Reviews

• 

  RunsWithScissors

  Jul 16, 2016

  I tried playing this game for forty minutes before throwing in the towel. It has a great concept, but the controls are all over the place. I wasn't sure where I was supposed to confirm, click, or what. There is a semi control button at teh bottom of the cabin screen, but then half the controls are placed around the cabin. Like choping wood...it's at the top of the screen instead of at the bottom with mining/panning. With a better menu layout, this game would be amazing.
• 

  Hyrad

  Jul 16, 2016

  Sorry, I tried to like this game, but the interface is a mess. The fact that you have to wait in realtime for every action makes it really frustrating. Applied fo a refund.
• 

  Izunundara

  Jul 17, 2016

  This could be a fantastic game. IF ONLY the entire HUD, layout and menus didn't actually make me physically recoil at how horrifyingly bad they are. Messy filtered real photos behind raw text that makes reading it hard, no skippable animations, flat brown boxes appearing out of nowhere to show you your energy, A BLACK WINDOW OPENING BEHIND THE GAME FOR NO REASON, it's infuriating how terrible design decisions have completely ruined a fantastic game. But the most delicious sandwich in the world is still awful if you add an extremely nutty shit as a filling.
• 

  Grizzly

  Jul 17, 2016

  I can understand the complaints that are coming from the negative reviewers. The interface does need some work, but the makings of a fantastic game are there. I exchanged emails with the game's creator and I can assure you, its not a cash grab. They seem very genuine and want to make this game the best possible. If you have issues, let them know in a constructive way. I am sure they would appreciate the feedback. I visited their blog, and they actually "live the life" so to speak. They have real experiences in dealing with the elements, camping, fishing, etc. From what was said in our emails. this was a first attempt at coding, and I think knowing that, it gives perspective to what a little support could do for an independent developer. I am interested in what will happen in the future iterations of this game.
• 

  xHAWGx

  Jul 18, 2016

  There are only 2 major reasons why I refunded this game and could not stomach playing it. And it's not the cool "realtime" aspect to the game. I figured I would give it a try regardless of the reviews, because surely someone who has been playing video games for 30 years could stumble through it right? The 1st reason is the UI, while attempting to be unique and clever, is actually near impossible to comprehend. It could have worked, but there's one fatal flaw with the design: no mouseovers. That's right. Every menu is different, and you have no idea what any of the clickable items do. Naturally you want to hover over things to see what it does. Sorry. When setting up a game you could potentially play for a real life year, there is no clear definition of the parameters you are setting. So clicking around is your only option, and sometimes you can't unclick things. Its a catch 22. Oh, and the fonts. They are so difficult to read. Look at the screen caps. Could you stare at that for how long? Sometimes there is Red on Red and Green on Green, it's impossible to read and is hard on your eyes. There was a 'important' message that they highlighted in red on a dark brownish red background in the beginning of the game, which I couldn't even read. The 2nd reason is, this game is being sold as a full release on the steam store. In the steam store description it says it's a simulation (dev's own words). You start up the game and there is a disclaimer saying this is "a proof of concept" and stepping stone for further professional releases. It even mentions that the game is NOT a simulation there. But it says the game is 'complete'. Well what complete game doesn't even have a quit button on the title menu, or ESC option? It's just not really what I expected from release level work. If this were sold as early access, then okay that's fair. TL:DR It's like no one playtested it that didn't already know how the game was supposed to work. The UI is so frustrating, it ruins the experience that could have been amazing and therefore unplayble for me. UPDATE: devs are responding to complaints and have promised to improve the UI and also attempt to make the game full screen as well. Fingers crossed, I may pick it back up on sale someday if that happens.
• 

  ws1301

  Jul 24, 2016

  This game gets alot of unfair critism because it's hard and slightly rough around the edges. But the premise of the game is good. Its a survival game, and survival is hard. Yes, there are various issues with the game that are not working ideally, but the development team has been very active and is working diligently on patches now. They have gone so far as to help individual users with virtually any question or problem, just ask. This is not a sign of abandonware or a money grab. It's a n unexperienced development team that's trying as hard as they can to make a quality product. This is worthy of anyone who enjoy's survival game genre support. Yes, its not an easy game. There is alot to learn, and there are a few rough and buggy bits... but it's getting better, and will have a huge replayability factor once it's completed.
• 

