Info about Smalland: Survive the Wilds: Official game description: _"Before the time of the giants, we lived freely under the Sun and Moon. Centuries have passed, but those stories of the surface world have been passed down through the generations. Now the giants are gone, and you, Vanguard, must venture out into the wilds once more, on an urgent mission. Be brave, and do not falter…"_ Explore the vast “Land of the Small" ------------------------------------ Traverse lake sized puddles, scale skyscraper sized trees, scramble through cavernous cracks in roads, as you experience a huge open world from a new perspective. Explore dense forests, hazardous swamps and strange ruins left over from the time before. Uncover lore and knowledge from hidden NPCs scattered throughout the world and learn to survive in this vast wilderness. Tame and ride creatures ----------------------- Uncover recipes that will let you tame and ride an array of critters. Leap huge distances on the back of a Grasshopper, zoom around on a Damselfly, scurry from place-to-place on a Spider. This world and its inhabitants are yours to conquer. Survive together ---------------- Play alongside friends with support for up to 10 players in multiplayer. Explore together, fight together, build together and survive the wilds as a team. Build encampments on the ground or amongst the trees ---------------------------------------------------- Scavenge or refine resources to build your encampment with multiple material tiers, from leaves and twigs to sturdy stone. Pick your favourite spot in the world and build, or scale vast trees and claim your own settlement at the top. Craft powerful armour sets -------------------------- Collect powerful armours that provide you with resistances and abilities and mix them up to personalise your appearance. Glide through the skies in winged armour, swing from tree to tree with the grappling hook and many more. Survive the Wilds ----------------- Most of the creatures you encounter will see you as lower on the food chain – Ants, Cockroaches, Beetles, Wasps, and Spiders all view you as a potential meal. Weather conditions and seasons are in constant flux so if you want to survive for another day, preparation is key. Release date: 15 Feb, 2024 Categories: Survival, Cooperative Multiplayer, Base Building, Crafting, Open-World Exploration, Real-time Combat, Animal Husbandry, Character Progression - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: No data - Playtime Metrics: No data - Time-to-fun: No data - Player Archetypes: No data Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Visually stunning and immersive world (weight 0.64): The game boasts impressive graphics, a distinct art style, and a visually appealing world. Reviewers consistently praise the detailed environments, immersive atmosphere, and overall aesthetic polish, making exploration and gameplay highly enjoyable. The game's visuals are frequently cited as a major strength. - Balanced progression and freedom (weight 0.42): The game provides a balanced and engaging experience with its progression system, exploration, and combat. Reviewers appreciate the freedom to explore at their own pace, the rewarding sense of accomplishment, and the intuitive gameplay mechanics that avoid excessive grinding. - Familiar, yet unique survival blend (weight 0.37): The game is often compared to other survival titles like Grounded, Valheim and Ark, with reviewers noting similarities in gameplay mechanics and setting. Many reviewers feel that this game improves upon those formulas, with a unique blend of fantasy and survival elements. - Unique tiny perspective and scale (weight 0.36): The game offers a unique experience by shrinking the player down to the size of an insect, creating a sense of wonder and danger as they explore a familiar world from a new perspective. Taming and interacting with insects, along with the overall sense of scale, are key highlights. - Excellent cooperative multiplayer mode (weight 0.3): The game offers a strong cooperative multiplayer experience, making exploration, survival, and combat more enjoyable with friends. The cooperative mode is praised for its user-friendliness and the ability for players to progress independently while still playing together. - Creative and flexible building system (weight 0.28): The game features a well-designed and flexible building system that allows players to create complex and visually appealing bases. The intuitive controls, variety of building pieces, and ability to customize structures contribute to a satisfying and creative building experience. - Extensive creature taming system (weight 0.21): A standout feature is the ability to tame a wide variety of creatures, each with unique abilities, for combat, exploration, and resource gathering. This system adds depth and variety to the gameplay, encouraging players to experiment and discover new companions. - High potential, enjoyable now (weight 0.15): Many reviewers acknowledge the game's potential and express excitement for its future development, while also noting that the game is already enjoyable in its current state. This suggests that the game has a strong foundation and is on track to become even better with further polish and content updates. - Engaging combat and exploration loop (weight 0.14): The game provides engaging combat and exploration, with players enjoying discovering new creatures, items, and areas. The combination of satisfying combat mechanics and a rewarding exploration loop keeps players motivated to progress and uncover the game's secrets. - Active development and frequent updates (weight 0.13): The developers are actively updating the game with new content, improvements, and features, demonstrating their dedication to the game and community. Regular updates and expansions keep the game fresh and engaging, increasing replayability and addressing player feedback. - Simple and rewarding crafting (weight 0.1): The game's crafting system is intuitive and straightforward, with reasonable resource