The Last Craftsman Reviews

With only 7hrs game play, already know this game is a classic. What hooked me and will keep me playing, has to be the unique collecting tags. What you collect will have several tags, so a leaf can be blue, plant material and also, fluffy. Yes fluffy, cute, old, spooky, and many more. This really mixes things up and makes this game so enthralling. It is a breath of fresh air and has breathed life back into the sometimes jaded genre, post Stardew. Crop planting is amazing, buy seed, open inventory, select, place on ground, job done. No prepare soil, no watering, just wait several days and you have fresh produce. Cook with them and get some nice buffs for when you go collecting stuff. A lot of thought has gone into this game. I have played many games and countless hours. This game is in the top 5, for addictive, must play one more day. Fishing is also a joy, can easily spend a whole day and have fun. The mini game is how it should be. Would highly recommend to any one who enjoys Stardew and the like. You will be pleasantly surprised and totally hooked with in 5 in game days.

Not your typical farm sim at all. This is a game that was made by someone who looked at the genre and said "Okay, I'm going to do ALL the QOLs, but still find a way to balance it so that it's rewarding and fun!" Everything from the tag system, to the selectable day length, to the ability to stand in one place and just.... harvest everything, make this game a true contestant in this rapidly overcrowding genre. Super hoping this one gets more exposure.

The Last Craftsman takes the verbs of games like Stardew Valley and My Time at Sandrock and pushes it in an interesting direction more focused on crafting and automation. As stated in the game's description, the main gimmick is that crafting is done via tags instead of strict recipes, so a table doesn't care whether the wood comes from fine lumber or sawdust. The challenge is in determining how to best progress when considering what you can grow or harvest. For instance, many recipes require the generic METAL tag. Iron bars can be smelted, but is often more valuable for their IRON tag making recycling scrap metal (from the world or dungeon) a better option. It's always enjoyable to feel like you've gotten one over on the game by "solving" a tag. Tip: try figuring out what different foods and drinks do. Most of the tags have a unique buff and some of them are paradigm shifting. The cons are that inventory management can be cumbersome (missing some QoL features like craft-from-container) and there are a few bugs and crashes due to being an early access game by a solo developer. You might also be disappointed if you're specifically looking for the social sim elements of Stardew Valley as those are de-emphasized (which is a plus for me).

I've never actually given a review of a game before but I really like this game so far and it's a pity there aren't more reviews. I hope it increases visibility a bit. I really like this gem of a game, It is in early access so it isn't fully finished but I've played for over 9 hours and there's still plenty for me to do. I like how the game looks, it also runs well enough of steam deck, though you do need to make minor adjustments like using the steam keyboard. There are characters to talk to and get to know, a town, woods, and cave to explore. You can mine in the cave and there's also a fishing mini-game that's a bit different to what I've played before but not difficult to play. It's handy because you can use the same tool to cut down trees and mine and also to plough land to plant crops. The crop planting is pretty simple, no need for water or fertiliser. The game is more about crafting, hence the name! What's interesting is that you research materials and see what they are made of and then this also helps you to unlock new crafting recipes. The villagers make requests that you can fulfill to increase your reputation, unlock more recipes and also improve your relationship with villagers as well as being a source of income. There are mods for fishing, harvesting and to expand your inventory. The inventory is based on weight and not on numbers of items. There's also the ancient ruins where you play the card based battle games again robots. It isn't too difficult to get the hang of it but it provides enough of a challenge trying to get through the different levels. I joined the discord server as I had a question and the developer got back to me very quickly and was very helpful. All in all, this is a cosy game that seems well worth the price.

This is a neat take on the crafting genre. I haven't gotten too far into the game where I found a bug. The dev was very quick to get back to me about it. So far, I am really enjoying it. I will update with more specifics as I play. Edit: 25 hours in, and I can say I am loving this game. There are still a few bugs still, but it doesn't take away from the game.

The game's progression is perfect. It might look like a gentle farm game on the surface, but so far there has been a ton to do. And I don't mean more mundane tasks, there is just an incredible amount of content! The crafting and item system is also super unique, fun, and interesting. Also, it's adorable!

This game feels like a fresh take on Stardew Valley. The farming is simplified (no need to water the crops!!), the fighting is a fun card minigame, the items can be used interchangably with other items that use same tag, the villager's requests pay good money(doing requests is your main income, rather than farming) and the research mechanic is very fun. I also love the graphics and the music! The game is already super fun and I'm excited that more stuff will be added, as this is early access! And the dev is very active on discord :) come join if you have any questions or bug reports!

EDIT/UPDATE: DEV is very active on discord! Make sure to join for any Q’s! I have finished most current EA content (with the exception of puzzles can’t figure those out) and I can’t wait till more is added in future updates! (Also dev replied to fishing comment and after reading I was able to figure fishing out!) Playing on the deck. Not too many issues with that. (Have run into some minor problems) but It’s very playable. This game has a lot of potential. It needs a good polishing. This game is GRINDY. Combat- combating is fun they made it into a fun card game if you’ve ever played adventure time card wars… it’s the same idea/card play Fishing- I can’t for the life of me figure out how to fish. I have a rod. I throw it in the water and it twists back- away from the water. Never makes it in the water. Saw something that Implied fishing should be done at night. Tried that’.. No dice. Not sure if it’s user error or a bug… The game has interesting fun mechanics.. your inventory isn’t slotted it’s weighted. Each item weighing differently- same goes for chests and other. You don’t pass out for staying out late but you do get penalized, instead you’re “sick” waking up with half energy and I believe it lasts a few days. There is a doctor you can go to for meds. There is no skill tree, but they do have mods for your tools and other things to upgrade (less energy ++ore when harvesting etc) Farming- if farming is your least fav part of farming sims then you’ll love this game . You plant the seeds and wait to harvest . That’s it. No watering no scare crows no fertilizer etc. The art/graphics is very simple but still nice. The common areas feel very flat at times. The game needs a good rebalancing as well. Not enough resources (ore flowers) spawn but a lot of needed to unlock new craftables. If you like a challenge there are also puzzles that I can’t figure out 🤡 I really like this game, I hope they can bring it to its full potential. Also there is a story I’m slowly working my way through it but it’s a little confusing at times’

Not very far yet but I've been playing this on steam deck a little bit at a time. The game really hits all those farm/life sim elements that you expect with a few twists. I also really love the art and music which makes it easy to play. A huge bonus is the dev has been responsive and even implemented a few steam deck specific fixes despite the game not being officially supported on it yet. the default control scheme suggested by steam work really well it almost feels like a native port. A few minor UI issues are still present but nothing game breaking since the updates. This is a game I can see myself booting before bed each night to accomplish a few tasks and unwind. Really looking forward to playing more and to see what else comes.

This game is a neat take on the farm life sim style of game. The farm aspect isn't really a main focus, so much as it is just one of the avenues of gathering items. Gathering items, and specifically the tags on items, is the main task for the player. Crafting and completing requests from people typically requires you to provide items with specific properties rather than specific items. So, someone may want something fluffy and a bunch of different items could be used to meet that requirement. There is a progression to the game, so as you complete requests you unlock more ways to gather items, new crafting recipes, and even a dungeon that you progress through by playing a card game. There is a decent amount to work through for the price of the game, so a lack of content isn't an issue. There don't seem to be any time-limited events that rush you toward completing specific tasks by a deadline, so it can be less stressful than other games in the genre. As a side note, the fishing mini-game is kind of unique and more engaging than most other fishing mini-games and the fish have a surprising variety of tags that makes it a useful gathering task to complete.