Don't Starve

Well this was a pleasant surprise.  Yet another game I got during a steam sale for absolutely no money thanks to the sale of DotA2 items and my only regret with this purchase is that I didn't install it and start playing it sooner.

Don't Starve was released in April of 2013 by Klei Entertainment and I'm sad to say that when I first saw the game I turned my nose up at it.  I saw a dude running around a randomly generated world picking up things and using those things to build stuff and straight away thought that this was another shallow indie game trying to ride the coat tails of Minecraft with it's gimmick being a proper art style rather than block graphics.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Don't Starve is a game where you run around randomly generated worlds picking things up and using them to build other things, that much is true, but really it's more than that.  It's a game of survival where there isn't really an end goal but you're aiming to survive for as long as possible in an extremely harsh environment.  There are 4 really obvious ways to die in this game but only 1 of them involve actually starving.  The others involve being mauled by monsters, going insane and being killed by some strange thing in the pitch black darkness of the night.

The game play is simple point and click stuff, you click on the thing you want to collect or use and item on and it does it.  You can use WSAD or clicking to move your guy and the Q or E keys to move the camera.  From there you are told absolutely nothing and you basically have to fend for yourself, which in my opinion is great.  On the side there is a big list of stuff you can create and it tells you what you need to make them so you can set yourself a target for that gadget you want and then go exploring.

Really it's best to build yourself up a base of operations with the science machines and a fireplace and explore outwards from there and build yourself up over a long period of time.  As you explore you'll discover all sorts of weird shit that even after sinking a few hours into the game I've still not found a use for.  I found a strange gold ring surrounded by evil plants and a gnome doll that both have no immediate use and I know that I'm only scratching the surface of weird collectibles in that game.

When you do die (and you will die eventually) your character is deleted and you will be forced to start again completely from scratch.  This gives you more incentive to really work hard for your survival and not just give up the ghost but dying also gives you experience which is used to unlock other characters all with unique perks that will alter the game play a bit so that surviving with just basic guy doesn't get too stale.

Really I can't say more than that but I've not really even begun to experience all the content.  There is a lot of stuff here and it's being updated frequently.  In fact, I think there is about 6 or 7 days until the next Don't Starve update.  Seriously though, play this game, it's fucking great.