrols for the local navy, blockade the locals' shipping yourself, or spy on the grav government for juicy intel. You do all that, which is fun and thought provoking, between the real work of running missions and planning your next five moves across the Sectors, which is also fun! Each of these options is a *button*, but they contain a wealth of lore and economics and worldbuilding and storytelling that I expect can only be experienced, not described. Simply, click 'Patrol', check the Risk and Reward cards available, consider your crew's talents and stats, and roll the dice on another twist of fate; alternatively described, take part in a power struggle between massive, sector-spanning factions, a course that may see you running up against a hostile navy ship, a random factionless pirate, horrifying (run-ending) xenos monsters, or a distress call to assist with for a little XP and pocket change. Or you might spend months hanging around in orbit as a complete waste of time, energy, money, and the crew's patience. Or you might walk away from a bad hand, as a smart Star Trader captain always should, and seek your fortunes elsewhere. There's over a dozen different highly viable playstyles, probably hundreds of Jobs combinations to create your personal profile out of three distinct major parts, and as much overlap between playstyles as you want. Pretty much everyone Trades, for instance. Pirates may spend most of their time sniffing around for weak, slow freighters, but once they've Blockaded and Looted they need a friendly Exchange or Black Market to Trade their ill-got gains away. Pretty much everyone trades, from Bounty Hunters who specialize in Prisoner Transport Missions and political assassinations to Explorers wandering the fringe til their hold is full of Exotic Goods and Xenos Artifacts. Inversely, most well-armed Merchants aren't unwilling to engage in a little Combat to fill a space in the Cargo Hold... I think it's important to note here, at the close of this review, that I have never 'beaten' this game; I'm not even sure I've ever made it to end-game. I probably haven't actually run through the entire main storyline, though I have reached a couple of its 4+ peaks where the Achievements and Unlocks are. I've certainly never even come close to 100%ing it or unlocking all the extra goodies. I like Permadeath, which means playing on Hard, which tends to see my captain drifting in the void within the same year they received their Charter. Part of the reason I was inspired to write this review was today's announcement of a big buff to Bounty Hunters, my preferred style, which may see me making new strides among the stars and Star Trader history. If you need one more reason to buy in on this A+ trade at my humble Exchange, dear captain, think of this: This game has been around for years, I've played it for years, and Trese Brothers update every week or two with major and minor tweaks and changes, in direct response to a highly engaged community (which I should note I am nearly nothing of an active member). If you're the sort of person who values any one of artistic style, intuitive and entertaining gameplay, excellent storytelling, developers who aren't most easily described in expurgated unprintables but instead the language of gratitude and respect... buy this game, play this game, support these devs. You'll probably get even more of a kick and a deep appreciation than my humble self does.
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One of my all-time favourite games. It's robbery that Trese haven't won "Labour of Love" for this game, given the hundreds of updates they've done for it adding new content and features over the years. Does "be an independent space captain" better than any other game out there and even includes a progressing story that you can choose to interact with if you choose.
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Star Traders: Frontiers is not for everyone. Its Hard difficulty, the expected minimum difficulty for experienced players, is perma-death ironman. Enemies will grow in power as time passes, even if you don't. Enemies have access to (almost) all of the talents, ships, and components you do, and some you don't. The balance is exceptional and maintained meticulously, there are no god builds. Semi-random (simulation-derived) events can derail your plans, random encounters can kill you, and even if you're successful you will likely make enemies who will send assassins after your life. It is highly rewarding to understand, master, and surmount some of these challenges, but it requires patience and tolerance of a slow, impermanent, and sometimes repetitive game. This is a labor of love in the vein of Dwarf Fortress--the Trese Brothers are a two-person team that have been developing games like this (and in this setting) for decades. While I'm listed only having played 14-some hours on this platform, I've spent hundreds of hours on mobile devices--this game is so good (and honestly, so cheap) that I bought it twice. This is a difficult, stimulating, immersive space tactical RPG with roguelike elements and a great deal of replayability. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, you're almost certain to enjoy Star Traders Frontiers. I highly recommend this game to my friends, and I recommend it to anyone else who might be listening, subject to the caveats above.
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 19 November 2024 10:18 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 19 January 2025 11:53 |
| Steam price | 23 January 2025 04:49 |
| Steam reviews | 21 January 2025 07:56 |
Online players
43
Developer
Trese Brothers
Publisher
Trese Brothers
Release
31 Jul 2018
Platforms