This is one of those games you'll find yourself saying "That was fun, but if the game did this instead it would have been better." constantly. Because of this, when you finish the game, it will feel like something was missing.

That been said, I don't think I'll find anything similar to this game anytime soon . TL;DR: I recommend Starbound.

In Starbound you'll find yourself stranded orbiting an unknown planet left to your devices. Your objective, fix your ship's engine and navigation system. To do this, you'll need to deal with the classic survival game tropes: go mining for metals, build a shelter, set up a farm for food, hunt animals (alien animals) for more food. As you explore the planet, you'll stumble with an ancient portal and the game picks up from there.
You'll fix your ship and then the entire galaxy becomes your oyster. You could do the main storyline, which is not terrible, just tedious to progress, or, you can explore the stars and, if one feels up to the task, set up a settlement for NPCs to rent.

People make reasonable comparisons with Terraria, but truthfully, this game is the closest one will have to a 2D Minecraft. Hell, 2D No Man's Sky. Starbound is a far more sandboxy game than Terraria and less combat focused.

I dig this game! Literally. I struggle with the controls, I can't get past the ship repair mission because the enemies keep murdering me. So I just went to the first planet, started digging down into the lava core, back up to the surface, and realized my tunnel is so long, it loops around the planet. I got enough tar sands and gold in my inventory to retire on a nice warm planet, drinking cocktails all day long. I guess I win.

I loved the concept for this game when I first bought it, but that was before any story existed in the game. But coming back to it this many years later, I almost wish I never bought it. There is 'some' fun to be had, but there's more disappointment than joy it seems.
- useful gear has been removed from the game, rather than being adjusted so it's not OP.
- Incredibly repetitive quests/chores.
- Upgrading gear doesn't feel worth the effort
- No way to store currency until later in game, and it's expensive
- Dying is way too easy, especially early on.
- The game has been abandoned, Apparently, and I don't see improvements happening?.

I'll keep playing for now, but i can see it ending up in the pile of 'sad dusty code'.