Game: Raft

Raft is an early access game that was released on May 23, 2018. Developed as a student project at Uppsala University you can find the original student work on ItchIO

Primarily it’s a sandbox exploration game where the principle mechanic is that you’re stuck on a raft. In an assumedly landless world.

You then throw a hook out into the sea and snag some trash. Which you slowly use to work through the crafting tiers that you’d expect in a classic survival/exploration title. Sprinkled with some interesting island exploration early on.

All in all I’m sure raft was a perfectly good title a couple months after launch, but 2 years later $40 for 10 hours of content is a tough sell. We worked through the campaign fairly quickly once it was the focus. And the upgrade tiers where practically non existent for some items.

But it’s not all bad. The decorative recipes you did have access to where themed fairly well, allowing you to make very on-style ships for the game’s aesthetic. Eventually introducing the campaign in an explorative way was a good touch as well. And there was some early tech climbing excitement that I’m always on the lookout for.

I’m conflicted in my recommendation of this game because the content that was there was actually pretty good. It just ran out in an unreasonably short amount of time.

But either way check out our cool ship!

What You’ll Like

• Build your own functional ship
• Gather mats and slowly discover new recipes
• It’s quite pretty.
• There’s a lack of good pirate and sea based titles right now.
• Cosmetics are pretty good, on theme, and reasonable to get (Talking about themed boat tiles here)

What You Won’t Like

• Very limited story content
• Seems like you immediately hit the final tier
• Not much drive to keep playing the game after only 2 or 3 sessions.
• This all really comes down to the fact that it’s a 2018 title with Early Release Launch-esque content.

Publisher Listed Features

• Multiplayer! Survive by yourself or with friends in online co-op!
• Hook! Use your hook to catch debris floating by.
• Craft! Build survival equipment, weapons, crop plots and more to help you stay alive!
• Build! Expand your raft from a simple wreckage to a buoyant mansion.
• Dive! Drop anchor and explore the depths for more resources.
• Fight! Defend your raft from the dangers of the ocean.

In Summary

Raft is a solid 2-3 night experience with your friends. It lacks depth, but what’s there is pretty fun. I would buy it if it’s on sale.