Risk of Rain vs Starbound
Risk of Rain
Risk of Rain is a rogue-like, action platformer that is difficult enough to be challenging and is punishing (perma-death). You can choose to face the constantly spawning enemies alone - well, not exactly since you'll have your drone - or cooperatively with up to 3 other friends in hopes of collecting all the tools you need to find the teleporter machine and to finally, head back home. The enemies you fight are randomly generated by combining traits and abilities from a fixed yet extensive list as well, making the game a lot more unpredictable and hence, enjoyable.In addition to the 12 unique characters that you can unlock and a plethora of powerups to use, the game is also set on a mysterious planet with diverse biomes, ranging from dark forests to the frozen tundra. There is even an engrossing storyline which you can slowly piece together by collecting items and monster logs in your adventures.
Risk of Rain is definitely a fun and challenging platform game to play alone, but it particularly shines when you play it with friends. Time just seems to fly by in co-op mode and of course, let's not forget about the hilarious moments when one of you messed up (intentionally or otherwise).
Starbound
Starbound is amazingly fun 2D sandbox/exploration game that will put you in the shoes of a spacefarer and a captain of your very own spacecraft. As you travel through space, you will need to stop by planets to collect resources and perhaps even colonize them so you can also gather up a crew to man your ship. There are up to 7 races to play as, a story campaign where you are tasked to save the universe, and 3 different game modes ranging from Casual to Hardcore to either provide you with a fun relaxing experience or to put your survival skills to the test. You can even play the game cooperatively when you want. For modders, you can add in new races, biomes, dungeons, quests and anything else you'd like as well.Starbound can be turned into a pretty much an endless game due to its procedurally generated universe, where you can simply fly around in your spaceship looking for your next big adventure. Thus, you can definitely expect hours of gameplay at the very least for your first playthrough, making this game very well worth its price.