The Planet Crafter Reviews

[H1]So what's it about?[/H1] You're a convict and sentenced to terraform a planet with a hostile environment. If you're successful you can leave - if not you'll have to stay. You can only use the resources found on the planet to accomplish your goal. Somewhere at the late start / early middle it may start to feel overwhelming as many tech trees open up giving you access to a lot of new tools and items. Like with general problem solving: break the challenge up in smaller parts and solve each part first before you move to the next one. That will help you to stay focussed and ensures you accomplish your goals. Compared to other similar games: Satisfactory, Factorio or The Dyson Sphere Project are more complicated and much larger games. I would say Planet Crafter falls below No Man's Sky and Subnautica and that is also how I lost interest. [H1]The good[/H1] Multiplayer is supported - just enter the game code and you can join your friend’s game. There is a lot to unlock and to improve. There is a constant feeling of progressing and on top of that the environment is slowly changing as you make more changes. Launching rockets to get different kinds of abilities and bonusses is fun. It’s rare these days that developer allows you to demo the game. That’s very positive! [H1]The not so good[/H1] At first Planet Crafter may feel like a walking simulator - later you will find upgrade that speed up the process though. All the science in the game is wrong - which is a pity as it would have been cool to experience a run-a-way greenhouse effect, or a snowball planet etc when you don't balance heat, pressure and oxygen (also other important gasses are missing like CO2, N2, Ar) *Yes I do realise terraforming a planet will take eons so that can be gamified / speed up but other things can still be more realistic. It is a shame that the solar panels always work just like the wind generators regardless whether there is sun or wind. Having played other games that do use these mechanics; it’s a pity we don’t experience more depth. The engine is quite dated – it’s worse than Subnautica and that was pretty old already. Physics are a funky, wheels of the vehicle don't really move (and more frustrating: you still use Oxygen whilst in the closed cabin of the vehicle so there is no real point to it especially when you craft the jetpack). It's hard to align larger items as there is no overhead / helicopter view when placing items like what we have in Satisfactory. The inventory screen(s) could us a sorting function. There is a lot of micro management of materials; I strongly recommend making one large storage cabinet (that you'll unlock early) and label it - one cabinet for each material seems to work best but it will take a long time before you unlock technology to stop all the micro management. The game doesn't explain the difference between common, rare and super rare ore. You can't extract the latter until you have an ore extractor MK2 so for a while you wonder why isn’t my extractor extracting? What did I do wrong? In between stages the game can feel like an idle time game; waiting for the next unlock so you can progress further. In a way it’s nice that you always make progress but at the same time it also feels artificial There is no load option except from the menu; it means you will play on one save game. This could have been done to avoid save scumming but - from experience with other games - it puts your game at high risk in case the save file gets corrupted somehow. We don't live in the 80's anymore, storage is cheap and it's mostly a single player game anyway so we should have more save game slots. [H1]Bugs and glitches[/H1] While exploring I fell through the rocks / map several times. There is a button in the options menu that transports you back to base - it's a better way to recover than letting yourself run out of Oxgen as you won't lose any materials and when you die you will still be stuck most of the time. [SPOILER] Later I realised it's also an easy way to quick teleport back to base which feels like an exploit [/SPOILER]. [H1]The DLCs[/H1] There are two DLCs: one contains the soundtrack (I never care about those), the other has a new planet with new challenges for you to explore. [H1]Summary[/H1] The idea of Planet Craft is great and I love how the environment slowly changes. The lack of depth (especially after having played games like Satisfactory, Subnautica or even No Man’s Sky) and that no attempt was made to make the game even a little bit realistic to science disappointed me. I stopped playing a couple of weeks ago and I don’t feel I want to go back. And that’s fine not all games are for everyone. [H1]Should you buy it?[/H1] If a friend with no prior experience would ask me if I would recommend Planet Crafter I would instead tell them to play one of the other games I mentioned before. This doesn’t mean Planet Craft is a bad game; it’s just that there are better games out there and not enough new elements are brought to the table to recommend it.

I played this game with my partner . It was really interesting how she was turning the world into a livable place, while I was just watching my own world (She is perfect).

The most relaxing game ive ever played. No enemys, no fights, just gather and build. a lot of freedome to create and play around with...some are more complex, others are just plain simple. Sky is the limit with this one!

