Don’t Starve is an interesting game all about survival. It drops the player into a harsh and challenging world with little instruction and it’s through several attempts that I actually found out a bit more about how I could play the game. Not how the game was meant to be played though. If there is some point to how I’m supposed to play the game I have no idea if I’m right about it at all.

You’re instructed simply to get food since you look kind of hungry. The basic controls are easy enough to understand and doesn’t take long to get used to but how items and the environment all work together are at first a mystery. If I had to compare the experience I’d say ti’s very similar to how Minecraft felt when I first jumped in. However, that’s kind of where the similarities end. There is less focus on survival in Minecraft once you play for a while where as in Don’t Starve I never found myself forget about how I needed to constantly search for food and resources. The game does a wonderful job at making it’s name a very literal gameplay goal and one that I found to be a fun challenge. This atmosphere of survival is complimented by an eery aesthetic of a Tim Burton like world of fantasy along with monsters and other perils that can befall you as the days pass. It’s a really simple idea that becomes very complex as you survive each day. I found that even though at first I had no idea what I was doing I quickly was able to adapt to the game’s feel and was doing science in no time. Not only is there science but there’s also magic. Both are used to help you survive as well as serve for fun gameplay mechanics. Though they become more a necessity as the game progresses.

Which I’m sure is because of the demon that trapped you in the wild that you’re in. That’s right there’s actually a story. From what I can tell it’s a very simple one that doesn’t go into too much explanation but in short you are Gentleman Scientist Wilson who gets trapped somehow in a strange alternate world. You’re forced to survive and are prompted, form as far as I can tell by the demon, to go get some food since you look kind of hungry. It’s not a very complex story as far as I’m aware but the game does like to poke hints about how there were others like you in the world you’re in and how they’re no longer around. These can be seen through the skeletons and loot left over than you can find from the generated world. There are also other characters that can be unlocked all with their own abilities that can make or break your chances on surviving (though my favorite ability is still Wilson’s).

That being said it seems as though the game is still growing even after it’s release. Other character’s may end up getting more backstory and I wouldn’t put it past klei entertainment to add in more than just that in the future. Though even if the game stayed this way there’s a lot of fun to be had with it. It does a great job at creating a simple survival game that gives you enough room to grow to make anything you want out of the experience as well as the ability to start completely new and unique experiences anytime you want with the ability to customize how a world generates before you play it. I think that this is definitely the kind of game worth checking out for it’s price tag. If anything can be said about Don’t Starve it definitely that it’s gameplay doesn’t leave you hungry.

4/5