Among Trees

Survivable games are a favorite niche for many people. It allows them to release their inner hoarder, enjoy crafting and gathering, and explore a new world. Unfortunately, a big problem of many such games is that they come with horrifying monsters to fight that can add an injection of terror to an otherwise fun game. If you like survival games but don’t want so many horror elements, Among Trees is a new survival game you may enjoy.

Among Trees is a sandbox style game similar to Minecraft, but with much better graphics. It’s a survival based game that allows you to craft and gather, but has much fewer monsters. If you’ve ever played The Forest and wished you could just focus on surviving without someone trying to kill you, you’ll love Among Trees.

Stunning beauty

One of the first things you notice during the game is simply how beautiful it is. The developers, FJRD Interactive, are from Sweden, and the beautiful forests shown were likely inspired by the lush forests there. The beauty of this world alone is a rich and varied. Traveling from one area to another just to see the changes in landscape is a worthwhile way to spend your time all on it’s own. Of course, though the beauty of the game is unrivaled, that’s not all there is to the game.

Intuitive Game Play

Among Trees starts with the player waking up in a clearing next to a tumble down shack. There’s no backstory as to why you are there or what happened to bring you there, but it’s not necessary. Instead of being shoved through a long winded tutorial that explains how to play the game, Among Trees is much more indirect.

A minimalistic tutorial starts when you pick up your first object, and then gently guides you through the process of understanding how the game works. With a few nudges from the game you rebuild the shack, and are then more or less free to explore the game how you want.

During construction of the shack, you learn that you can add rooms from there, such as an attic to store things in, or a crafting room to make more complicated items. This gives you goals right off the bat, making the game more enjoyable.

Although the game won’t have psychotic monsters out to kill you, it’s also not safe. You can freeze to death, starve to death, or be poisoned. There are also dangerous animals roaming in some parts of the game. If you’d rather not face them though, the developers thoughtfully provide a “Zen” mode that let you roam animal free.

Hours of game play

Although it may seem to be a fairly simple game, there’s a lot to do. In order to complete the cabin with all the options available and explore all areas of the map, expect to spend hours of game play doing so. There’s a wealth of items available in the game, and just enough danger to make getting some of the more important supplies challenging to access—outside of Zen mode anyway.

Pros:

• Stunning graphics
• Large exploration map
• No horror elements
• Realistic
• Set your own pace

Cons:

• Bears can sometimes glitch