10+ / 10 masterpiece There are no words in known literature how awesome and rewarding this game is. I love crafting games and this is by looooooooooong shot best crafting game there is. Why? Because it has that "something", that umph which gives a soul to game. Every one know what that something is; Zelda LttP has it, Elden Ring has it, Dead Cells has it, and indeedPlanet Crafter has it as well. What makes this game stand out from rest of crafting games is that you are not just crafting, you are building your planet and make its ecosystem thrive. You feel likes IT ACTUALLY IS YOUR PLANET, because this game is so immersive. I was incredibly lucky that I bought this game without watching trailer completely. The moment I saw very first small water pond, and actually realize that it is water (first I thought it was a graphical glitch as I did not expect this) literally brought tear to my eyes. Also masterful game mechanics choice is that there are no enemies, only some natural hazards. The point in this game is not focusing survive (like for example don't starve) but fully focus on your objective in peaceful manner. This game is most immersive game I have ever played and I cant recommend it enough. Devs, please don't ever change core mechanics of this game, it is absolute perfection.

Early game is amazing, you're constantly exploring, advancing in the tech tree and seeing in real time the impact you're having in the world. 15 hours in, though, the game becomes a tedious exercise of micromanagement and optimization where the only impact your actions have is in seeing 6 numbers go up in a screen. It becomes an idle game that sometimes unlocks something so you can build it and see one of the numbers increase slightly faster.

I got this game because my grandson wanted to play it. He is 12 and I am 57. I mainly play it because it's my computer. lol. Before he suggested I buy it I did have it on my wish list and after some pushing from the grandkiddo I broke down and got it. It has been one of the best terraforming games I have seen or played. I currently have over 500 hourse on it. I have started and restarted many games to try and challenge myself to see how fast I can get to a certain point the game. Although I have never played the multiplayer/coop play yet, just because I don't have anyone to play with,. I think it would be just as fun addition to my playtime. Some of the challenges that I have set in the game is to reach the 175,000 ti or Blue Sky within 30-45 minutes. Find and grab the contents of the [spoiler]golden[/spoiler] chests that have the booty that can boost your play. Explore the crash sites nearby to find items that you are not able to craft right away like fabric, rods, and food. Always head to the higher ground when starting off but be sure to carry 3 iron, 2 titanium and 1 silicon to craft a pod to refill your oxygen. Hope you have just as much fun with this game as I do.

This is a very special game which I was surprised to discover was the work of just two people. What stands out here is how they've woven together a number of mechanics from games like Subnautica and No Man's Sky and put their own unique spin on them to create a game that's thoroughly engaging and immersive in spite of the limitations of a small team and a relatively low budget. For those familiar with Subnautica the early game here will be familiar. You crash on a planet, you need to produce lots of food, water and oxygen to survive. You gather a lot of rocks and craft gear, then a base, then you expand and upgrade. What sets Planet Crafter apart is the way it expands and grows as you get towards the mid-game, turning into an ambitious epic in which the whole planet is transformed around you. As you produce machines to produce heat, oxygen and release gases to improve atmospheric pressure, glaciers melt, waterfalls, rivers and lakes appear, huge caverns open up, creeping vines can be climbed to get to previously inaccessible locations. And there's even an interesting and engaging questline you can follow to get some good bonus loot. The basic gameplay loop of crafting and exploring is well-designed and integrated and there's a good soundtrack. It's always a good feeling when a game exceeds your expectations, and this game is full of surprises. It delivers a lot more than I expected and I still haven't got to the end game. For what they're asking for it it's a great buy, and I would recommend it for anyone who liked Subnautica, No Man's Sky or just the survival genre in general. You won't be disappointed.

Great game to chill and disconnect from the chaos of the real world.

If you are reading these reviews to find out if it's worth your time buying this game, stop scrolling. The answer is YES.

Originally looking to scratch a Valheim itch, I was searching for a casual survival/crafting game I could play while listening to The Expanse on audiobooks and The Planet Crafter was an excellent choice for that. The game wasn't super difficult or tedious -- the planet is peaceful -- and the bright and colorful world was really an enjoyable place to explore and transform. The building was pretty intuitive and the survival mechanics were easy enough to overcome that the gameplay felt more sim than slog. The procedural wrecks were kind of tedious after a bit but I got what I needed fast enough that it wasn't a bother. There were some slight story elements which overall were interesting and fun to find, but not super deep and involved. Overall, this went perfectly with the reading material and I enjoyed it enough that I may go back and check out the update and/or explore and terraform the DLC planet. Maybe it's time to re-read The Expanse again!