Project Castaway

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"Project Castaway is a survival crafting game set in the Pacific Ocean, where you are stranded on a deserted island. Gather resources, build shelters, and hunt for food while exploring picturesque landscapes and swimming in crystal-clear waters. Construct a base and upgrade your skills to ensure your survival in this beautiful yet unforgiving environment."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 590 reviews

graphics55 positive mentions

stability47 negative mentions

The game has great graphics and a beautiful environment, making exploration enjoyable.
The crafting and building mechanics are engaging, allowing for creativity in survival strategies.
The developers are actively listening to community feedback and pushing updates to improve the game.

The game is plagued with bugs, including issues with saving progress and items disappearing.
The hunger and thirst mechanics are overly punishing, requiring constant attention and making gameplay feel grindy.
The inventory management system is clunky, making it frustrating to organize and access items.

graphics
83 mentions
66 % positive mentions
30 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
Overall, the graphics of the game have received high praise, with many users highlighting their beauty and immersive quality, particularly in environments like the ocean and storms. However, some players have noted issues with optimization, bugs, and limited graphical settings, which detract from the overall experience. Despite these concerns, the visuals are generally considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's potential in the survival genre.
- “The graphics are absolutely gorgeous and the ambiance sound of the waves, seagulls, and rain storms do a great job of making you feel fully immersed as if you were on the island yourself.”
- “Overall, 'Project Castaway' delivers a solid survival experience with stunning visuals and engaging mechanics that set it apart in a crowded genre.”
- “The graphics are wonderful and there is plenty of stuff to do and learn.”
- “It's missing a ton of basic options, the graphics settings are bare bones, and the actions remapping is pretty bad.”
- “Graphics are worse than the 2022 title Stranded Deep.”
- “I found the video graphics to be buggy, choppy, or laggy when I was playing.”
gameplay
72 mentions
31 % positive mentions
60 % neutral mentions
10 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with players praising its graphics and some mechanics while criticizing numerous bugs, clunky controls, and a lack of depth in survival elements. Many users noted that while the crafting and building mechanics show potential, they are often poorly executed and hinder the overall experience. Overall, the game offers an interesting survival experience but requires significant improvements to its mechanics and gameplay systems to reach its full potential.
- “Overall, 'Project Castaway' delivers a solid survival experience with stunning visuals and engaging mechanics that set it apart in a crowded genre.”
- “The water animations and sailing mechanics are some of my favorite aspects, alongside a well-thought-out crafting system that minimizes the grind by making resources plentiful.”
- “The graphics are awesome and the gameplay is smooth, and I also really love the sound design!”
- “Stranded in the Pacific, I found the real challenge wasn’t survival—it was battling the janky mechanics and buggy gameplay.”
- “Very buggy, lacking lots of essential gameplay parts and also feeling somewhat directionless.”
- “Wouldn't recommend it to any survival crafting fan out there, since it has extremely limited building options, the combat mechanic is very basic and boring, and the survival elements are dumb and require constant tending to.”
story
68 mentions
32 % positive mentions
62 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players finding it intriguing and well-written, while others criticize it for being confusing or cliché. Many appreciate the gradual unfolding of the narrative through quests and notes, which adds depth to the survival experience, though some feel it lacks emotional weight and clarity. Overall, while the story has potential and engages some players, it requires further development and refinement to fully captivate the audience.
- “The storyline has a decent start, but it could use a bit more intrigue or backstory to really hook players in and add emotional weight to the survival experience.”
- “Finding recipes for new things to build is quite satisfying, and the story, lore, and method of doling it out a little at a time seem to really work.”
- “The story in the notes for the quests are so well written!”
- “Nope... this story makes no sense at all, despite being full of clichés and gamification.”
- “The only reason this plot exists is to explain away the random crafting recipes scattered around the islands, and those recipes are essential to the arbitrary and pointless crafting tier gatekeeping.”
- “While there is a story, it just isn't engaging enough for me to explore past my beach hut.”
stability
48 mentions
6 % positive mentions
-4 % neutral mentions
98 % negative mentions
The game is currently plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, which is typical for early access titles, but the extent of the issues has led to significant frustration among players. Many report frequent freezes, janky mechanics, and imbalances that detract from the overall experience, although some express hope for improvements as the game develops. Overall, while there is potential, the stability of the game is a major concern at this stage.
- “This game is in its very early stages, so if you're looking for a polished, bug-free experience with tons of content, it's not the right time.”
- “Despite being in early access, the game runs surprisingly stable, allowing for an enjoyable experience.”
- “The developers are actively working on stability improvements, which gives me confidence in the game's future.”
- “Stranded in the Pacific, I found the real challenge wasn’t survival—it was battling the janky mechanics and buggy gameplay.”
- “At the moment, buggy as hell. This game has some good promise, but with the raft floating issue from the last update that took a few days to fix instead of an instant rollback, and sharks swimming through land, something which said update was meant to fix but wasn't even an issue prior.”