  Lordcat Darkstar

  Jul 27, 2016

  My daily schedule: 5am -wake up to get ready for work, have character go to sleep for 8 hours 6pm -home from work, set character to do something for an hour and I go get dinner 7pm -have character do something for 3hours while i go out chasing Pokemon 10pm -another 3hour task and go to bed. 2am -wake up to set up another 3 hour task, stumble around in sleepy haze wondering why the heck am I doing this and try to go back to sleep 5am -repeat This is a very nice survival game that doesnt take too much of your daily time, but it will force you to change how you go about your day. When this is released for cell phones/tablets it will be much better but unless you are around your pc all the time you will have to make sacrifices for this game. There is a casual mode for those who want the game to go a bit faster but for me personally I love the idea of having to survive for the whole year and am looking to all the adventures and dangers my character will face.
• 

  harryfrazer

  Aug 1, 2016

  An actual thinking game with a surprizing amount of things to learn and do......play for a full year to complete your experience. If you like blowing things up, shooting at monsters, arcade pinball, etc... then this is not for you ! If however you have a good head on your shoulders some patience and a logical thinkintg mind then you should love this game..I was truely amazed at how many things thier are to do with survival in mind....dont bother writing a review if you have played for an hour and you think like a six year old then please dont give your two cents worth because it will be useless for anyone serious about a thinking game. Sit down relax and take it slow and savor the experience!
• 

  Unknown X

  Aug 8, 2016

  I dislike the game very much. The game seems to get locked up on task; Time spins but nothing happens. I read that this by design, but I only get few minutes and locked up. Even with fast forward, the game runs out fast forward credits. This was waste of money in my view.
• 

  Cosmic

  Sep 5, 2016

  Start game Read logs Choose gear and cabin location Get to cabin Try to interact with gun .. you're cold wait 5 mins Try to intereact with pistol .. you're cold wait 4 mins Try to interact with anything at all .. you're cold wait 3 mins Try to enable full screen .. you're cold wait 2 min Close game Ask for refund.
• 

  dawg_soldier

  Oct 15, 2016

  (Updated review) I have clocked over 100 hours of gameplay, and although there have been times where this game has been enjoyable, it does just seem like there is too many things that prevent any actual gameplay. I played it today after giving it almost a year's break. It was mid day in-game, and I decided to use my chainsaw to cut down a tree (a 10 minute job) I come back 10 minutes later to find that during my tree felling a bear charged at me and I was unable to shoot it or cut it with my knife - so I suffered wounds and bleeding. Had no choice but to go home and lick my wounds (but the game told me I had to wait 50 minutes because it had been raining and I was soaked and needed my clothes to dry), so thanks to a fast forward option, I got inside and started suturing my wounds to stop the bleeding (a 20+) minute deal - at which time IRL I had to get my head down for a night shift. Several hours later I check on my guy - the bleeding is only halfway treated. So, I try to continue healing myself but the game tells me that I am too cold to do this and I need to light a fire....! I decide to try once again to chainsaw a tree down for some firewood but the game tells me that I can't fell a tree in the dark....! I decide to gather some kindling (mainly as a "ready for tomorrow" kind of deal) - and then a moose decides to charge me (again, I miss with my gun, and just manage to cut its shoulder) I end up with major wounds and more bleeding. I try to get back to the house but once again it tells me I have to wait 50 minutes as I'm soaking wet from the rain! I really REALLY wanted to enjoy this game, and I wanted to have a good few days of trying it out again, but within 6 hours I remember why I stopped playing it. I'm not saying that this game should not be hard at all, but it could seriously do without a few things like waiting for an hour because you're wet, don't make things impossible to do indoors just because it's cold (like reading a book or applying a bandage - I have done both things in a freezing cold house, and it IS possible to do!) I may try playing this game again in another year if they improve some aspects and remove some unnecessary things - I hope they do. But sadly this game is being uninstalled for the time being.
• 

