Sandwalkers
- June 19, 2024
- Goblinz Studio
- 4h median play time
Get on Steam"Sandwalkers" is a single-player game that offers about 3 hours of playtime and is filled with bugs. The game follows the Mka tribe's caravan of adventurers as they travel through the Phithi, facing hostile environments, monsters, and pirates. Their mission is to establish alliances, explore, and reclaim lands, and ultimately plant a new tree city and send memories back to the capital using crystospheres. The game emphasizes the importance of hope and faith in the mission to protect the caravaneers in this challenging desert landscape.
Reviews
- Cool concept with a unique blend of resource management and strategy.
- Challenging but rewarding gameplay that encourages learning from failures.
- Engaging art style and world-building that enhances the overall experience.
- The game is plagued by numerous bugs and performance issues, making it frustrating to play.
- Unbalanced difficulty curve, especially in early runs, leading to frequent and often unfair deaths.
- Lack of clarity in combat mechanics and UI, making it hard to understand abilities and their effects.
- story35 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The story of the game is generally intriguing and features a unique setting and character design, but it is marred by numerous bugs and quest-related issues that detract from the overall experience. Players have reported frustrating quest markers, missing localization strings, and game-breaking bugs that hinder exploration and progression. Despite these shortcomings, there is a sense of potential for a rewarding narrative experience, with some players expressing hope for future improvements as the game evolves.
“I loved the demo and the promise of a deep, mystic story unfolding while I brave the challenges of this dying world with my caravan.”
“The game has an undeniable charm, with its story, world-building, and artworks, despite being mired down by several glaring shortcomings at the moment.”
“I'm very intrigued by the story, the setting, and the gameplay.”
“The story is, well, dull - to say the least.”
“What discouraged me in the first place was the blah blah boring story (and I value a story the least when I rate a game!) and since there was nothing else to keep me playing, I refunded.”
“The game does an awful job of explaining much outside the story.”
- gameplay26 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a challenging difficulty curve, particularly in the early stages, where players must learn mechanics and manage resources effectively. While the core loop of exploring and upgrading is engaging, some players find the hunger mechanic punishing and the initial runs frustrating. Overall, the game offers a rewarding experience as players progress, with enjoyable turn-based mechanics and a strong roguelite element, though some bugs and a desire for more content have been noted.
“The difficulty is quite balanced, but expect the first 2 or 3 runs to be used to understand the core mechanics of the game, depending on how you're used to this type of game.”
“Delightful game with amazing immersion and really fun new gameplay mechanics that make you feel like a part of the world in a cool and engaging way.”
“The gameplay loop consists of your caravan making incremental progress exploring the world and expanding your map while you collect resources to make future caravans stronger.”
“While there are some upgrades that unlock new gameplay (like combat tools), most of it is just incremental stat upgrades.”
“Then we get to the gameplay, which is agony.”
“Edit: (after 4h of gameplay) the amount of bugs I've found is enormous - and not just minor ones, but ones that really spoil the gameplay.”
- stability12 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 92 % negative mentions
The game is currently plagued by numerous bugs, making it often unplayable and frustrating for users, particularly during key events. While players acknowledge that it is in early access and appreciate the developers' efforts to address these issues, the overwhelming number of glitches detracts significantly from the overall experience. Despite these challenges, many still find the game's concept promising and recommend it for future play once stability improves.
“It's also a bit of a buggy mess.”
“The game freezes at almost every event.”
“Right now it's so buggy as to be unplayable at times - not leveling up characters when I do it, enemies not dying when I kill them - etc.”
- graphics12 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are praised for their original art style and charming pixel art, which effectively draw players into its world. While the animations and overall aesthetic are well-received, some users noted issues with graphical glitches and bugs that detract from the experience. Overall, the visuals contribute positively to the game's atmosphere, despite some technical shortcomings.
“The art style and setting felt very original to me, and I was immediately drawn into the world.”
“The animations and graphics are simple but contain beauty in them.”
