Starstruck Vagabond — PS5

A space captain accidentally freezes themselves for two thousand years, finding themselves in an unfamiliar galaxy. Fortunately, there's always someone who needs cargo delivered.

Starstruck Vagabond is a story-driven chillout work/life simulator in the vein of Stardew Valley, albeit with spaceship maintenance and cargo delivering instead of farming. Odd job your way around space keeping your ship from falling apart, forge relationships with your crew and perhaps you'll find a new purpose in life.

Story: After accidentally freezing themselves for two millennia, the protagonist awakens in an unknown galaxy with nothing to their name but a beat up old transport ship, with which they must make a living delivering crates across star systems. As they explore more of the galaxy and pick up a few rag tag misfits for their crew, they become embroiled in a brewing intrigue.

In the centre of the galaxy, a gigantic purple egg, the size of four star systems, has appeared. Strange egg-like beings are wreaking terror across the galaxy. The two main authorities, Amalgam and Oniris, are unable to work together to stop them, and ultimately find themselves relying on the battered starship captain who keeps stumbling into the middle of events to act on their behalf.

Get to Work: Take delivery jobs to be granted access to new star systems. Load up the crates one by one, make the journey, and unload them at their destination.

Every star system has a broad array of paying gigs. Survey planets for Oniris Venture, clean buildings, assist distress calls, salvage cargo from derelict ships, return lost luggage, navigate asteroid belts, exterminate alien pests, there's plenty to keep you busy.

Each sector also has one hidden Upgrade Unit, which can be exchanged at shipyards for a faster engine, a larger cargo platform, and more. Customise your ship's internal and external colours at repaint shops.

Progression and Relationships: The four quadrants of the galaxy unlock one by one as the player progresses through the story. Each new story objective requires travel to a specific place, or having enough money to buy a specific upgrade, and the player must find their own way to achieve that.

At various points in the plot, new crew members join you. Improve your relationship with them through talking, taking their suggestions, cooking meals and buying rounds of drinks in order to unlock their full storylines.

There are nine potential crewmembers, but you can only recruit five in a single playthrough. Play a second time to experience all their stories! (and more, to see how the player's different personality types can change events)