Free Stars: Children Of Infinity, name-swapped sequel to Star Control 2, has tripled its crowdfunding goal

The sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters has more than tripled its Kickstarter funding goal in four days. Free Stars: Children Of Infinity, which is a sequel to the series formerly known as Star Control, has so far raised $332k (£268k), although it's still shooting for several stretch goals - including one as high as $4.4 million.

Free Stars: Children Of Infinity looks like a faithful follow-up, for better or worse. You control a spaceship as you explore the galaxy, charting your own path between planets, meeting and perhaps befriending strange alien species, and taking part in arcade-style battles when relationships falter. It's also got online co-op.

The Kickstarter is the latest step on what's been a long road. Series creators Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III announced they were working on a direct sequel to Star Control 2 back in 2017, leading to a legal confrontation with Stardock which was ultimately settled by bees. As a consequence, Star Control 2 - originally released in 1992 - was renamed Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters and re-released on Steam.

Hence this sequel being likewise called Free Stars: Children Of Infinity. It's the work of Pistol Shrimp, a studio formed of several former developers from Ford and Reiche's old studio Toys For Bob.

If you're looking for an explanation of why this sequel might be cool, or why the previous game is considered an all-time classic, then you should read Richard Cobbett's explanation.

That $4.4 million stretch goal is for a completely open source release of the game, by the way. There are 27 days left on the Kickstarter project for them to hit it.