Don't Starve: Shipwrecked

Just when you thought you had everything sorted out for surviving, Don't Starve: Shipwrecked appeared and completely changed that. Klei Entertainment marks the second DLC for the game since Don't Starve: Reign of Giants. The game seems to be constantly getting better, the new added content and updates keep making the game better. The game got a generally positive reception from the critics and audience alike.

What's new?

Don't Starve is a sandbox survival game, so the replayability is already pretty good. The mechanics are well developed and there's a ton of content to explore. You can literally play dozens of hours into the game and still not get to discover everything. Even when you might think you're done with the basic game, there are other expansions before Shipwrecked that already added a lot of content. As usual, surviving the weather and the weird horrible creatures lurking in the dark is the main objective in the game. But with the already things there are new mechanics and enemies to face, still, this time is different.

Don't Starve: Shipwrecked includes not only some new mechanics but it mostly changes de biomes, big time. The content added in this DLC is so big that it even was originally intended to be a standalone title. To make the game even harder, this time you must survive while stranded on islands. Of course, things here are different than in Tom Hanks's Castaway, you have to build different types of boats to get around different islands as you gather resources. The weather is tough in these islands, but there are also new creatures trying to kill you. New stations, new mechanics, new biomes, new monsters and more, but what's most important, new ways to die.

Surviving under the Sun

Believe it or not, there aren't really that many polished survival games that take place on an island. Since a lot of survival games include zombies and such, there is not much frame of reference to compare this game with. You could try and somehow compare it with The Sims 2: Castaway expansion, but that would be a huge stretch. A little closer to what we're looking for here could be comparing it with Stranded Deep, a 2015 survival game that takes place on an island.

Similar to Shipwrecked, the character in Stranded Deep also ends up stranded on an island after an accident happens. There's a day/ night cycle in which you have to gather resources and build refuge to survive the weather, all this while working on a boat to plan your escape.

In Shipwrecked building boats and ships helps you to explore other islands to find resources and keep on the move to find new items and materials you can use to create new tools

Review

You can easily tell that this title was intended to be a stand-alone title, the new maps and content are just as detailed and polished as the original game. Contrary to what the name implies, not starving is not the main concern here. There are lots of food thanks to the tropical weather but is that same weather that presents some of the biggest threats to your survival. It is, just like the original game, an example of what a great indie DLC should be, new mechanics and new maps, all well polished and developed.

• Graphics and visuals: Keeping in mind that this game ended up being a DLC, it only makes sense that this aspect remains the same as in the original title. The cartoony look of everything ensures that it will not look outdated easily. The art direction is still amazing, and the new tropical weather looks amazing. It doesn't lose the original dark style, and it even has those old pirate map vibes to it

• Gameplay: The basic mechanics of the game remain the same, which is excellent. But this DLC added the new sailing mechanics, building ships and boats, getting tools for taunting and more sea-survival things are added to the game. And even while these are completely new mechanics, they work flawlessly and are well implemented into the original mechanics

• Sound: Even better than the original soundtrack, the theme of the game heavily affects the style of the music. These styles match up to work in an unexpectedly amazing way.