The concept behind this game is excellent. Think honey I shrunk the kids, but the kids have no idea how they ended up there. The gameplay is action survival, with a pretty solid combat system, a large variety in gear types, and a really fun base building dynamic.

The creatures are generally far cuter than they have any right to be, and I sometimes find myself going out of my way to avoid hurting the less dangerous bugs. This can cause problems when you need body parts from them, but hey, most people don't arbitrarily decide to not kill things in a survival crafting game.

Building bases on the ground is something I have no experience with, but finding the highest, most secure place you can, and then building up from there allows the creation of massive sky structures that can span the length of the yard if you get too many engineers in one game.

In terms of equipment, armor has 2 separate effects attached. The first is a per piece bonus that's usually a minor bonus to a stat like endurance, hp, block power, or hauling load. The second is a set bonus that only applies when all 3 pieces of the set are equipped. The set bonus tends to be a unique effect that can be quite powerful. Some examples would be hp regen or making certain arthropods that are usually hostile, no longer hostile.

Weapons also have interesting effects attached, but I do think that they're less interesting than armor because the base damage of the weapon is so important in combat. You're much less likely to use old low tier weapons for a special effect than you are to use old armor.

The game also allows you to customize your character in various ways using mutations, but I won't go into detail about that mechanic other than to say doing things in the game can unlock mutations that can help you do (generally related) things better. You can only have a limited number equipped at a time, but a mechanic was just released to allow you to increase the number available at one over the course of your playthrough.

When I first saw the game I was very hesitant to pick it up because these kinds of early release titles often have extremely slow patch cycles, and there wasn't that much content available at the time. When I did end up getting it I was surprised by how much more content was in the game, and in the time I've had the game there have been several major content releases that dramatically alter the map and add a ton of new everything (buildable structures, equipment, consumables, creatures, terrain types, etc.). There's a rather huge amount of content now, and I've been very pleased with it.

The concept behind this game is excellent. Think honey I shrunk the kids, but the kids have no idea how they ended up there. The gameplay is action survival, with a pretty solid combat system, a large variety in gear types, and a really fun base building dynamic. The creatures are generally far cuter than they have any right to be, and I sometimes find myself going out of my way to avoid hurting the less dangerous bugs. This can cause problems when you need body parts from them, but hey, most people don't arbitrarily decide to not kill things in a survival crafting game. Building bases on the ground is something I have no experience with, but finding the highest, most secure place you can, and then building up from there allows the creation of massive sky structures that can span the length of the yard if you get too many engineers in one game. In terms of equipment, armor has 2 separate effects attached. The first is a per piece bonus that's usually a minor bonus to a stat like endurance, hp, block power, or hauling load. The second is a set bonus that only applies when all 3 pieces of the set are equipped. The set bonus tends to be a unique effect that can be quite powerful. Some examples would be hp regen or making certain arthropods that are usually hostile, no longer hostile. Weapons also have interesting effects attached, but I do think that they're less interesting than armor because the base damage of the weapon is so important in combat. You're much less likely to use old low tier weapons for a special effect than you are to use old armor. The game also allows you to customize your character in various ways using mutations, but I won't go into detail about that mechanic other than to say doing things in the game can unlock mutations that can help you do (generally related) things better. You can only have a limited number equipped at a time, but a mechanic was just released to allow you to increase the number available at one over the course of your playthrough. When I first saw the game I was very hesitant to pick it up because these kinds of early release titles often have extremely slow patch cycles, and there wasn't that much content available at the time. When I did end up getting it I was surprised by how much more content was in the game, and in the time I've had the game there have been several major content releases that dramatically alter the map and add a ton of new everything (buildable structures, equipment, consumables, creatures, terrain types, etc.). There's a rather huge amount of content now, and I've been very pleased with it.