Scrapnaut
- September 15, 2021
- SpiffyBit
- 10h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on Epic Games StoreScrapnaut is a farming and base-building simulation with open-world exploration and survival elements, available for single-player or 2-player co-op. Gather resources, cook meals, and defend against enemy raids while discovering unique items in each biome. Customize your equipment and prepare for challenging fights or strategic retreats. Although the plot is lacking, the game offers good gameplay, pretty visuals, and a fitting soundtrack, albeit with some grinding required.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a relaxing experience with interesting game mechanics, making it enjoyable to explore different biomes and craft items.
- It has potential for fun gameplay, especially when played with friends, as the cooperative aspect enhances the experience.
- The graphics and music are appealing, contributing to a pleasant atmosphere while playing.
- The game suffers from repetitive gameplay and tedious fetch quests, leading to a lack of engagement over time.
- The inventory system is frustratingly limited, making resource management cumbersome and often requiring backtracking.
- Combat mechanics are poorly designed, with clunky controls and a lack of variety in enemies and weapons, making encounters feel monotonous.
- story100 mentions
- 4 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally perceived as mediocre and unengaging, with many players noting its simplicity and reliance on repetitive fetch quests. Critics highlight the lack of depth and meaningful narrative progression, often feeling that the story was hastily constructed and fails to provide a rewarding experience. While some players appreciate the potential for future development, the current execution leaves much to be desired, with arbitrary wait times and a sense of emptiness after completing quests.
“The quest line keeps you moving, and while dialogue is very basic in details or feeling, you get the important information and are pushed along the storyline in a decent fashion.”
“I've played all the way to the end of early access so far and can't wait for more story to open up!”
“I love the storyline so far and what will become of it, I assume.”
“The game really didn't find a decent path; the story was thrown together last minute from what it seems, and the arbitrary blocking of building things was pretty problematic. It required the player to make multiple bases and semi-move bases every time, while that was entirely annoying. You only needed 2-3 machines to blast through the story, and yet it just felt so empty.”
“The story was boring and the quests were meaningless.”
“There is effectively little to no story; the combat is monotonous and unenjoyable, but perhaps worst of all is the inventory management caused by the quick degradation of tools/weapons, forcing the player to carry multiple copies of each while the inventory is rather limited, especially given that some items simply don't stack.”
- gameplay66 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the interesting mechanics and boss fights, while others criticize it for being overly simplistic and repetitive. Many users noted issues with progression and combat mechanics, leading to a lack of engagement over time, despite the game's pleasant graphics and chill atmosphere. Overall, while there are elements of fun and potential, the gameplay experience is hindered by bugs, basic mechanics, and a need for more content and updates.
“Love boss fight mechanics - either different force (use potions + latest armor/weapon = less time to fight), or just run around and attack the boss's weak spot (longer boss fights).”
“An entertaining and well-made little game with simple yet well-implemented mechanics that offer enough diversity in gameplay to help it remain interesting and entertaining despite the somewhat repetitive survival and combat loop.”
“For now, I can say it's fun and beautiful, no bugs seen during my gameplay, and it's visible that the devs are careful and partners of players.”
“By the end game, my friend and I were bored and indestructible, left waiting for no reason while dealing with frustrating bugs and mechanics.”
“As far as the survival/crafting mechanics and combat mechanics go, it is as basic as it comes.”
“Though Scrapnaut is unique in mechanic combination, it quickly becomes boring, and it feels like the developers just gave up and released the game without further development.”
- grinding32 mentions
- 3 % positive mentions
- 3 % neutral mentions
- 94 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, with many expressing frustration over the slow pace of farming, crafting, and resource management. While some appreciate the simplicity and charm of the mechanics, the lack of variety and the time-consuming nature of upgrades detract from the overall experience. Improvements to the user interface and balance could enhance enjoyment, but currently, the grind feels excessive for many.
“It is not too grindy.”
“I really want to like this game but I don't want to sit in the first area farming materials for 10 hours just so I can get to the next zone. Even the smelting of ores is tedious because you have to do them one by one, wasting time for absolutely no reason, and you have to do that constantly as all the upgrades require ingots.”
“The fight system is boring and very poorly designed, and the base building consists of only farming (like 5 types of crops and 5 dishes) and what is necessary to build your tools and weapons and some defense towers.”
“Runs very poorly; a very tedious and ham-fisted story; and all the movement, animations, placement, crafting, etc. feel super rigid.”
- graphics20 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- 5 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their appealing aesthetics, good animations, and pleasant visuals, contributing to an enjoyable experience. While some players feel the game needs improvement in other areas, many appreciate the graphics as fitting well within the survival genre. Overall, the visuals are considered a strong point, enhancing the crafting and exploration aspects of the gameplay.
“Good visuals, nice systems (crafting and building) and very good exploration feeling.”
“I am really enjoying this game, a fun casual base building crafting game with pleasant graphics, lots of things to craft and the devs seem to be very responsive to the player base, lots of ease of use touches like the ability to name storage chests so you know what is inside them.”
“Gives you a great experience in general; the music, the visuals, and the gameplay—everything is just great.”
“Chill survival game with pretty graphics and a simple story with a twist, but the visuals could use more detail.”
“The graphics are underwhelming and lack the polish expected from a modern game.”
“While the game has a unique art style, the graphics feel outdated and could benefit from a significant upgrade.”
- music16 mentions
- 88 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, described as nice and ambient, enhancing the overall experience without being annoying. While the sound effects and background music create a chill atmosphere, some users feel that the music lacks variety. Overall, it complements the visuals and gameplay effectively.
“The background music is kind of chill, and I like farming.”
“Very nice ambient music.”
“Gives you a great experience in general; the music, the visuals, and the gameplay are all just great.”
“The sounds and music are very basic.”
“The sounds and music are very basic.”
- stability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is generally solid, with users noting only minor glitches that can be overlooked. However, some players have experienced issues during combat, such as enemies freezing and unexpectedly dealing significant damage.
“Sometimes, during combat, the enemy freezes, and then you suddenly take massive damage.”
“There are minor glitches in the game that you can ignore.”
“The game experiences frequent stability issues that disrupt gameplay.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Scrapnaut's optimization is criticized for significant performance issues, including frequent FPS drops and stutters, even on systems that exceed the recommended specifications. This has led to a low score of 5/10, indicating a need for further performance updates to enhance gameplay experience.
“Scrapnaut gets a score of 5/10 because it is extremely simple in terms of combat and base-building mechanics, as well as in need of more performance updates. I have well above the recommended specs, yet there were still FPS drops and stutters.”