- “If you can't handle lots of bugs, stuck moments, weird loading freezes requiring restarts, and other annoyances, then steer clear until later in early access or final release.”
optimization
22 mentions
14 % positive mentions
41 % neutral mentions
45 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting significant bugs, stuttering, and frame rate drops that severely impact the experience. Many users note that even high-end systems struggle with performance issues, indicating a pressing need for updates and fine-tuning to enhance gameplay. Overall, the consensus is that the game is currently unplayable for many due to its poor optimization.
- “The game desperately needs optimization for a better experience.”
- “I would still like to see some optimizations for resource distribution.”
- “Good game, needs some optimization and to uncap the 60 fps.”
- “The game desperately needs optimization for a better experience...”
- “The stuttering and frame rate drop is too much!”
- “The game seems poorly optimized.”
grinding
11 mentions
27 % positive mentions
-18 % neutral mentions
91 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is described as a significant but manageable challenge, with players noting that while it can be slow and tedious, it is not unbearable. Many feel that the farming mechanics are underwhelming and could benefit from enhancements, such as health buffs, to make the experience more engaging. Overall, the game is seen as a grindy survival experience reminiscent of "Green Hell," requiring substantial time investment for basic needs like food and rest.
- “Not too tedious, but not too easy either.”
- “The grinding feels rewarding and keeps me engaged.”
- “I appreciate how the grind balances challenge and enjoyment.”
- “The entire farming mechanic is dumb and basically useless.”
- “You'll end up hunting seagulls and farming potatoes, but you need like 20 of either to fill up, and your hunger bar will drain to 0 again in 20 minutes.”
- “It's a 100% grindy game right now; everything is slow but not unbearable.”
emotional
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players feel that while the storyline has potential, it lacks sufficient depth and intrigue to fully engage them emotionally in the survival experience. Additionally, the game's mechanics, such as the sharks' attacks, contribute to a sense of tension, but overall, it struggles to evoke the same emotional impact as titles like "The Last of Us."
- “The storyline has a decent start, but it could use a bit more intrigue or backstory to really hook players in and add emotional weight to the survival experience.”
- “And, the sharks bite... dude... they are a mile away, not even touching you, but it still hits you.”
- “As a side note, there is only one other game that has made an emotional impact on me: The Last of Us 1 and 2.”
music
3 mentions
67 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as peaceful and reminiscent of "Stranded Deep," effectively enhancing the ambiance alongside impressive graphics. Reviewers suggest that incorporating a different score during enemy encounters could elevate the experience further, but overall, the music contributes positively to the game's atmosphere.
- “The music is very peaceful and very reminiscent of Stranded Deep, but maybe adding a different score when there are enemies nearby.”
- “The graphics are great and the ambiance sounds and music are amazing. This is my personal and honest opinion, and it's coming from a casual gamer. I am by no means a techy person, but it works great for me and it looks very pretty. For me, it's a big thing not to forget that the gameplay is good, of course; it needs some fixing here and there, but it's enjoyable.”
- “The music is very peaceful and reminiscent of Stranded Deep, but it could benefit from a different score when enemies are nearby.”
replayability
2 mentions
150 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
While the game features frequent bugs that can be frustrating, players still find it has high replayability, especially with the promise of additional islands being added in the future. Many anticipate completing the game within a couple of weeks but are eager to return for new content.
- “Probably finish it in a couple of weeks, but the high replayability keeps me coming back, and they are going to add more islands apparently.”
- “The variety of choices and paths you can take makes each playthrough feel unique and engaging.”
- “With the constant updates and new content, there's always something fresh to explore, enhancing the overall replayability.”
- “The bugs in the game (not flying ones - except your raft!!) are frequent and very frustrating. I know this is a dev game, but still, games should not be released until they are playable.”
- “Once you complete the main storyline, there is little incentive to replay the game. The lack of new content makes it feel stale.”
- “The game offers minimal variation in gameplay on subsequent playthroughs, which makes it hard to stay engaged.”
monetization
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has drawn criticism, with players feeling that it resembles a cash grab due to numerous glitches and a lack of polish, particularly in the raft mechanics. This has led to disappointment, especially for those expecting a high-quality experience from an early access title.
- “Excited to have a new survival game with great graphics and solid gameplay so far, but after numerous glitches with the raft in both building and navigating, it really does start to feel like another copy-paste cash grab in the survival genre.”
- “I just have no idea how all these bugs were missed, and this is the first EA game I have played that actually feels like a cash grab.”
humor
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is appreciated, with players finding certain elements amusing, such as quirky bugs and frustrating moments, though it can be overshadowed by the annoyance of losing progress due to not saving.
- “Dying at 30°C is ridiculous, but the hopping bug is kind of funny.”
atmosphere
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is praised for its immersive and engaging qualities, contributing to a compelling survival experience.
- “Nice, atmospheric survival game.”