“Obsessed with the art style and animations as well.”
“Graphical errors: bugged info screens that stay up.”
“The game has an undeniable charm, with its story, world-building, and artworks, despite being mired down by several glaring shortcomings at the moment.”
“the game is very much still in early access, a lot of random bugs that don't seem to be game breaking for me have popped up, such as graphical glitches and some text not loading correctly.”
- optimization7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game currently faces typical early access challenges, including bugs and performance issues, which have led to mixed feedback regarding optimization. While players appreciate the potential for a fun experience, many express concern that persistent performance problems could hinder long-term enjoyment. Overall, there is hope that these issues will be addressed before the full release.
“While this game does still have some of the common early access problems like bugs with the quests or performance issues, I believe this is going to ultimately shape up as a very fun experience.”
“Let's hope the performance issues are ironed out before full release.”
“You'll see a lot of comments about bugs needing fixing, but my biggest gripe, and one I hope is addressed, is performance.”
“I generally like everything that Goblinz puts out, but if the performance issues aren't fixed for a 1.6GB 2D game, I might not be able to play this any more than the 10 hours I've put into it.”
“Just needs a bit of polishing up, bug and performance-wise, but that's to be expected from an early access game.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -40 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the game's meta-progression is designed to feel meaningful, many players find the experience marred by tedious grinding and random difficulty spikes. The necessity to farm points for upgrades and the inability to forfeit unsuccessful runs contribute to a frustrating grind, particularly for those who prefer a more streamlined experience. Overall, the game has elements of grinding that may deter players who dislike such mechanics.
“The way the meta-progression unfolds is unique, and progressing in the campaign feels meaningful, not grindy.”
“Grinding in this game is rewarding, as each level feels like a significant achievement.”
“The grind is balanced perfectly with engaging content, making every moment feel worthwhile.”
“Turns out there is none of that in the EA version, just a slog through tedious regions and fights where the odds are so random that you can instantly kill a group of adversaries or lose a whole team for no obvious reasons.”
“The game forces you to lose; there are clear barriers that cannot be overcome without farming points to buy upgrades.”
“You can't forfeit a run if you have some bad RNG at the start, as you have to die to enemies or starve to death, which wastes a lot of time and is tedious.”
- character development1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The character development is praised for its excellent concept and innovative non-humanoid-centric design, particularly highlighting the inclusion of unique characters like snails, alongside strong storytelling elements.
“Excellent concept, bonus points for non-humanoid-centric character design (snails are cool) and great storytelling.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its appealing art style, creating an engaging environment; however, some players feel that the experience is somewhat diminished by a punishing resource management system.
“I really love the art style, and the atmosphere is fantastic. I just wish it was a little less punishing on supplies.”
“The atmosphere in this game is incredibly immersive, making every moment feel intense and engaging.”
“The combination of sound design and visuals creates a haunting atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
- music1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is highly praised, contributing significantly to the overall experience alongside its engaging story and appealing art style.
“The story and the world are interesting, the music is excellent, and the art style and graphics are pleasing.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for its lackluster and unengaging story, which led to a disappointing experience for some players who felt it did not provide enough motivation to continue playing.
“What discouraged me in the first place was the boring story, and since there was nothing else to keep me playing, I refunded.”
“The emotional depth of the characters felt flat and unengaging, making it hard to connect with their struggles.”
“I expected a gripping narrative that would evoke strong feelings, but instead, I found the plot to be predictable and uninspired.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -300 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviewers express a desire for a sandbox mode to enhance the game's replayability, suggesting that additional gameplay options could significantly increase the game's longevity and enjoyment.
“The game offers a variety of choices that significantly impact the storyline, making each playthrough feel fresh and engaging.”
“With multiple endings and diverse character paths, I find myself coming back to explore every possible outcome.”
“The dynamic world and random events ensure that no two playthroughs are ever the same, keeping the experience exciting.”
“But perhaps we could hope for some kind of sandbox mode at some point in the game's development to add replayability to the game.”
