Survival: Fountain of Youth

About

Survival: Fountain of Youth is a single player open world simulation game with a historical theme. It was developed by odinsoftgames and was released on May 21, 2024. It received positive reviews from players.

"Survival: Fountain of Youth" is a single-player open-world survival game set in the Caribbean during the Age of Discovery. As a member of Juan Ponce de Leon's expedition, you must craft your way through the struggles of survival on an uninhabited island, while uncovering the secrets of an ancient civilization and your own fate. Brave dangerous animals, harsh weather, and other challenges to ultimately discover the Fountain of Youth.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+10

Skip User Reviews

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,252 reviews

story274 positive mentions

grinding144 negative mentions

Engaging survival mechanics that require careful planning and resource management.
Beautiful graphics and immersive environments that enhance the exploration experience.
A compelling storyline that adds depth to the survival gameplay.

Resource gathering can be tedious and relies heavily on menu interactions rather than direct gameplay.
Combat mechanics feel clunky and unresponsive, making encounters frustrating.
The game can feel grindy, especially in the early stages, with limited resources and slow progression.

story
712 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
60%
2%
The game's story is generally well-received, with many players appreciating its engaging narrative and the way it intertwines with survival mechanics, providing a sense of purpose to exploration. However, some critiques highlight that the story can be predictable and lacks depth, with calls for more side quests and narrative variety. Overall, while the story may not be groundbreaking, it adds a significant layer to the gameplay experience, making it a standout feature in the survival genre.
- “This game is not multiplayer, but if you are looking for a single-player game with challenging gameplay and amazing storytelling, this is the game for you.”
- “The story is interesting, engaging, and ends with a twist I absolutely did not see coming.”
- “The story is well written, engaging, and does encourage us to keep exploring each island and their unique challenges.”
- “The storyline is meh (but also why most players won't be playing the game).”
- “The story was so-so, it might as well not exist, and the game itself offers enjoyable gameplay.”
- “Also, the story is just terrible.”
gameplay
476 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
62%
12%
The gameplay of "Fountain of Youth" is a mixed bag, featuring a blend of solid survival mechanics, crafting, and exploration that many players find engaging and challenging. While some appreciate the time management aspect and unique mechanics, others criticize the clunky crafting system, poor combat mechanics, and repetitive tasks that can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game shows potential but requires further refinement in its mechanics and balance to fully realize its promise.
- “A very good and coherent story, wonderful graphics and excellently balanced gameplay.”
- “Some of the best survival gameplay since Subnautica. It has great progression, crafting, foraging, and logistics.”
- “The gameplay loop, the crafting, resource gathering, hunting, exploration, RPG elements, and a bit of story all combined and done well make this a ton of fun.”
- “Extremely boring, harvesting involved endless menus and right clicking, hated the initial island 'hope', just boring survival mechanics then random mountain climbing... same enemies on the first two islands... just a boring game.”
- “The gameplay and movement mechanics are complete garbage.”
- “The mechanic of there being no animations for gathering or doing any action but instead a slider bar loading screen is atrocious.”
graphics
200 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
43%
5%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful visuals and immersive environments, particularly the ocean and landscapes. However, some players note that certain elements, like cut scenes, appear outdated, and there are performance issues on lower-end systems. Overall, while the graphics are generally considered good to excellent, there are criticisms regarding optimization and consistency across different settings.
- “The visuals are a treat, with a beautiful world begging to be explored.”
- “The graphics are sublime, especially the ocean and its waves, and qualify this game for purchase by themselves.”
- “Absolutely in love with this game, the visuals are stunning, gameplay is pretty smooth, very happy I found this game and can't wait to see where it goes.”
- “Very basic game, graphics are very poor.”
- “The graphics are out of date.”
- “I can't get stable fps over 30 with mid graphics settings (I have a 1060ti GPU and i5-8400 CPU), even then it lags at times.”
grinding
154 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
3%
94%
The game's grinding aspect has received mixed feedback, with some players finding it overly tedious and time-consuming, particularly in the early stages and during resource collection. While many appreciate the depth of the crafting and farming systems, they often feel that the grind detracts from the overall enjoyment and sense of progression. However, others enjoy the grind as part of the survival experience, noting that it becomes more manageable as players advance and acquire better tools and skills.
- “It was fair and not tedious as in some other games.”
- “The shelter/house building system is absolutely great and not grindy.”
- “Really enjoyable survival game, that is challenging but not too grindy.”
- “The start of the game feels overly grindy and I was generally not motivated to continue forward.”
- “This is one of the most tedious survival games I've ever played.”
- “I get that the developer wants to make survival challenging, but when you make picking up sticks, stones, and leaves a tedious process with a lot of running around, the fun gets lost along the way.”
optimization
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players experiencing significant performance issues such as low frame rates, stuttering, and poor handling of graphics settings. While some users noted that it runs smoothly on lower-end hardware and praised the physics system, others criticized the need for further optimization, particularly in areas with dense foliage and during specific gameplay scenarios. Overall, while the game shows potential, many recommend waiting for improvements before fully committing.
- “Really nicely polished as well, and seems well-optimized for my somewhat-going-on-potato gaming laptop.”
- “Must say I am also incredibly impressed with the physics system with just how much you can hoard and pile up on the ground with no noticeable performance drops or wacky physics explosions.”
- “The game looks pretty good and is well optimized.”
