Have You Played... Raft?

HomeFeaturesRaft

Have You Played… Raft?Water, water, every where / Nor any drop to drink

Water, water, every where / Nor any drop to drink

Even though it only hit Steam in 2018, and has only existed in any form since 2016,Raftfeels like one of those survival games that has been in Early Access forever. That’s not a criticism, it’s just very much the mood the game has. It’s one of those ones you’ll play a bit of, forget about, and then look back a year later, only to find it’s grown a whole story and pigs you can fight. That gradual accretion of stuff is fitting, I suppose, as it’s exactly what Raft is about: gradually accreting stuff.

The premise is pretty simple - you’re on a raft. It’s small to start with, but as you honk wood and stuff out of the sea you add to it, and make it bigger. Via the bizarre magical shorthand we’ve all come to accept from the term “crafting”, you conjure your accumulated trove of flotsam into more and more fancy objects, including nets that automatically honk wood and stuff out of the sea for you. Sooner or later, your raft will be an improbable floating palace, with farms, a lounge area, and - if you’re anything like me - loads of barbecues.