Astroneer

Astroneer's stunning planets play stage to a serene yet underpowered journey.

Its jigsaw pieces, jolly and randomly-scattered as they might be, only assemble in a finite amount of ways.

Astroneer is a wonderfully scrappy game that's been polished up since initial release in 2016 to become the best version of itself yet on the Nintendo Switch. It will, at times, frustrate you with its genial jank, and wrestling with its unpredictable physics and easily-distracted camera might suck some of the joy out of it, but if you love Minecraft, Terraria, No Man's Sky, and Subnautica, you'll surely love this, too.

It’s not a perfect game, but it’s the kind of game that could be perfect for certain situations or groups of gamers looking for their next adventure.

Astroneer is a nice and relaxing survival game that does away with some the typical mechanics of the genre to offer an experience that's mostly based on exploration and crafting. The basic gameplay loop is very engaging at the beginning and manages to carry the game quite far, but the complicated controls, especially on pad, and the repetition, which will eventually set in after a while, damage the experience a little. Still, Astroneer is a very solid game that no fan of the genre should pass on, especially if they love outer space settings.

Once you get past the lack of a tutorial, work your way through at least the basic mechanics, and make your first progress, Astroneer transforms into a beautifully crafted open-world survival game. It’s one of those games that gives you as much as you put into it and lets you work at your own pace to achieve your goals. If you buy it with this approach in mind, you’ll have a soothing and truly enjoyable experience.

The graphics in Astroneer are simple yet bright, beautiful and vivid. It makes exploring the world much more exciting and I feel like it doesn’t strain your eyes, either. It’s a wonderful game to add to your collection. It turns out, being able to play and explore new terrain and worlds with friends is a lot of fun! Though the lack of a narrative or any driving force forwards may not be the most appealing for some. Even with the stress-free gameplay, it’s sometimes nice knowing that there’s a common goal we are working towards. If you want to explore a vividly bright world, or if you just want a very chill time to just sit back and relax, then I would certainly recommend you pick up Astroneer. Alone or with friends, you can explore and build to your heart’s content.

Once you get past the lack of a tutorial and find your feet to progress in the game, Astroneer turns into a wonderfully crafted open-world survival game. It is one of those games that gives you as much as you put into it and lets you work at your own pace towards your goals or the games. It is a calming and genuinely enjoyable experience to play if you stick with it.

My time with Astroneer was a pleasant experience that let me enjoy a more chilled out base building game. It lets you explore these worlds and discover everything it has to offer without ever holding your hand, nor providing challenges to make you feel stressed. That said, the chill gameplay style ultimately is the game's long-term demise. After your first 10 to 15 hours, there's no real reason to continue on to other worlds. Besides the setting changes, there's nothing that new or challenging about going to other worlds. If you're looking for a fun game to play with your friends, then Astroneer can be a good pickup. If you're looking for the next long-term gaming experience, you might want to look elsewhere.

There's so much to dig into and explore that it's easy to lose hours upon hours without batting an eye. Despite the learning curve, I found myself putting on my headphones and zoning out to the sweet soundtrack and some mindless digging. I wish that the systems were explained a little bit better but some light reading and personal discovery help this underrated indie shine.