Don't Starve

The feeling of accomplishment when you manage to fend off countless cruel beasties, survive unrelenting foul weather, and fill your belly is potent. Mastering the wilderness is a difficult road, but from it comes a sense of empowerment. Of course, you could still lose it all in an instant. Such is the fickle nature of Don’t Starve.

Nature is beautiful. We observe it from pictures and videos from the safety of our home. We get up close to it on vacations through tour guides and hikes. And sometimes, we even interact with it by camping in the wilderness, preparing with ample supplies and experiencing only a sliver of what it must be like to rough it for real. But what if you suddenly found yourself in a stunning yet strange land with nothing but the clothes on your back? What would you use around you? What strategies would you implement to fight back hunger, maintain your health, and keep hold of your sanity? Don’t Starve ...

Like most roguelikes, progress in Don't Starve oftentimes feels like a Sisyphean task. Time spent battling shadow creatures, building a farm, and ultimately an inevitable death are rewarding once they get going, but failure to recognize success robs them of meaning, and there's a long period of doldrums at the start of every new game. While I appreciate the world, atmosphere, and mechanics, I can't help but wish that there was a light at the end of Don't Starve's dark and lonely tunnel. Note: On 1/8/14 we updated this review with impressions of the PS4 version. However, the updates were more...