StarDrive

StarDrive sets a new benchmark for the ‘4X Space Strategy’ genre. Starting with a single planet and a small number of space-worthy vessels, you must venture forth into the galaxy, conquer new worlds, build new…

56 26 April 2013

Indie Real Time Strategy (RTS) Strategy 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) Action Science fiction

StarDrive is an indie developed by Zero Sum Games, released 26 April 2013 on PC (Microsoft Windows).

Verified 21 Aug 2026 Sources: IGDB , Steam

What StarDrive is

StarDrive is an indie game developed by Zero Sum Games and released in 2013. It was published by Iceberg Interactive. It is available on PC (Microsoft Windows) only. It runs on Microsoft XNA.

The premise, in the publisher's words

StarDrive sets a new benchmark for the ‘4X Space Strategy’ genre. Starting with a single planet and a small number of space-worthy vessels, you must venture forth into the galaxy, conquer new worlds, build new colonies and defend your very existence against those who would take what is yours. How you play is your decision. Use diplomacy or brute force. Trade, spy and research your way to galactic domination. Make friends, or create mortal enemies… The heart of StarDrive is its ship design and combat engine. StarDrive takes a modular approach to ship design, allowing the player to create custom ships where the composition and placement of ship modules really matters to the performance of a…

Description from the publisher · source

How it plays

It is played from a bird view / isometric perspective. Its themes are 4x (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate), action and science fiction. It is a single-player game with no multiplayer component.

How it was received

StarDrive holds a critic score of 56 out of 100. That places it above 12% of the 5,098 rated indie games in our database, which average 72. Games released in 2013 averaged 70, so it scored 14 points below the year average.

What you need to run it

The minimum specification calls for Intel® Pentium® IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+, 3 GB RAM and NVIDIA® GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon® X1900. At 3GB of RAM, it will run on essentially any working PC — that is below what a budget laptop ships with today. Install size is roughly 2GB. Both tiers are compared side by side on the requirements page, and you can check your own parts against them without installing anything.

Full requirements and PC checker →

What it launched against

StarDrive launched on 26 April 2013, within three weeks of Metro: Last Light, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and Age of Empires II HD. All of them reviewed better.

Released around the same time: Metro: Last Light, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Age of Empires II HD.

Official trailer

Sourced from the publisher’s YouTube channel.

Screenshots

All media

Quick answers

StarDrive — frequently asked questions

When did StarDrive come out?

StarDrive was released on 26 April 2013 for PC (Microsoft Windows).

What are the minimum PC requirements for StarDrive?

At minimum, StarDrive needs Intel® Pentium® IV 2.4 GHz or AMD 3500+, 3 GB RAM, NVIDIA® GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon® X1900 graphics, 2 GB HD space of storage.

How many GB is StarDrive?

The PC version needs about 2 GB of storage, going by the storage line in the system requirements ("2 GB HD space"). Updates can add to that, and console versions have their own sizes, which are not listed here.

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