Starbound vs Stonehearth
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.
Stonehearth
Stonehearth is the game you'll want to play if you enjoy playing Minecraft because you can build your very own city. Although the game is basically a sandbox game like Minecraft, it has a building aspect that's much more similar to Craft the World... except that in Stonehearth, everything's in glorious 3D. In this game, you play as the leader of a small handful of adorable-looking pioneers who are looking for a new place to settle down. There isn't a lot of digging involved in Stonehearth though you still need to get your pioneers to collect resources from the environment or to plant and harvest their own.Like in Craft the World, you'll need to provide shelter for your people and equip them with the necessary equipment so they can fend off attacks during the night. However, when it comes to crafting, Stonehearth has a much more diverse and in-depth crafting system. The building system in this game is also pretty unique though it can be rather restrictive when compared to Minecraft since the most "building" you'll be doing is mainly houses for your villagers. Of course, let's not forget about the game's much better-looking graphics!
In some way, Stonehearth is more of a survival/town-building game than a pure sandbox game like Minecraft. However, it is perfect for players who enjoy having an entire town of minions to order around, and the satisfaction of leading and developing a tribe. For a price tag of $24.99 (on Steam), Stonehearth can be a bit on the costly side, but if this is the sort of game you're into, the game will always be worth the price. You can show your support to the indie developers behind this game as well... so there's that!