Recoil Offgrid – August-September 2019

BUYER’S GUIDE

Beam Team Games

Stranded Deep

Notes:

Unlike the previous games in this article, Stranded

Deep is exclusively a single-player experience. Al-

though there’s some indication that co-op function-

ality might be included in a future update, we played

this game solo, and we’re glad we did — it strongly

emphasizes the feeling of isolation.

The game starts with a nighttime plane crash that

dumps you somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, not unlike

the movie Cast Away. After emerging from the wreck-

age, you clamber into an inflatable life raft and paddle

your way to a tiny desert island. The game world is

procedurally generated, meaning that every player

will end up with a different environment. Throughout

the game, you’ll need to monitor hunger, thirst, and

tiredness via status bars on your wristwatch.

Aside from anything you find in your raft or

washed up on shore, all items must be crafted from

the world around you. Start by making a stone tool

from a rock fragment, combine it with cordage from

fibrous leaves and a stick to make a crude axe, and

chop down some palm trees. This yields wood for a

campfire, fronds to make a shelter, and coconuts.

You can drink coconut water to stay hydrated, but

just like in real life, it’s a natural diuretic that will

make you sick if you drink too much. Make a still to

produce fresh water. Spear some crabs and cook the

meat by holding it over a fire. There’s a huge variety

of items in Stranded Deep, and each has a purpose, if

not several possible uses. Eventually, you can make

a raft and sail to a new island, explore shipwrecks,

construct buildings, and start farming.

PLATFORMS

Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Linux (PS4 and XBOX

One releases are planned, but not available at time

of publication)

PL AY ER S

1

PRICE AS TESTED

$15

URL

beamteamgames.com/stranded-deep

Pros:

Great sense of immersion — the environment feels

both tranquil and merciless, much like it would on

a real desert island.

Crafting system is well thought out and surpris-

ingly realistic.

Your island’s resources will soon be depleted.

When that time comes, you’d better be prepared

to make the dangerous voyage to a new island.

Cons:

We appreciate that inventory space is limited

to a realistic level, but this also means you’ll

constantly be picking up, dropping, and moving

around items to manage that limited inventory.

This is an “Early Access” game that’s still in

development, and its controls and gameplay

mechanics often feel less polished than a retail

release. Also, the future of PS4 and XBOX ver-

sions is uncertain after the sudden closure of

publisher Telltale Games in 2018.

ISSUE 32

076 OFFGRIDWEB.COM