When comparing Battle Block Theater vs Starbound, the Slant community recommends Starbound for most people. In the question“What are the best 2D games on Steam?” Starbound is ranked 8th while Battle Block Theater is ranked 36th. The most important reason people chose Starbound is:
Starbound allows the player to go at their own pace while completing the tutorials. By the end of the tutorials the player will have the skills and equipment to succeed in the game and have fun doing it.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Co-op adds a completely new element to the gameplay
There is a modified co-op campaign in the game where players must coordinate their actions to succeed. This makes for a fun couch co-op game due to the communication one must have with their partner as well as how fun it is to grief them in person.
Pro Well thought out presentation
From the witty humor, enjoyable songs or the theater cutscenes, BattleBlock shows a high level of consideration for its design.
Pro Well balanced difficulty curve
The difficulty curve for Battle Block Theater is so evenly programmed that the player will barely notice that it is progressively getting more difficult. It really does a swell job of integrating the player to where they can handle any challenge the game throws at them.
Pro Informative and well paced tutorials
Starbound allows the player to go at their own pace while completing the tutorials. By the end of the tutorials the player will have the skills and equipment to succeed in the game and have fun doing it.
Pro Incredibly deep gameplay
The exploration, crafting and combat are all both very polished and deep in terms of what you can do, especially compared to other games in the genre. This makes the sandbox very fun to play in as you're never really stuck doing the same thing over and over.
Pro Boss levels
For what is a procedurally generated game, Starbound offers boss levels that once beaten unlock new sectors of space to explore.
Cons
Con Co-op mode isn't easy to get started right from the get-go
Con Competitive play feels lackluster
Competitive play is not as enjoyable as the co-op modes due to stiff combat, really the mechanics of this wear out pretty quickly.
Con First few hours can be boring
Initially the player needs to amass enough coal to fuel their ship, which is a bit of a grind.