Summary
Steam’s Early Accesssystem is a useful development model for game devs, as it lets them grant players access to their titles while they’re being actively worked on. It allows developers to more easily interact and respond to community feedback, fixing bugs or changing core game mechanics based on fan feedback. Not only that, it also helps smaller studios fund their games when they may not have otherwise made it to launch.
Although there are many horror stories among the gaming community about Early Access titles being abandoned and left to rot, there are just as many success stories, too. A lot of these games that make it out of Early Access invite players to expansiveopen worlds, where players can get lost for hours as they explore new and unique locations.
Studio Wildcard’sARK: Survival Evolvedsees players fighting for survival on islands dominated by dinosaurs and fantastical creatures. The game was an immediate hit when it launched into Early Access back in 2015, largely thanks to its core dinosaurtaming mechanic.
From a lowly Lystrosaurus to titans like Giganotosaurus, players can befriend a wide range of creatures on the game’s islands. Each dinosaur typically comes with a special perk, like the Doedicurus' ability to collect stone better than its peers, incentivizing players to maintain a ranch of diverse dinosaurs.
Facepunch Studios’Rustis notorious for its brutal survival gameplay. Players are dropped into procedurally generated worlds with nothing but the clothes—or rather, skin—on their backs, and they have to contend with nature, hostile NPCs, and other players to survive.
With a heavy focus on PvP combat, the game’s greatest threat is, without a doubt, the fellow player. Those joining servers alone need to be good at making friends or hiding, as the lone wolf experience is a surefire way to get raided.
Hinterland Studios’The Long Darkis unique when compared to other open-world survival games, as it does away with supernatural elements like zombies and monsters. Instead, after a geomagnetic disaster, the gameplaces players in the Canadian wilderness where they’re pitted against nature itself.
The world ofThe Long Darkis bleak and cold but rendered in a beautiful impressionist art style. Players can choose to trek through its icy landscape in a sandbox survival mode or experience itsepisodic story mode, called Wintermute.
Redbeet Interactive’sRaftis a little more barren compared to other open-world titles, mostly because it places players in the middle of the ocean. Floating on a ramshackle raft, players must scavenge their supplies from floating debris while avoiding man-eating sharks and other open-water threats.
Despite the game’s oceanic setting,Raft’s world is the furthest thing from empty. Players are able to discover islands and the remains of civilization, as well as dive beneath the ocean’s surface to discover further supplies, stronger enemies, and secrets.
With a map"stretching over 870 square kilometers,“Lo-Fi Games’Kenshiplaces players in one of gaming’s largest sandboxes. No one is the chosen one in this setting, so to survive inKenshi’s expansive world, players must work for it.
Fortunately, the game provides players with an impressive amount of agency, allowing them toforge their own path.Forming squads in RTS-style gameplay, players can travel across the land as a simple trader or wreak havoc as a warlord. Nothing is off the table inKenshi.
After their plane crashes and their son is ripped from their arms, players find themselves trapped on an island populated by cannibals and mutants in Endnight Games’The Forest.With no linear structureguiding them forward, players are free to go where they want and do what they want on the island.
Whether players choose to find their missing son or not, they’ll have to gather resources and build a base to defend themselves against the island’s cannibals, who grow increasingly aggressive with each passing day. Dotted around the island are caves that, while dangerous, are filled with resources and tools players will need to extend their stay on their cannibalistic getaway.
Klei Entertainment expanded on their classic single-player survival experience with the release ofDon’t Starve Together, a sequel of sorts toDon’t Starvethat introducedmultiplayer to the series.
Braving the series' supernatural wilderness with friends immediately enriched the experience. Players could now do everything together, from farming to fighting bosses.Don’t Starve Together’s various playable characters also allowed fans to maximize their efficiency by selecting characters with abilities that complement each other.
Miju Games’The Planet Crafteris a relativelylaid-back experiencewhere players are tasked with terraforming a barren planet into a verdant and hospitable paradise.
By scavenging resources, players are able to build machines that will inject life into the planet. Seed spreaders will encourage plant growth around them, giant drills will release gases from the ground that alter atmospheric pressure, and so on. Gradually, players can watch entire biomes form and new species of animals emerge, all before their eyes.
In Monomi Park’sSlime Rancher,players assume the role of Beatrix LeBeau as she sets out to create a slime ranch on the Far, Far Range. ThroughoutSlime Rancher’s sandbox, players will come across slimes, cute amorphous blobs that come in a wide variety of types.
From simple Pink Slimes to destructive Boom Slimes, players can populate their ranch with all sorts of creatures that can then be used to make largo slimes, which are hybrids of two normal slimes. Between wrangling cute critters, players can also exploreSlime Rancher’s world to uncover secrets and goodies to help them along their journey.
Unknown Worlds Entertainment’sSubnauticacan either be a wondrous adventure or pure nightmare fuel, depending on the player. That is because the game is set in the vast ocean of an alien planet, where players will have to explore the depths to figure out why they crash-landed there.
Ignoring the fact that wading about in the middle of the ocean can be terrifying in itself,Subnautica’s waters are also populated by enormous leviathans that won’t hesitate to attack the player. With the game featuring no real combat system, players will need to learn how to avoid these giants in order to survive.
