Stranded: Alien Dawn, developed by Haemimont Games and published by Frontier Foundry, crash-landed onto PC and consoles in April 2023. This survival colony sim places you in charge of a group of survivors stranded on an alien planet teeming with both beauty and danger. Drawing inspiration from titles like Rimworld and Surviving Mars, Stranded: Alien Dawn carves its own niche by emphasizing scientific discovery and exploration alongside base building and resource management.
A Harsh Welcome to the Planet Icarus
The game opens with a dramatic crash landing on Icarus, an alien world teeming with exotic flora and fauna. Your ragtag group of survivors, each with their own unique skills and personalities, must overcome their initial shock and work together to survive. The narrative unfolds through short vignettes and environmental details, leaving plenty of room for player interpretation. While the story itself is fairly standard sci-fi fare, the real focus is on the challenges and triumphs of your colonists as they adapt to their new home.
Graphics: 7
Sound: 7
Controls: 7
Story: 7
Engaging: 7
Overall: 7
Building a New Home: From Scrap to Spaceship
Stranded: Alien Dawn employs a familiar base-building mechanic, but with a twist. Instead of simply plunking down pre-fabricated structures, you construct buildings piece-by-piece, allowing for a high degree of customization. This system adds a layer of complexity, as you carefully plan room layouts to maximize efficiency and keep your colonists happy.
Resource management is another core aspect of gameplay. Icarus offers a wealth of resources to collect, from basic materials like minerals and wood to exotic alien plants with unique properties. Setting up efficient mining and production chains becomes essential as your colony grows and its needs expand.
More Than Just Survival: Thriving on an Alien World
While staying alive is the initial priority, Stranded: Alien Dawn encourages you to do more than just survive. Scientific research plays a major role, allowing you to unlock new technologies and better understand your environment. This research tree feeds directly into base building, opening up new structures and upgrades that improve the lives of your colonists.
One of the most captivating aspects of Stranded: Alien Dawn is the alien wildlife. The world of Icarus is teeming with strange creatures, some docile herbivores and others decidedly hostile. You’ll need to carefully research these creatures to understand their behaviors and develop appropriate strategies for avoiding danger or exploiting their resources for your own benefit.
Challenge and Choice: Catering to Different Playstyles
Stranded: Alien Dawn offers a good level of challenge, with multiple difficulty settings that can be tailored to your preferences. The peaceful mode allows you to focus on colony building and exploration without the constant threat of hostile aliens or environmental hazards. On the other hand, higher difficulty settings introduce more aggressive wildlife, deadlier weather events, and scarcer resources, providing a real test of your survival skills.
The game also offers a variety of pre-built scenarios that present unique challenges and objectives. These scenarios can range from simple survival missions to more complex goals like rescuing another stranded group or establishing a permanent colony on Icarus.
Aesthetics and Audio: Bringing the World to Life
Stranded: Alien Dawn boasts a beautiful and vibrant art style. The alien landscapes are teeming with detail, from towering bioluminescent plants to glistening crystal formations. The character models are well-designed, and the animations convey a real sense of weight and purpose to your colonists’ actions.
The soundscape is equally impressive. The ambient music creates a sense of wonder and isolation, while the sound effects of alien creatures and environmental hazards add to the immersion. While there is no voice acting for your colonists, their facial expressions and body language do a good job of conveying emotion
Colonist Management: The Heart and Soul of Your Colony
Your colonists are the heart and soul of your Stranded: Alien Dawn experience. Each colonist comes with their own unique set of skills and personality traits. Some may excel at scientific research, while others are better suited for manual labor or combat. Managing your colonists’ needs and happiness is crucial for their survival and productivity. They require food, water, and shelter, but also leisure activities and opportunities to fulfill their personal goals. Keeping your colonists happy will not only improve their morale but also unlock bonus perks that can benefit your entire colony.
The Struggles and Rewards of Colonization
Stranded: Alien Dawn is a game that rewards patience and planning. There will be setbacks, such as colonist illnesses, hostile wildlife attacks, and devastating weather events. Learning from your mistakes and adapting your strategies is key to success. The game truly shines when you see your colony flourish, from a ragtag group of survivors to a thriving community on an alien world.
Not Without Its Flaws: A Few Areas for Improvement
While Stranded: Alien Dawn offers a compelling and rewarding gameplay experience, there are a few areas where it could be improved. The user interface can feel cluttered at times, especially when managing a large colony. The pathfinding of colonists can also be occasionally wonky, leading to frustration as they get stuck on objects or take inefficient paths.
The mid-game can also feel a bit grindy as you focus on researching new technologies and expanding your resource production. While the late game opens up more interesting possibilities, a few more events or challenges scattered throughout the mid-game could help maintain player engagement.
Here’s a breakdown of Stranded: Alien Dawn’s strengths and weaknesses:
Strengths:
- Beautiful and vibrant alien world
- Deep and engaging colony management system
- Variety of pre-built scenarios and customization options
- Strong emphasis on scientific research and exploration
- Multiple difficulty settings to cater to different playstyles
- Mod support on PC (potential for significant content expansion)
Weaknesses:
- User interface can feel cluttered at times
- Occasional pathfinding issues with colonists
- Mid-game can feel a bit grindy
The Verdict: A Must-Play for Colony Sim Fans
Stranded: Alien Dawn is a compelling and rewarding colony sim experience that offers a unique blend of survival, exploration, and base building. While it has a few rough edges, the game’s beautiful world, engaging gameplay, and deep colonist management make it a must-play for fans of the genre. With its mod support and the potential for future expansions, Stranded: Alien Dawn has the potential to become a long-lasting favorite for strategy gamers looking to build a new home among the stars.