0 
0 Developed by Cyberwave, Solarpunk is a futuristic survival title set in a technologically advanced world. Despite the survival theme, the game looks incredibly cosy! But is it engaging to play?
Solarpunk is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Is Solarpunk the Next Great Cosy Game? Or is it a Solarflunk?
You start by creating your character, although options are limited. This isn’t too much of an issue, as Solarpunk is first-person (apart from the zoomed-out third-person option in the airship). There is co-op play, though, which ends up with everyone looking virtually identical.
From there, you have the option of two game modes: standard or soft. They are essentially the same, except that in soft (does that sound insulting to anyone else?), you keep your inventory after dying. In standard, everything drops at the location you died, though, so at least you don’t lose everything. Your hunger and thirst meters also decrease more slowly, and you don’t take damage from lightning strikes.
Once all of the above has been decided, and you’ve named your world, it’s time to explore these islands in the sky! The gameplay begins with you waking up on a small island, with little more than an axe and some food. Who are you? Where are you? How did you end up there? Who knows, and who cares, says Solarpunk! Outside of the tutorial, there are no missions. Not only that, you won’t find a narrative here either. Disappointing for some, but if you go into this with the knowledge that you’re free to do as you wish, then you’ll have a much better time. Hey, if Minecraft can do it, why not Solarpunk?
Gameplay
So, it’s just you (or your friends, if you’re playing co-op!) and the open sky. This begs the question, “What do you actually do in Solarpunk?” Well, it’s pretty much down to the player! The tutorial teaches you the basics, such as how to gather resources and begin crafting. But there’s plenty more to do here. For starters, growing your own food supply is essential for staying alive. Using a hoe to plough the land and plant what little seeds you can scavenge eventually gives way to a fully-fledged farm. And that includes animals!
Building your own homes and buildings is another major mechanic. Resource gathering can take a long time, which, whilst making your finished house feel rewarding, can be very tedious to slowly build. Chopping down trees, mining rocks, harvesting your crops, and so on, never yield that many resources. Once you are able to get to constructing, it works by placing parts such as foundations, walls, and stairs down until you’re happy with the result. Or, more likely, until you run out of resources and need to go collect more.
Aside from your hunger and thirst needing to be maintained, there’s nothing hostile in this world. In fact, other than the farm animals and a few robots, it’s basically deserted. For such a charming and interesting world, it’s a shame there isn’t anyone to meet or lore to uncover. It’s touted as a survival game, but as long as you keep yourself fed, you won’t find any challenge here.
The Sky’s the Limit!
Eventually, your starting island just won’t cut it anymore. It’ll be time to move on to grander, untouched areas. That’s where the airships come into play! You’ll need to progress through researching to a point where you can craft your very own vessel. After constructing one, you’re free to roam the skies as you explore across the world. Upgrading your ship to explore further requires the Traderbot, a helpful little robot that gives you blueprints in exchange for specific items. You’re never told where these items are, so you’d best keep your eyes peeled!
Some of these aforementioned blueprints will unlock recipes that allow you to automate your farm. Solar panels and generators for power, drills to dig deep into the earth for more resources, and things of that nature. It isn’t as in-depth as a game like Satisfactory, but seeing your small farmstead where you water everything by hand become a fully autonomous seed factory is pretty satisfying.
Despite the lack of quests and storyline, I did enjoy the sense of progression in Solarpunk. It’s nothing too complex, although the game never really explains its mechanics. As I said, it’s nothing too complex, but it may confuse younger players, or those who prefer a more structured way of playing. Personally, whilst I did find myself lost at times, not knowing where a certain item or resource was, it fed into the exploration aspect of the game. Just make sure to stock up on food and water before journeying too far from home!
Graphics & Audio
Graphically, Solarpunk isn’t pushing the limits of the PS5, but it sure is charming! It’s a vibrant, vivid world that, when viewed from your airship, looks genuinely lovely. I especially liked how slick everything looked when it rained. It’s only when getting up close to the islands that you see the lack of detail in the texture work. It’s far from terrible, and the simplistic style fits the game quite well, in my opinion. It may be off-putting to some, but I personally didn’t mind the lack of detail when viewing areas closely.
The audio, similar to the visuals, is rather simplistic. There’s some very chilled, melodic background music as you play. Which, honestly, almost had me drifting off at one point! The ambient audio is just what you’d expect; flowing water, farm animals making a racket, and so on. Again, it works for the sort of game Solarpunk is, but a bit more variety would have pushed it to be more memorable.
Longevity
On Solarpunk‘s Steam page, Cyberwave has created a handy “before you buy” that details the game’s length. They estimate that the main progression can be completed in around 20 hours. For me, it was around 25 hours, as I did take my time base-building and exploring. After that, you’re still free to explore, although the world is finite.
All in all, it’s refreshing to play a game of this genre that doesn’t take hundreds of hours to see and do everything. It perfectly ties in with the cosy nature of the rest of the adventure, and it was the perfect length for me!
Final Thoughts
Solarpunk is definitely something of an acquired taste. Whilst I do wish there was more of a structure to it, I did enjoy just building and exploring at my own pace. Some of the creations I’ve seen online are truly fantastic, and have given me inspiration to return to my various bases and improve their looks!
Ultimately, what you get out of Solarpunk relies entirely on the player. Yes, due to the handcrafted worlds, there isn’t an infinite amount to see. But, as I’ve said, not every game needs to be infinitely replayable. This is mechanically rather simple, but still scratches that itch of creating things from bits and bobs.
Therefore, Solarpunk receives the ThumbCulture Silver Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord | Podcast
About Author
