Buggy, early access, survival crafting games.
Historically I played a lot of Ark, Conan Exiles, Raft, Stranded Deep, 7 Days to Die, Green Hell, Astroneer, Scrap Mechanic, The Forest, Osiris New Dawn and all the usual suspects.
Recently I have tried a few like Valheim, Vulcanoids, Survive the Night, Sons of the Forest, Deadpoly, No One Survived and Grounded.
Thanks for the list! I’ve played them all except for Vulcsnoids which is on my wish list.
Single player with no micro transactions nor “skinned” (cosmetics) multiplayer
I’ve been really into games with a good crafting system where you have to try to survive. Don’t Starve and Subnautica are the ones that have taken most of my time. I also like colony management games, like RimWorld and Oxygen Not Included
I have not! My impression is that it’s very heavily focused on automating things, but is there also a survival component, or is it focused on tweaking supply lines and stuff?
It’s automation focused. There is survival, but in the sense of like repelling a wave of aliens coming to attack you, usually via automation.
It’s still a pretty addicting game as you work out how to do things and laying out plans for how certain processes will look. I’d still recommend checking it out regardless.
I had never heard of this game before, but I bought it on your recommendation. Wish me luck!
The other recommendations you got are good, but add a slightly different style check out This War Of Mine. Disclaimer : it’s. Heavy topic game. You survive as a civilian in an ongoing warzone (in short). You craft you home base during the day, and either scavenge for meager supplies at night (suffering exhaustion) or sleep at night. It’s a fairly brutal game, emotional, but some people are into that stuff… A friend, yeah! Not me.
You have my taste in games dialed in. I LOVED This War Of Mine, and I loved the expansion that added children. I liked most of the characters, but for whatever reason Marko was always my favorite, and I could not stand Bruno. Honestly, I think I’m gonna go boot that up again and get ruined emotionally by the supermarket event again.
Games that I can immerse myself in. Things that do it for me are:
- A full and developed open world that has a compelling atmosphere to it. The kind of thing where you find yourself pausing to gaze across the scenery.
- Tantalizing mechanics or systems. The kind that draws your mind to ‘building’ even when not playing, that will cause you to unwittingly spend hours tinkering with, and gives you mirthful glee when you put it all together and can savor its power.
- Interesting story. One with tasteful complexity, good pacing, and exciting developments. The kind of story that compels me, let alone anyone is a whole separate question of its own.
- A canvas or foundation to allow me to develop identity and investment in my character/role. Playing a specific character can also be good, if that character is compelling.
- Core gameplay mechanics or loops that are fun in and of themselves. The kind that, were the game an alpha or proof-of-concept with no “game” beyond the graphic-less, progression-less minigame, you would still find yourself enjoying your time.
- Fulfillment of a compelling fantasy. Being a FEROCIOUS DRAGON, or an UNSTOPPABLE SPACE MARINE, or an ALMIGHTY GOD, or even just a simple human living a comfy life and being able to experience the breadth and limits of that fantasy.
I think you pretty much match what I love in games. So many single player games that have beautiful landscapes and a main character that has such an engaging story. Locked in playing TotK right now, about 16 hours in and still just exploring like I did in BotW. Horizon series and Ghost of Tsushima got 2nd or 3rd playthroughs. Don’t get me started on Uncharted…
I will play any game with resource gathering and factory management. Factorio of course. Satisfactory, Dyson Sphere Project, Captain of Industry.
I was enjoying the hell out of Factorio until I realized that debugging conveyors and train stops feels like what I already do at work. I mean, I like my work (coding and automating stuff) but I would like to rest by doing somethig else lmao. That said, Factorio does what it does really well