  Grampi McSnoresalot

  Nov 25, 2016

  This game is a "good" game in so much that its concept is well put together and it is fun to a degree to play. However, I have some issues with it from a player's point of view. Not being computer savy and a bit of an older person it was difficult to navigate the game mechanics and figure out how to actually play effectively. The most frustrating part of this game are the constant darkness,the injuries and wild animal attacks that occur. In "real" life those would of course happen but definately not at the rate which this game enjoins. Secondly, the "time" factor for game play is set to a real life pace and this in and of itself is rather disturbing because I only have a very limited time to play having to work a "real" life job, sleep and take care of my own personal business. Therefore after playing it for about 14 days....using up all my "fast forwards", experiencing many injuries, wild animal attacks and basically running out of food and cash I am taking a extended break from this game. Not sure if I shall play it again in the future. I got my $10.00 worth of play and am happy with that. If the game mechanics stay the same and do not address the issues I have delineated above most likely I will not come back nor recommend this game to my many gaming friends. Thank you game developers for what you have done so far with this game. It was a stellar effort and I am sure writing the code was a challenge. Good luck to you in the future.
• 

  doubleohtrippel

  Dec 25, 2016

  I think this game is great. It is very different than most games. You have to know what you're getting into. Understand that there is no live action fighting in this game. You move around a character icon and click on all the different tools and options. You have many choices for things to do and ways to survive. This game requires a lot of patience. Every time you make a choice to do something, say maybe clean one of your guns for example, it sets a timer that references your computer clock and applies an appropriate wait time until the task is complete. During that time, you must wait for the task to be completed before you can do anything else in the game other than wait or log out and come back later. What I really like about this game is that it is a challeng, but it doesnt require my full attention. I can play while I cook or fold laundry or watch t.v. and the game will always wait for me (except at midnight, when all of your current condition stats will apply to your health - this is the only time you can die!) I usually log into this game two or three times per day for a few minutes to make choices. Then, I get to return later in the day and find out the results of my choice, whether or not I'm likely to survive until tomorrow. Good times.
• 

  Player

  Dec 28, 2016

  Survival point & click adventure with some potential but wrong execution. This game is recommended only for those who want to play a game in "real time" mode meaning one gaming day = one real day. Some tasks requires really 30 minutes, some even more. Devs stated this game has a year of play time and is meant to be played a little bit each day. And here comes the main reason this game cannot be generally recommended for survival games lovers. The casual mode included makes those 30 min tasks instant, anyway, you cannot proceed to another day in game until a new day in real life begin. If the casual mode could be played separately of the real days, the game would be highly recommended even containing some bugs and some weird control elements. Pos: - there is a lot of things to do - drinking, cooking, cutting tree into firewood and kindles, loading your guns manually, reading books etc. - it is kind of sophisticated. For example using a radio drains battery, you may charge the battery a little bit by hand charger, building wind turbine, solar panel or simply buy a new battery. - from content point of view it is kind of nicely made game, not sloppy. Neg: - casual mode is not a casual mode even though it penalizes you for being casual :/ - some control mechanics are awful, for example during reloading, after inserting each single projectile into magazine the window "reloads" - hides and shows again. - from coding point of view the game feels kind of sloppy.
• 

  Byzanthei

  May 10, 2017

  If you go to a store and buy a digital egg timer for 3 dollars, you can save yourself 7 dollars from buying this game. Just choose an action, say "Go fishing". Set your egg-timer for 60 minutes and press start. Then when it beeps make up a random result which is usually negative. I caught one fish in three real life days. I failed at chopping logs, failed at starting fires, failed at making it back from the backyard of my cabin because I got lost and I even failed at sleeping because I'm

  such an idiot and didn't open the window for four hours trying to sleep, I got heat exhaustion too because I guess my character is so dumb. I know my weekly bath would have been the end of my poor guy, He was sure to drown forgetting to pull his head out of the bath water... and I would probably have to watch an egg timer for 2 hours in real time before he drowned I'm sure. Then lets talk about the completely imbalanced game mechanics. For instance, Eating one fish fillet gave me 60 points of energy along with a list of other benefits.. Sleeping for four hours gave me 15 energy, then just walking into my backyard I would burn 35 energy to go fishing. Somebody failed math here. So basically my play experience was a combination of watching timers and reading failed results, Something to note: If you look at the discussion boards on this game it seems the developers are more interested in promoting their product than improving this game. Get ready for their new content? No thanks considering the quality. This is undeniably the worst game I ever purchased on steam. I'm sure I'm way past a refund because I look for diamonds in the rough. NOPE, No diamonds here at all. Sloppy Game, poor interface, poor mechanics, horrible play-ability and terrible game experience that is easily sums up this 4 day experience in one sentence: This was a total waste of my time. But really, Go ahead and give these guys your 10 dollars. How bad can this game be? You have 14 days to ask for a refund. I just read that in the refund policy! Woot!

