Raft

I think Raft might be the last "survival craft" focused game I'll play for a while. It's undoubtedly a very popular game genre with a game released almost every year that gets a huge number of players and positive ratings. While I'm okay with games that only have some survival elements, and more focus on other game systems like combat or automation, I still don't get the fun in essentially doing unskilled labor. I suppose this also applies to some other game genres, like many "simulator" games.

Raft is a game where you start on a floating piece of wood, grabbing pieces of wood, plastic, and other scrap materials out of the ocean. You use these materials to expand your floating raft, adding steering possibilities, facilities to filter water and prepare food, crafting benches, and eventually even electronics like a radio, radar, and engines. You go from island to island, initially just gathering resources, but eventually finding remnants of civilization and progressing the game's storyline by completing small puzzles on the islands you find. Repeat this for... a lot of times, until you finish the game.

I do like the spin of having a mobile base that you expand over time. It's an idea that sounds very nice, but as you play, you realize it doesn't really change anything fundamentally. If you care about customization, there's a fair amount of different building options, floor and wall shapes, as well as decoratives to place. Far from the most expressive of survival games I've seen, but it's decent. I failed to find the story interesting in the slightest, but then again, I was never expecting to.

For all I can tell, it's a fine game in the genre. I don't really have any faults to point out with it, other than my personal preferences I've already mentioned. I just really don't care for manual labor simulators that don't require much thought, and so I can't personally recommend it. You probably won't be seeing another review in this genre from me, unless the game has significant additional features that I think I could enjoy.