- “Needs some optimization... mainly movement (very bouncy), hit boxes on ships, AI animals yeeting themselves into orbit if they jump over anything.”
- “Besides that, it's very poorly optimized and only runs with 20-30fps on the lowest settings on a high-performance system, that's why I've refunded it recently.”
- “Terrible performance/optimization, but that's to be expected from an EA survival.”
music
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
50%
9%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players appreciate its pleasant and immersive qualities, particularly in enhancing the atmosphere during exploration and combat, others find it repetitive and lacking in depth. The ambient sounds are generally well-received, contributing to the overall experience, but there are calls for improvements to the music to better capture the game's intended atmosphere. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a decent complement to the gameplay, though it may not fully meet all players' expectations.
- “It has a relaxed music score, and it’s nice to have this pace in a survival genre packed with fraught shocks and horror.”
- “The music is pleasant and fitting.”
- “Great music and ambience so far!”
- “The ambient noise is decent, but the music feels repetitive and doesn't quite capture the atmosphere.”
- “Graphically the game is average, and so is its music/sound.”
- “I hope there is an improvement or addition to music.”
stability
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
14%
73%
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing frequent glitches, freezes, and combat issues, while others report a smooth gameplay experience without any significant problems. Common complaints include an unorganized build options menu and inconsistent animal behavior during combat. Overall, while some users find the game enjoyable despite its bugs, others cannot recommend it due to the technical issues encountered.
- “There have been no glitches, lag, or errors.”
- “It has depth, is bug-free as far as I can tell, and is challenging.”
- “For those who like survival, it has so far been worth the money spent, and I applaud the developers for it; so far, no glitches or bugs that I've encountered.”
- “Game freezes up often.”
- “I was excited for Stranded Deep but it felt too low budget and buggy as well.”
- “Cannot recommend such a buggy game.”
atmosphere
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
30%
10%
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its immersive qualities, captivating landscapes, and evocative music, creating a chill yet engaging environment that enhances exploration. While some players note that the music can be repetitive and the visuals may not be stunning up close, the overall ambiance and thematic elements contribute positively to the gameplay experience. However, there are mixed feelings about certain gameplay mechanics, such as gathering, which can detract from the enjoyment of the atmospheric setting.
- “Sfoy is an intriguing survival game with a captivating atmosphere and a rewarding crafting system which encourages exploration.”
- “Beautiful, atmospheric landscapes, an evocative score, and good story all make for a winning game!”
- “The atmosphere is immersive, the story unique, and there is a ton to discover in early access.”
- “The ambient noise is decent, but the music feels repetitive and doesn't quite capture the atmosphere.”
- “- no real sense of atmosphere”
- “The atmosphere of the new world: climbing some trees, building your base, constructing boats and the opportunity to swim underwater - this alone is fascinating, not that stunning, but not bad, not in a huge but in a modest sized world.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
Opinions on replayability are mixed; some players feel there is little to no replay value after completing the story, while others appreciate the adjustable difficulty settings, crafting system, and flexible pacing that enhance replayability. The potential for future DLC could also influence replay interest, though current indications suggest it may not happen. Overall, the game's replay value is seen as subjective, depending on individual player preferences.
- “In my opinion, there is high replayability despite it being a set story because there are lots of adjustable difficulty settings and you can approach the story as fast or as slow as you want.”
- “When you throw in the developing crafting system, meticulous environment, and a flowing story that doesn't feel like the usual plot on rails you can't avoid in other games of this type, you get a product that has plenty of replay value.”
- “I don't see any replay value after the story is over, which is why I am holding off on finishing that, hoping for some DLC in the future, but it does not look like that'll happen per the comments I have seen by the dev, but maybe that'll change, but unlikely.”
- “Replay value: too subjective to score it.”
- “I don't see any replay value after the story is over, which is why I am holding off on finishing that, hoping for some DLC in the future, but it does not look like that'll happen per the comments I have seen by the dev, but maybe that'll change, but unlikely.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as forced and poorly executed, with some players finding amusement in the absurdity of the narration and the game's premise. While the story serves its purpose for objectives, it lacks depth, leading to a mixed reception regarding its comedic elements. Players express a desire for multiplayer features to enhance the potential for humorous interactions.
- “It's unfortunate you can't get this in multiplayer, but god it'd be funny to see the sky rapidly turning dark or day when someone crafts.”
- “Well, I bought the game because of the funny negative reviews about a badger.”
- “The story is there to give you objectives, but isn't that interesting (narration is hilariously forced and bad).”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game has been criticized as feeling like a cash grab, despite the developers' apparent intention to create a quality experience. Many users expected a more polished product given the early access period, but they feel that the final release falls short in this regard.
- “You would think with the EA time that they would have worked out a lot of the issues to make it more polished before a full release, but this seems mainly like a cash grab in my opinion.”
- “It's not difficult to see that the dev set out to make a good game and not a good cash grab.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game features a robust character development system that emphasizes a "learn by doing" approach, allowing players to acquire over 100 recipes and technologies while upgrading various gear, clothing, ships, and workbenches throughout their journey.
- “There is a good amount (over 100) of recipes and techs to learn, upgrading gear, clothes, ships, and workbenches as you go, as well as a 'learn by doing' character development system.”