requirements compared to other survival games. This makes it easier for players to create tools, weapons, and armor without excessive grinding, contributing to a more enjoyable experience. - Customizable difficulty and accessibility (weight 0.1): The game offers a highly customizable difficulty level, allowing players to tailor the experience to their preferences. This flexibility makes the game accessible to both casual players and those seeking a challenging survival experience. - Variety of armor and weapons (weight 0.1): The game offers a wide variety of armor and weapons, allowing players to customize their character's appearance and playstyle. The ability to upgrade equipment and the stylish designs of armor sets contribute to a satisfying progression system. - Mobile tree base mechanic (weight 0.09): A unique quality-of-life feature is the ability to move entire bases built on trees to different locations, streamlining exploration and resource gathering. This mechanic saves players time and effort by eliminating the need to rebuild bases from scratch. Common complaints: - Clunky, unpolished combat mechanics (weight 0.91): Combat is frequently described as clunky, stiff, and unrefined, with issues like inconsistent hitboxes, laggy animations, and unresponsive controls. The parry system is often unreliable, and enemies can feel like damage sponges. These issues make combat frustrating and unenjoyable. - Unfinished, lacking content and polish (weight 0.71): The game feels unfinished, unpolished, and lacking in content, resembling an early access title despite its full release. Reviewers cite missing features, repetitive gameplay, a weak or nonexistent story, and a general lack of depth as key issues. Many reviewers feel the game was released prematurely. - Unrewarding, lifeless exploration (weight 0.66): Exploration feels unrewarding due to a lack of interesting discoveries, secrets, or unique points of interest. The world feels static and lifeless, with repetitive environments and little incentive to venture off the beaten path. Many reviewers compare the game unfavorably to other survival crafting games like Grounded and Valheim. - Pets/mounts clunky, interfere gameplay (weight 0.29): Pets and mounts are poorly implemented, with clunky controls, pathfinding issues, and a tendency to interfere with gameplay. They often obstruct resource gathering, block the player's movement, and can be overpowered or useless depending on the stage of the game. Friendly fire between pets is also a common issue. - Subpar graphics, poor optimization (weight 0.23): The game suffers from subpar graphics, poor optimization, and numerous bugs. Reviewers report blurry textures, dated visuals, and performance issues even on high-end PCs. These technical issues detract from the overall experience and make the game feel unpolished. - Tedious, grindy crafting system (weight 0.19): The crafting system is tedious and grindy, with unclear recipes, excessive fuel costs, and a lack of crafting from storage. Equipment durability is low, requiring frequent repairs and resource gathering. These issues make crafting feel like a chore rather than a rewarding part of the gameplay loop. - Unrewarding character progression (weight 0.15): Character progression feels unrewarding due to weak stat scaling and uninspired armor sets. Leveling up provides minimal benefits, and new gear often offers only slight improvements over existing equipment. This lack of meaningful progression diminishes the sense of accomplishment and makes character customization feel pointless. - Inconsistent game pacing (weight 0.15): The game's pacing is inconsistent, with some reviewers finding the early game too slow and grindy, while others feel the overall experience is too short. Progression can feel either tedious or rushed, depending on the player's experience and playstyle. This inconsistency makes it difficult to find a satisfying rhythm. - Unbalanced enemy difficulty (weight 0.14): The game's difficulty is unbalanced, with some enemies being overly aggressive or having excessive health. Late-game enemies often rely on poison damage or area-of-effect attacks, which are more annoying than challenging. The lack of enemy variety and the reliance on grinding make combat repetitive and frustrating. - Game is disappointing, overpriced (weight 0.11): Many reviewers express disappointment with the game and cannot recommend it, citing its high price, lack of depth, and numerous flaws. Some reviewers feel the game is overpriced for the amount of content it offers, while others regret spending money on it altogether. - Lifeless, unengaging NPCs (weight 0.09): NPCs lack personality, voice acting, and meaningful interaction. They often stand still and offer limited dialogue, making the world feel lifeless and unengaging. The quests they offer are often generic and uninspired, further diminishing their impact on the overall experience. - Grindy, unrewarding faction system (weight 0.08): The faction system is grindy and unrewarding, requiring a significant time investment for minimal benefits. Faction quests are often repetitive, and the rewards are not worth the effort. This makes the faction system feel like a tacked-on feature rather than an integral part of the gameplay experience. - Underdeveloped mount system (weight 0.07): Mounts and companions lack unique features and are often unbalanced, with many being useless in the endgame. Some mounts have illogical restrictions, and the leveling system feels unimpactful. This makes the mount system feel underdeveloped and unnecessary. Gameplay feedback: - Core survival and crafting gameplay (weight 0.3): The core gameplay loop revolves around exploration, resource gathering, crafting, base building, and combat against oversized insects and other creatures. Players can tame many of these creatures for combat support, inventory management, and traversal, including riding and flying mounts. The game world features survival mechanics like hunger, temperature, and weather, with seasons