Version 0.1.9 — August 31, 2026
I think this version can be summed up in one word: Empty.
The game has a relatively small archipelago. The feeling of spaciousness is due to the distance between the islands, but in reality, the world itself isn't particularly large. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem if there were a story or significant reasons to explore it. Unfortunately, there isn't.
You find skeletons in various places, some of them wearing what appear to be new clothes. The entire body has deteriorated, but the clothes remain perfectly intact. What's even stranger is that you can't even pick up these clothes. It's a small detail, but one that immediately gives the world an artificial feel.
There are also leaf-covered traps, seemingly inspired by classic Vietnam War traps. The problem is that there are no people on these islands, and the hostile animals never seem to fall into them. They exist almost exclusively to trap the player.
And then there are the scattered notes. So far, all the notes I've found essentially tell the same story: "This island seems peaceful, but it isn't, and if you're reading this, I must be dead..." The problem is that these notes don't seem to connect to each other. At least the five or six I've found so far have no apparent connection or progression.
Some islands contain cave paintings, despite having no human inhabitants, while the islands that have villages are populated by two or three natives who attack the player immediately, without any strategy. Combat is extremely simplistic. In many situations, you can simply face them head-on and attack repeatedly, killing them without taking any damage.
There are also many broken ships, crashed planes, and even submerged containers scattered across the map. Strangely, however, the ships and planes contain nothing; they are just empty structures. When it comes to containers, boxes, barrels, and suitcases, I'd say that about 90% of the time you find sulfur, gunpowder, nails, and rags.
Why is there so much sulfur and gunpowder if there's so little to shoot with?
The player's main survival concern is apparently avoiding dehydration, as, curiously, it almost never rains. In several hours of gameplay, I only saw rain once, and when it finally did, it lasted an absurdly long time in the game.
There are also several items that, currently, don't make much sense. There's a furnace for smelting ores, but I haven't found any ores. There's a bucket that allows you to collect seawater, but I haven't found any practical use for it. You can't even use it to water plants, because they simply grow on their own over time. There's no apparent need for irrigation or fertilization.
And then we have firearms: grenades, pistols, rifles, shotguns, and so on.
But what exactly should I shoot?
Should I throw a grenade at two natives blindly advancing towards me? There's also a hilarious interaction where taking just a few steps in the water causes all the enemies to stop attacking and stare at the player indefinitely.
The player can also craft bows and arrows, but apparently they're more native than the natives themselves, because none of them seem to use bows or arrows.
So far, I've found three landmarks that really stand out:
A lighthouse
An airplane on a long island
A stranded cargo ship
The lighthouse has a padlock, but none of the notes I found provide the combination. I looked on YouTube and again, crate with the same things and a lemon tree growing in the concrete...
The airplane contains a device described as a kind of symbol of modernity. What exactly does that mean? Was the player born on the island? The device seems to be some kind of GPS and has no use as it's not collectible.
And then there's the stranded cargo ship. Inside, I found a vehicle, two crates containing the usual sulfur, nails and other common materials, plus some suitcases. Climbing the stairs of this ship is a nightmare. The character constantly collides with what seems to be an invisible wall, forcing him to crouch and jump just to get up.
The game also lacks truly interesting combat encounters.
For comparison, games like Green Hell feature threats like intelligent natives, cougars, and snakes, while Stranded Deep has memorable encounters like Meg (Megalodon), the Great Abaia (giant moray eel), and Lusca the Great (giant squid).
These encounters give exploration a sense of danger and anticipation. Here, there's none of that.
At this point, it seems the game is trying to emulate Stranded Deep and perhaps even surpass it, but currently falls far short because there isn't even a real progression system or story progression.
The game lacks even the most basic story, and given its slow progress, it seems to me it will be an asset flip where the devs will once again leave it in early access forever and disappear without finishing the game. I really hope I'm wrong about this impression. Stand Deep is still in early access, but it has a story conclusion, and despite having bugs, it's playable, captivating, and has a coherent and fun survival mechanic. Away From Life lacks all of that...