• 

  Zot

  Jul 1, 2017

  I love the idea behind this game. Homesteading in Alaska in real time. If you require instant gratification from your games, this probably isn't for you. Though there is a mode that allows you to fast forward through 12 tasks each day. But that takes away from the tension that builds as you wait to see the results of your tasks. This is a challenging game that can take a lot of attempts to figure out. You need to consider and plan well to succeed. Take the time to develop your skills before rushing out to take on the Alaskan wilderness. Great game at a great price.
• 

  Horser01

  Sep 11, 2017

  If you're a normal person who plays during the day and can stop and check in often, definitly buy this. If you're like me and can only play at night, or can only spend an hour or two on it, you're going to get frustrated real quick. I knew it was real time, but I assumed that meant waiting X amount of minutes before X task was up. I didn't realize that meant it would be dark in game from my reallife 5 PM to 4 AM. Since I work until 5 every day, that means I essentially can't play this game at all. To be able to advance at all you need to do things that you can only do during the day. I've been drooling over this game for quite some time. I only played a short amount of time so far, since I could do very little in game (it was too dark), but it seems well put together, and it does make you anxious about planning what to do next (Hurry! I want to do X next! or :O A wolf!!? That's just what I need while I'm starving and searching for berries!) I wanted a survival game that puts you in realistic shoes and forces you to go farther than just surface worries and a point and click. I wanted something that would be educational and mentally stimulating. It is. I *don't* like the real time aspect of it. Chances are I won't be able to play this at ALL with my schedule. And a minor annoyance is that when you're 'writing' in the journal, you can't speed up the typing by clicking. I read really fast and it's kindof annoying that it goes so slow. But so far, these are my only complaints.
• 

  dhar

  Oct 1, 2017

  What can I say about this game? Definitely worth a buy. I've spend some time learning the ropes in guite a few early runs, but started more seriously at the beginning of summer. That is, durring May as a prospector taking Normal difficulty and Fast-forward option. Propably that's the easiest playthrough you can get. At the time of writing this review I'm well off and ready to survive the winter in all it's glory and peril. Thus I'll be starting anew right now in a harsher conditions (it's Fall/Autumn right now) and maybe as a fisherman. On the plus side, the game is constantly in developement and new content and fixes are appearing. Is it playable? Yes. If by any chance you get a crash or find a bug give a shout on the forum in a constructive way and Dev will gladly fix. The more detail you disclose the quicker it will happen. This Review will be updated with any future playtroughs so stay tuned.
• 

  randylvc

  Oct 19, 2017

  This game 100% is not for everyone.. The Devs have made this prettty ckear,, I did some homework on this one.. It's not an easy game..At times I am left scratching my head.. Getting started (In my case in the Oct) is tougher then any game I've ever played.... you log into a cold cabin with no firewood.. you can't even read as it's just too cold.. meaning you have to go try to chop wood first.. I got hammered by a bear,,, managed to kill him then simply walked away from the tree I dropped.... (why not just go back and finis?) so you lose the energy.. have to try again and hope to God you can just manage to get enough wood to warm light the fire and get the cabin warm enough to read...... sounds like a ton of bitching I know... Truth is this game is addictive! I think starting any other time of the year outside of winter and you would have a fighting chance,,, winter is brutle on a new player! would love to see animal attacks turn off for day zero.. or at least a days worth of firewood stored up... so you can get to the meat of what makes this game amazing.. Skill game is done by reading and doing! I love that! you can hunt, trap, fish, hell you can make blankets and carve to make a living.. so many options! so much to learn and do... This is a real time game.. you don't need to sit for hours at a time in front of a computer to play,,, you set a task.. and you can go cook dinner while the task is being done.... I think Old school gamers will love this thing.. I'm hooked! I love the options! Oh as I said in a post.. This game will make you want to kick the garbage can! But when you reach a goal.. you feel like you earned it....... something I have missed as they watered down gaming over the years! you need to think! you need to plan and you need to hope to God the wild cheese moose does not come charging out of the woods while your trying to get some wood for the fire... cause fire is life...... Not only would I recomend this game.. as a parent I would love to see my kids playing this one.... 1 last note.. The Devs are amazing.. this game has been out for some time... they are still in the forums every day.. still making changes and very into helping ..... I love that! I feel like by buying the game I am helping to support and lost art form :) you old schoolers! get in the game... But read first! you will have a fighting chance if you just take the time to do a little reading before you rush into this one!
• 