impacting gameplay. - Grindy crafting and tiered equipment (weight 0.1): The game features a crafting system where players gather resources to create tools, weapons, armor, and building components. There's a tiered rarity system for equipment, and progression is tied to upgrading gear rather than developing character skills. Some reviewers note that crafting can be grindy, and unlocking recipes sometimes lacks clear in-game guidance. - Base teleportation between trees (weight 0.08): A key feature is the ability to build bases on giant trees and teleport them between different Great Trees found throughout the world. This mechanic encourages exploration and provides a unique way to relocate bases and access new areas. The main quest often involves interacting with NPCs and traveling between these trees. - Large and diverse handcrafted map (weight 0.07): The game features a large and diverse map with various biomes, including forests, beaches, swamps, and sewers. The map is handcrafted, offering a balanced and well-developed world for players to explore. Seasons change the world visually, though some reviewers note that they have limited gameplay impact. - Dodge and parry combat system (weight 0.07): Combat emphasizes dodging, parrying, and learning enemy attack patterns, drawing comparisons to Souls-like games. Players rely on timed blocks and rolls to evade attacks, as the character lacks special combat skills. This system requires careful observation and precise timing to succeed in battles against the various creatures. - MMORPG-like quest structure (weight 0.05): The game's quest structure and NPC interactions are similar to those found in MMORPGs, with tasks often involving killing enemies, gathering items, and speaking to NPCs. Many quests are simple fetch quests with minimal story integration. This structure gives the game a feel of an MMORPG disguised as a sandbox survival game. - Repetitive and simple storyline (weight 0.05): The game features a storyline involving defeating bosses, but the plot is often criticized for being repetitive and simple. The story primarily serves as a context for the gameplay, guiding players to locations where they must collect resources and craft equipment to defeat bosses. Some reviewers found the story brief but helpful in providing direction. - Pets acquired through taming/hatching (weight 0.04): Players can acquire pets and mounts through taming or by hatching eggs dropped by defeated creatures. These creatures can then be used in combat, for carrying items, or as mounts for faster traversal. The egg incubation system provides an alternative to taming, allowing players to build a party of companions. - Dangerous weather and seasons (weight 0.04): The game features dynamic weather and seasonal changes that can significantly impact gameplay. Storms can be hazardous, requiring players to seek shelter or wear protective gear to avoid freezing. Winter introduces the need for cold resistance armor or warming foods to prevent health loss, adding a survival element to exploration. - Faction reputation and rewards (weight 0.03): The game includes a faction system where players can earn reputation by completing world events and defending incubators. Each faction offers unique bonuses and items that can be purchased with a separate currency earned through these activities. However, some reviewers found the reputation grind to be tedious. - Partial item loss on death (weight 0.03): The game implements a death system where players drop some, but not all, of their items upon death. Equipped armor and weapons typically remain with the player, while unequipped inventory items are dropped at the location of death, marked by a tombstone. This system allows players to recover their lost items, reducing the penalty for dying. - Limited guidance, encourages exploration (weight 0.03): The game does not hold the player's hand, encouraging exploration and independent discovery. The tutorial phase throws players into the open world without much guidance, offering a large amount of freedom. The game can be adjusted to be difficult or chill through game customization. Performance notes: - Inconsistent performance, optimization issues (weight 0.15): Performance is inconsistent, with some players reporting smooth gameplay at high settings, while others experience stuttering, lag spikes, and FPS drops even on capable hardware. Some users also reported high GPU temperatures. The issues appear to be exacerbated in specific zones, during combat, or when many graphical elements are rendered. - Game-breaking bugs and glitches (weight 0.03): Players are encountering various bugs, including getting stuck in textures, resources not appearing, and falling through the map. Some bugs may require a restart of the game or computer. - Movement and interaction problems (weight 0.01): Players are reporting issues with character movement and environmental interaction. This includes inconsistent fall damage and the character failing to grab ledges when jumping, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences. - Multiplayer connection issues (weight 0.01): Some players experienced disconnects and issues with seeing the host's map markers in multiplayer. These issues may disrupt the multiplayer experience. - Vague positive/neutral feedback (weight 0.01): These points are too vague or generic to provide actionable feedback. They do not offer specific details about gameplay mechanics or features. - Insects clip through objects (weight 0.01): Players are reporting that insects can move through objects. This can lead to unexpected and frustrating gameplay experiences. Recommendations: - Mixed reviews; potential, needs polish (weight 0.78): Reviews are mixed, with many saying the game has potential but needs more polish and content. Some recommend it, especially on sale or for fans of the genre, while others suggest waiting for updates or playing similar games like Grounded or Valheim instead. Some reviewers express excitement for the game's future, while others are