CryoFall Preview for Steam

CryoFall is an early access multiplayer survival game on Steam developed by AtomicTorch Studio and published by Daedalic Entertainment. This PvP (player versus player) game is based in the distant future on an unknown planet. You must fend for yourself or band together with fellow players to survive.

As soon as you are dropped into the game you must start scavenging for supplies and building a shelter. This aspect of the game reminds others of Mine Craft (which I have never personally played) but it does remind me a little bit of the game Don’t Starve by Klei Entertainment or even more so, Don’t Starve Together, which is multiplayer. In both Don’t Starve Together and CryoFall, you must start from nothing and slowly build your technology to as advanced as possible as you can make it before dying. While doing this you must survive the elements as well as potential threats such as snakes and wolves. However, in CryoFall, you must also protect and defend yourself from other players whereas in Don’t Starve Together the sole goal is to help each other survive.          

I would like to mention that I have never played a PvP game before CryoFall. I am not one to game on public servers. It just isn’t my thing. So when I launched CryoFall for the first time I was very confused. It doesn’t have a basic menu like most games but instead just a list of servers you can join. Once I had read up on the game a bit and decided I was ready to jump into a server, it took me over an hour to stay connected to one long enough to figure out what I was even doing.

Not only was it not staying connected, but since there is no pre-game tutorial, I was killed several times before I even completed the first quest, which served as the tutorial. While reading reviews of Steam I notice that a lot of people had the same issue. It wasn’t until you had crafted a bedroll could you respawn there, which meant you had to do the first several tutorial phases several times. Even players who were able to get up to 3rd or 4th tier were still not able to combat players who were spending hours a day playing this game or players who felt the need to ruthlessly KOS (kill on sight). Thankfully the developers have addressed this issue and with their A21 “Survivors Update” they have implemented a ‘”Newbie protection” mechanic” which means you are “completely safe from losing any of your items or learning points (LP) for the first four hours of the game! With that you can finish all basic quests without rushing and finish your first base to be completely secure,” as stated in their April 26th update on Steam.

I found that a lot of people who left bad reviews on Steam really enjoyed the scavenging and crafting elements of the game but just really did not enjoy the PvP aspect. The developers also stated in their April 26th update that they “finally introduce PvE [player versus environment] game mode on separate servers” with their big update in May.

Something I would like to mention is that you must use a mouse for the controls to work properly. If you are using a laptop to game on and do not use a mouse, your left click, which allows you to collect and gather objects, will not work. CryoFall currently does not support controllers, at least not that I am aware of.

The art style and music of this game seemed fitting. The 2D art style is very common for this type of game and is very familiar. The characters are unique in design but nothing too unexpected. The music and sound for this game seemed familiar and wasn’t distracting in the slightest.

Overall, I feel that CryoFall is a game worth giving a shot. The developers are working hard at fixing the bugs and to make the game as enjoyable for its players as possible. If you enjoy survival games such as Don’t Starve then this is a game I suggest checking out. I will most likely wait until May when they release the PvE version before playing it again.

Check Out the CryoFall Trailer:

CryoFall is available now on Steam Early Access, priced at $19.99/£15.99/€19.99, with regular updates planned for the future. AtomicTorch Studio has laid out details of currently planned updates in a roadmap that will be continuously expanded based on community feedback.