Surviving Ceres

About

Surviving Ceres is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Ryan Saunders and was released on May 2, 2025. It received very positive reviews from players.

Hostile EnvironmentYou have been sent alone to the dwarf planet Ceres. You must endure the harsh environment while you gather, craft, and build the basics required to stay alive. Build machines, facilities, and farms as you establish a foothold in this icy world. Don't Struggle Just AutomateNo tedious gathering of the same materials over and over. Once you acquire a material and locate deep d…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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92%

Audience ScoreBased on 98 reviews

atmosphere2 positive mentions

grinding6 negative mentions

The game offers a fun and engaging gameplay loop, allowing players to constantly have tasks to complete and progress in their colony.
Despite its rough graphics and some janky elements, the game shows a lot of heart and passion from the solo developer, making it a unique experience.
The developer is responsive to feedback and actively works on updates, which enhances the overall experience and potential for future improvements.

The base building mechanics are clunky and frustrating, with inconsistent room sizes and limited options for layout, making it difficult to create an efficient base.
The graphics and overall presentation feel amateurish and could use significant improvement to enhance immersion and visual appeal.
The game suffers from a lack of clarity in its mechanics and UI, leading to confusion about how to progress and manage resources effectively.

gameplay
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The gameplay is characterized by a unique blend of base building and colonization mechanics that feel more akin to city building than traditional survival crafting, offering an engaging and immersive experience. While the building mechanics are praised, some players note areas for improvement, particularly regarding combat and certain immersion-breaking elements. Overall, the game provides a solid introduction to the genre, with intuitive mechanics that cater to both newcomers and competitive players.
- “The tension, the exploration, the survival mechanics—everything is so well-crafted and deeply immersive.”
- “It offers a fantastic introduction to the factory/action genre, blending engaging gameplay with a relaxing atmosphere.”
- “This game uses a unique approach as the base building and colonization mechanic both end up making the base building feel less like a survival craft game and more like a city builder, but just being played from a survival craft perspective.”
- “There are some other minor things like rockets accelerating in discreet steps every few seconds instead of continually that don't affect the gameplay much; they just kind of ruin the immersion, which is a shame.”
- “The building mechanics need a little work, but that seems to be in the works for the next few updates.”
graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with some users noting that while the visuals are basic and occasionally janky, they can be charming and immersive. There are reports of graphical errors like T-posing and clunky models, but overall performance is smooth, and some players find the visuals grow on them over time. Improvements are expected, but the current graphics are seen as a work in progress that still contribute to an enjoyable experience.
- “Performance is smooth, the visuals are gorgeous, and the soundtrack?”
- “The visuals are simple but necessary, and the sound design adds to the overall experience, creating a delightful environment that keeps you immersed.”
- “Watch the video and screenshots first so you are aware the graphics look old, but they grew on me and I still thought they were well done.”
- “The visuals and in-game models are just a tad janky.”
- “Not clear how to do anything or what the priorities are; the graphics are amateurish.”
- “The visuals are pretty basic.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while early farming is straightforward, the repetitive nature of mining and production tasks becomes tedious as players must manually manage resources and recipes. Although farming can be automated, the overall grinding can feel overwhelming and lacks scalability, which may deter some players.
- “It's also quite tedious to 'play' around somehow.”
- “Mining and production consists of running back and forth from your mines (or teleporting which at least saves running) to dump materials into a smelter, which requires you to manually set the smelting recipe and quantity every time, after which you manually carry it to another machine, manually set recipe and quantity every time... you get the picture - it doesn't scale well and just gets tedious.”
- “For the survival buffs, the grinding will feel familiar.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the smooth performance and stunning visuals, others report significant issues, such as frame drops to 50fps or lower on capable hardware, leading to a frustrating experience. Overall, the performance seems inconsistent, leaving some users with a negative first impression.
- “All jokes aside, one thing that is not janky about this game is the performance.”
- “Performance is smooth, the visuals are gorgeous, and the soundtrack is fantastic.”
- “Bad performance: dropping to 50fps and below on 1440p with a 3070 (GPU bound) even after just having started and in a tiny base. Running at 50fps already feels pretty awful and stuttery.”
- “I left with a not good first impression and I'm also leaving with a headache due to the bad performance.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The atmosphere of "Surviving Ceres" is highly praised for its blend of survival, base-building, and exploration elements, creating a relaxing yet engaging environment. Players appreciate the game's ability to immerse them in a captivating setting that enhances the overall gameplay experience.
- “If you love survival, base-building, and atmospheric exploration, Surviving Ceres is a must-play.”
- “It offers a fantastic introduction to the factory/action genre, blending engaging gameplay with a relaxing atmosphere.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is highly praised, complementing the smooth performance and stunning visuals, creating an immersive experience for players.
- “The performance is smooth, the visuals are gorgeous, and the soundtrack is absolutely captivating.”
- “The music perfectly complements the gameplay, enhancing the overall experience.”
- “Each track is beautifully composed, making every moment in the game feel immersive and engaging.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game stems from the chaotic and nonsensical base layouts created by fixed-size structures, leading to absurd and hilarious situations as players attempt to navigate their cluttered environments. While the unpredictability can become tedious, many find joy in the comedic challenge of cramming more elements into tight spaces.
- “The pre-designed and fixed size structures lead to an absolutely nonsensical base layout that is all over the place to the point of being absolutely hilarious.”
- “This will lead to some inevitable long walks through your base that can get old fast as you can't really plan out a base design. However, I just found it so hilarious shoving more stuff into tiny spots because of this, and it was just so funny to me.”
story
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story emphasizes the importance of resource management and quest tracking, as players may risk soft-locking themselves if they do not strategically unlock and place ore miners. Attention to the quest log is crucial for progression.