Sandwalkers
- June 19, 2024
- Goblinz Studio
- 6h 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.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The game has a unique and engaging concept, combining resource management and tactical combat in a richly designed world.
- The art style and atmosphere are praised, creating an immersive experience that draws players into the game's lore.
- Despite its early access state, many players find the gameplay loop rewarding, with a sense of progression as they learn the mechanics and improve their caravans.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, including memory leaks and long loading times, which can disrupt gameplay.
- Many players feel the early game is overly punishing, with a lack of resources leading to frequent deaths and frustrating experiences.
- The balance of difficulty is criticized, with some encounters feeling unfairly difficult and lacking clear communication about enemy strengths.
- story46 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally praised for its intriguing concept, art style, and world-building, but it is marred by numerous bugs and quest-related issues that hinder the overall experience. Players express frustration with quest markers not functioning properly, environmental changes not reflecting completed missions, and a lack of direction in certain tasks, which detracts from the enjoyment of the narrative. Despite these shortcomings, many reviewers remain hopeful that the developers will address these problems, as the story has the potential to be a strong draw for players.
“The story and tactical element should make this game a must-have for rogue-like enjoyers.”
“Excellent concept, bonus points for non-humanoid-centric character design (snails are cool) and great storytelling.”
“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 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.”
- gameplay30 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a challenging yet rewarding experience, with a steep learning curve that initially frustrates players but leads to enjoyable long runs as they master the mechanics. While the core loop of resource management and exploration is engaging, some players note that the hunger mechanic can be punishing, and there are calls for more depth and variety in the roguelike elements. Overall, the game offers a solid foundation with fun mechanics, though it is still in early access and has some bugs that need addressing.
“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.”
“Game can be finished in under 15 hours of gameplay (still in early access).”
“While there are some upgrades that unlock new gameplay (like combat tools), most of it is just incremental stat upgrades.”
“Edit: (after 4 hours of gameplay) the amount of bugs I've found is enormous - and not just minor ones, but ones that really spoil the gameplay.”
- graphics17 mentions
- 59 % positive mentions
- 24 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming pixel art style, which evokes a sense of originality and beauty, reminiscent of titles like Duelyst and Legends of Keepers. While the overall aesthetic and animations are well-received, some players have noted minor graphical glitches and bugs that detract from the experience. Despite these shortcomings, the art style and atmosphere contribute significantly to the game's appeal, with many expressing excitement for its future development.
“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.”
“The art style is top notch and the amount of characters to choose from is actually crazy.”
“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.”
- stability14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- -7 % neutral mentions
- 86 % negative mentions
The game is experiencing significant stability issues, particularly on Linux, with numerous bugs and UI problems that hinder gameplay, especially during combat. While players acknowledge that it is still in early access and expect some glitches, the frequency and severity of the bugs have led to frustrations, with some describing it as nearly unplayable at times. Despite these challenges, many users remain optimistic about the game's potential as developers work to address the issues.
“The game runs smoothly on Windows, providing a stable experience overall.”
“While I don't expect a completely bug-free experience, the stability on my platform has been impressive.”
“Despite some minor glitches on Linux, the game performs excellently on Windows.”
“For an early access game, this is still a very buggy experience with multiple UI issues (especially in combat) that are quite frustrating.”
“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.”
- optimization9 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Overall, players express significant frustration with the game's optimization, citing persistent performance issues and bugs that detract from the experience. While some remain hopeful for improvements in future updates, many feel that the current state is unacceptable for a game that has been out for a while. Despite these concerns, there is a recognition of the game's potential, with some reviewers indicating that better optimization could greatly enhance their enjoyment.
“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.”
“I give a solid 8.2/10 for now, would easily go to 9 with just better UI, performance, and balance.”
“I am usually not too picky when it comes to bugs and performance issues, but this game has been out long enough and received content updates without this being an issue for them.”
“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.”
“Let's hope the performance issues are ironed out before full release.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -40 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the game features a unique meta-progression system that makes campaign progress feel meaningful, some players find it necessitates grinding for upgrades, particularly when facing insurmountable barriers. Additionally, the inability to forfeit runs can lead to tedious experiences, especially when bad RNG occurs. Overall, players who dislike grinding may find certain aspects of the game frustrating.
“The way the meta-progression unfolds is unique, and progressing in the campaign feels meaningful, not grindy.”
“Grinding in this game is rewarding; every effort feels like it contributes to my overall growth.”
“I appreciate how the grind is balanced with engaging content, making each session enjoyable.”
“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.”
“And I suppose one point to make is for people who don't like grindy games, there is definitely a bit of grinding in this one.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received positive feedback, with many users praising it as excellent and reminiscent of the style found in Duelyst. Overall, it complements the interesting story and appealing art style effectively.
“The art style and music, on the other hand, remind me of Duelyst, which is great.”
“The story and the world are interesting; the music is excellent, and the art style and graphics are pleasing.”
- 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 could be improved with a less punishing resource management system.
“I really appreciate the art style, and the atmosphere is fantastic. I just wish it was a little less punishing on supplies.”
“The game's atmosphere is incredibly immersive, drawing you into its world with stunning visuals and sound design.”
“Every element of the environment contributes to a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere that keeps you engaged throughout the game.”
- 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, ultimately resulting in refunds.
“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.”