  Dr. Strangelove

  Apr 23, 2019

  TL/DR: If you want a realistic, or even plausible game, this is definitely not it. You'll be attacked by wild bears and wolves almost every time you're going to chop some firewood, that is of course if you manage to avoid hitting yourself in the knee with your axe which happens like 50% of the time. Seriously, this game is balanced so poorly it's ridiculous. You're either a complete moron who cannot use a knife/axe without cutting himself, or face murderous animals which hide around every corner. Summary: I really wanted to love this game. It has many great features and is quite possibly the deepest survival game there is, but the balance is simply ridiculous. Out of around 10 attempts to chop firewood, in five of them my character managed to wound himself seriously, and in four he was attacked by bears or wolves, only ONE attempt to simply chop wood was successful. My character looks like a complete idiot, with an epicly bad luck - being attacked by wild animals every day, when in reality bears only kill around THREE people a year, in the US and Canada combined. Unless the devs can address this, and they haven't in the past two years, this game is simply unplayable. I really wanted to recommend this game, but I truly can't. It's unique, probably the only survival game in which you wait for the outcome of your actions in real time, but this makes it even worse with balance issues - you wait for 40 minutes only to read again and again that cutting firewood nearly killed you. What works: 1. Amazing depth. Even something like lighting a fire allows you so many options: firestarters or matches, add resin, you have to keep the chimney clean, you have to maintain a balance so your fire isn't too large for your small fireplace, etc. With knives you have to sharpen them, clean them, and everything affects their usefulness. 2. A very nice and well thought map of Alaska, offering quite a variety when it comes to possibilities available in each spot of the map. 3. A lot of different items available for your character, each with its use, sometimes many. 4. Quite detailed and realistic fishing and hunting, with many different fish and animals available for you to catch/hunt. 5. A lot of structures you can build to expand your cabin. 6. Prospecting, foraging, gold mining, woodcutting - there really is A LOT to do here. 7. You can trade and interact with other people, increasing the immersion. 8. Weather varies day to day and season to season and affects you in many ways. You really need to plan your moves, equipment and clothes. What doesn't work: 1. It's ridiculously unbalanced, with your character often being a complete idiot who cannot use an axe without almost chopping his leg off or the wilderness plotting to murder you, sending animals every day, sometimes you will be attacked by a wolf and a bear in the same day. Chopping firewood shouldn't be so dangerous, and it's probably one of the deadliest activities in the game. 2. There is no realistic setting that would make an animal attack MUCH less likely, and them being truly aggressive only when you attack them or otherwise really disturb them. It is simply stupid to have them attack you in your front yard all the time. If you are attacked all the time when chopping firewood next to your cabin, why aren't you attacked all the time while foraging? 3. Resting doesn't restore enough energy - sleeping for 8 hrs only restores 15 out of 100 points of energy, as much as a simple piece of bacon. 4. Overall the energy/starvation mechanic is very poor. In UnRealWorld, eating right things improves nutrition which prevents starvation, and sleeping/resting makes you less tired, which in turn allows you to do more. In this game sleep only restores 15 energy points, out of 100. It forces you to eat, but there surely are better ways to implement - such as being well fed restores your energy faster, and starving makes it diminish faster. Not a system in which eating bacon will always give you 15 points, so you can just stuff yourself with bacon and work hard all day, not caring about anything, and sleep for 8 hours to almost not be able to walk because you're tired. Please, fix this game. It has a truly amazing potential, just waiting to be unleashed.