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0 I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival is a game that asks the question: “What if a post-apocalyptic survival title was stress-free?” Brought to us by developer Mandragora, I Am Future initially launched into Steam’s Early Access in 2023. The full 1.0 release was then made available in November 2024. Now, it’s coming to PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S. Rejoice console players!
This review of I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival will be covering the PS5 version. But, it’s worth noting that the Steam user reviews are already sitting at “Very Positive”. So, get cosy, gather your materials, and get ready for the end of the world!
Survival Has Never Been So Snug
I Am Future puts you in the role of the last surviving human on Earth. Everyone has seemingly fled to a new planet known as Eden, though after awakening from cryosleep, it appears your pod didn’t get very far! The game opens with you stranded on a rooftop, as you try to recover your memories and piece together just what exactly is going on.
It’s apparent from the outset that this isn’t a typical, hardcore survival title. Which, as someone who loves to play video games to unwind, is a huge positive. Combining the usual mix of gathering materials, crafting, farming, and so on, with a distinct lack of urgency or imminent threats, it’s easy to take your time and just wander around. Thankfully, this absence of serious challenge doesn’t make it a bore to play. Sure, there are times when it can feel like a bit of a grind, but generally it never gets too egregious.
Gameplay
As for actual gameplay, a lot of I Am Future revolves around exploring the environment and gathering resources. Various tools will become available the further you progress, which, when used, have quick minigames associated with disassembling specific items. Certain objects, such as kettles or TVs, will have more in-depth interactions as you deconstruct them and salvage parts. The reason for hoarding all of these bits and bobs is to craft, craft, craft! The world may be a flooded wasteland, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your rooftop sanctuary look good, right? Crafting isn’t just about putting a personal touch on your new home; it’s also used to upgrade your tools, expand to new areas, and so on. There’s a good amount of furniture to spruce up your base, but also powering it with electricity will allow you to add machinery to make life easier.
This being a survival title, the consistent theme throughout is… you guessed it, survival! You’ll need to keep track of not only your health, but also your hunger meter. Foraging for food supplies and cooking up dishes will solve this, so make sure you have a steady supply coming in! Of course, you’ll eventually be self-sustainable with a nice little farm to grow all manner of food items!
Issues do arise when it comes to the lack of rewards when gathering so many resources. After a while, it did feel like heading out to dig around for more items became a bit of a chore, with lack of inventory space and no option to sprint being the main issues. Granted, you can upgrade how many slots you have in your inventory. But I always seemed to have to leave something behind, only to then have to travel all the way back to pick it up.
Flora, Fauna, and… sentient Fridges?
Whilst you may be the last human on these rooftops, you’re not completely alone. Shortly after starting the game, you’ll meet Earl, a fridge that likes to talk. A lot. Several other mouthy machines are encountered throughout your journey, and I found the dialogue to be overly cheesy and not very engaging. It’s all light-hearted, and the plot that slowly unfolds is an interesting mystery at times, but some of these robots need to be powered down! Well, not all of them, as some can be sent on expeditions to far away areas to collect useful resources and snippets of lore. Others can be used to automate your workload at your base. Those ones I’m cool with!
There are also other lifeforms that you’ll come across, these being things like poisonous plants and electricity-sucking bugs. They stay hidden during the day, but once night falls, they appear and are intent on ruining your base. With I Am Future having no combat mechanics, dealing with these is as simple as spraying them with pesticide. I do wish there was more of a challenge in dealing with these “enemies”, although I suppose that would go against the whole cosy vibe of the game.
Graphics & Audio
For the end of the world, it sure is colourful! It’s always nice to see post-apocalyptic games forgo the bland, miserable colour palette for something more vivid. Despite not being the smoothest-looking title, with some rough texture work and low-quality models, its cartoonish charm is hard not to love. As I mentioned earlier, taking your time and exploring is so rewarding, thanks in part to the environments. A map mostly consisting of dilapidated skyscraper rooftops overlooking a flooded city shouldn’t be this cosy!
Likewise, the soundtrack offers plenty of mellow tunes that complement the cosy nature of I Am Future. There’s very little voice acting, although what is there is serviceable, if a tad wooden. Overall, the presentation is charming, and there were no major bugs, frame drops or graphical issues during my time playing.
Longevity
I Am Future is a lengthy title with plenty to do. Obviously, you can take your time with base-building and simply exploring, which will pad out the hours played. Even if you decide to rush through as many quests as possible to reach the end, there is still plenty of them!
Final Thoughts
I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival manages to successfully blend the post-apocalyptic survival genre with a stress-free gameplay loop. There were times when I found the constant back-and-forth journey for resources a little slow, and other times when I wanted to skip the corny dialogue. But, overall, I had a lot of fun! I would easily recommend it to anyone looking for something that — whilst perhaps not genre-defining — is easy enough to get to grips with and isn’t bogged down with a myriad of complex systems.
Therefore, I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival gets the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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