disappointed with its current state. - Buy on sale; not full-price (weight 0.51): Many reviewers suggest waiting for a sale before purchasing the game. This is due to concerns about the game's current state, lack of content, or the presence of bugs. Some explicitly state that the game is not worth the full price but could be a good value at a discounted price. - Hopes for future updates/content (weight 0.07): Many reviewers express hope for future updates, content additions, and improvements to the game. They are looking forward to seeing the game evolve and reach its full potential. Some reviewers specifically mention the roadmap and express excitement for planned features. - Fun solo or with friends (weight 0.06): The game is enjoyable solo or with friends, with some reviewers noting that animal companions enhance the solo experience. Playing with friends or on a server is generally recommended for a more engaging experience. Some reviewers suggest that the game is more suited for multiplayer than solo play. - Compared to Grounded; play Grounded (weight 0.06): Many reviewers compare the game to Grounded, with some recommending Grounded as a better or more polished alternative. Others suggest that this game may appeal to those who have already played and enjoyed Grounded and are looking for something similar. Some reviewers feel that Grounded is superior in terms of story, content, or overall experience. - Try other survival games first (weight 0.04): Some reviewers suggest that players unfamiliar with the survival crafting genre should try more popular titles first, such as Valheim or Terraria. Others recommend specific games like Ark or Palworld as better alternatives for certain aspects, such as creature collection. The game is also compared to other survival games like Raft and Subnautica. - Game is just a promise (weight 0.02): Several reviews express that the game is currently unfulfilled and needs further development. These reviews suggest waiting for future updates and improvements before considering a purchase. The game is described as having potential but not yet delivering on its promises. - Needs fast travel, quest log (weight 0.02): Reviewers suggest that adding basic features like fast travel and a quest log would greatly improve the game's value. Fixing the combat would also make it a more enjoyable survival adventure game. These additions would address some of the game's shortcomings and enhance the overall player experience. - Raw foundation; needs development (weight 0.01): Reviewers note that the game is currently a raw foundation on solid ground. Players may encounter some limitations and should anticipate ongoing development. This suggests that the game is still in an early stage and may not be fully feature-complete. - Lacks long-term motivation (weight 0.01): Some reviewers are struggling to find the motivation to continue playing the game. They express a hope that they will find a reason to keep playing and see what's next. This suggests that the game may lack long-term engagement or a compelling endgame. - Avoid this game entirely (weight 0.01): These reviews strongly advise against purchasing the game. The reasons for this negative recommendation are not specified in this cluster, but the sentiment is clear. This may be a sign of review bombing. Other player notes: - Unique miniature world setting (weight 0.05): The game features a miniature world where players control tiny characters, such as faeries, and interact with realistically-sized insects and other creatures. This premise can be engaging but also unsettling for players sensitive to insects. - Similar to Grounded/Valheim (weight 0.04): The game shares similarities with other survival games like Grounded and Valheim, but offers its own unique twist on the genre. Some reviewers consider it a less polished or 'Euro jank' version of Grounded. - Inadequate in-game explanations/tutorials (weight 0.03): The game lacks sufficient in-game documentation and tutorials, making it difficult for players to understand mechanics, quests, and lore. Much of the online documentation is outdated due to the game's early access development, further exacerbating the issue. - Co-op base-building limitations (weight 0.03): The game is best enjoyed with friends, but the base-building mechanics have limitations. Only one player can own a plot at the Great Tree, and bases can disappear if the owner is offline, creating friction for cooperative play. - Inconsistent weather/seasons system (weight 0.02): The game features a dynamic weather and seasons system, but the implementation has inconsistencies. For example, insects and strawberries can appear in winter under the snow, which detracts from the immersion. - Incomplete Chinese localization (weight 0.02): The game has partial Chinese language support, but some dialogue and text remain untranslated or mistranslated. This can hinder the experience for players who prefer to play in Chinese. - Simplistic equipment repair system (weight 0.01): Equipment degrades over time and requires repairs, but the repair system is simplistic. Players can repair any item with a common resource, regardless of the item's material, which some find unrealistic. - Limited arachnophobia options (weight 0.01): The game includes an arachnophobia mode that reduces the number of legs on spiders. However, this may not be sufficient for players with severe arachnophobia. - Basic, forgettable story (weight 0.01): The game's story is simple and easy to forget amidst the survival gameplay. The focus is primarily on surviving in the environment rather than a compelling narrative. Emotions: - disappointment (weight 0.15): Emotion: disappointment - frustration (weight 0.18): Emotion: frustration - excitement (weight 0.13): Emotion: excitement - satisfaction (weight 0.31): Emotion: satisfaction - joy (weight 0.09): Emotion: joy - enjoyment (weight 0.02): Emotion: enjoyment - hope (weight 0.02): Emotion: hope - positive (weight 0.01): Emotion: positive - boredom (weight 0.01): Emotion: boredom}