So, showing scant regard for my knuckles, I naturally enough began punching a few trees. It hurt, but the rewards were worth it, allowing me to gather some wood and thatch. Next, I collected some stones. This required a less sadomasochistic approach as instead of having to head-butt a cliff, stones are scattered around the landscape just waiting to be picked up. At last, I was now in the position to craft my very own stone pick. I had also gained enough experience to unlock a blueprint for making a campfire. Off I went again, gathering more wood and thatch and then using my stone pick to chip some flint from nearby rocks. The flint provided the vital spark to start a fire, allowing me to stay warm and consider a bit of hunting and cooking. If all goes well I will soon be in the enviable position of being able to roam the island wearing more than just my pants.

From these humble beginnings the vast scope of Ark begins to reveal itself. Soon your survivor will be able to build a shack, join a tribe and even find a mate. However, the real draw is the eighty-odd types of dinosaurs that can be hunted for food and resources or, more interestingly, trained and reared. The game supports different ecosystems, so you will not only find creatures on land but also swimming in lakes, soaring through the skies and skulking in subterranean caves. Like most things in Ark, winning the trust of one of these creatures takes time. It begins by smacking your unfortunate victim on the head to render it unconscious; you then have to win its trust by looking after it. Best of all, if you have a suitable saddle then you have a new form of transport.



The offline solo campaign is wide-ranging and challenging, as you seek to uncover the island’s secrets. Technological progression is wide-ranging and logically arranged, with items ranging from prehistoric tools and straw huts to modern fortresses and GPS. The overarching quest involves acquiring artefacts to summon and then defeat the various boss creatures. Beware, these are tough, and defeat can waste hours of preparation and crafting. You can also team up and play as part of a team with up to 50 other players, but before going online it is recommended that you learn the ropes by advancing to at least level twenty. Joining a tribe has the advantages of shared resources, experience and respawn points. Before long, you will be able to lend a hand in the construction of sprawling cities. The flip side is that looters can ransack your camp, stealing all your hard earned resources.


When simply exploring the island the touch controls work reasonably well, although it is rather disconcerting that our survivor always seems to be ready to take a shameless poop. Tapping the left of the screen will move you forwards, whilst dragging your finger on the right side will allow you to face different directions. A swipe will bring up a quick access menu and holding a double tap will let you interact with objects. It is not perfect, and actions will not always work on the first attempt. This is particularly telling when fighting, as the controls feel especially clunky and unresponsive. Thankfully, the famed lack of dinosaur brainpower is on display here, meaning that they often get stuck in the scenery. Maybe this is why dinosaurs really became extinct.

Ark is a game suited to a considered and patient approach. Getting into fights too early will usually mean a messy death, followed by a trip back to your respawn point, before tracking back to your dead body to reclaim your processions. Preparing for a major battle takes time and patience and defeat can be extremely frustrating, meaning that you lose all of your equipment and have to start the whole preparation process from scratch. You cannot help but be impressed that a game of such ambition has been squeezed into mobile form.

It'll delight you, it'll make you despair, but ultimately Ark will leave you with a real sense of satisfaction.Ark’s ambition pulls it in the right direction with more force than its clunkiness tugs it the other way. It’s always more enjoyable to spend time with a game that tries something new and exciting, stumbling along the way, than a game that tries to tick focus group-inspired boxes. If that game also happens to simulate an entire prehistoric ecosystem, and produces bewildering emergent scenarios like clockwork, all the better.