After weeks in my Steam Wishlist, ‘The Wandering Village’ released by the Swedish game developers over at ‘Stray Fawn Studio’ has launched in Early Access. Posted on Kickstarter almost 2 years ago exactly on October 13th, 2020, ‘The Wandering Village’ caught the attention of thousands and the project itself garnered around $156,215 towards its development.
A city building survival game, ‘The Wandering Village’ continues the studio’s trend of survival simulation games with dynamic, stylized art and unique takes on preexisting genres. You, the player, become the leader of a group of nomads who are trying to survive in a newly hostile, eco-apocalyptic world as poisonous spores are blown into your valley by the wind. On your journey, you encounter the Onbu, a gigantic, mountainous beast that was previously thought to be extinct. In order to survive, you and your village form a symbiotic relationship with the creature as it carries you across miles and miles of land.
Spoiler Alert: You will get attached to said mountainous creature.
In learning about the premises of this game, I was fondly reminded of an episode of ‘Doctor Who’ where another giant creature comes to humanity and allows them to live on its back as Earth becomes uninhabitable. Unfortunately, the episode takes on a much more bleak approach of what humanity might do in these circumstances, taking advantage of the creature and trapping it for fear that it might someday abandon them. This game is the other side of that coin and shows you what can be achieved by true, and equal symbiosis. To take care of the Onbu is to take care of yourselves because without either, both would eventually perish. Though not a subtle allegory for how we as humanity should be caring for our planet, the lesson is taught in a charming and tangible fashion via the inexplicable human habit of getting attached to any creature that is remotely friend shaped. Of course, you do need to build a relationship with the creature in order for it to trust you, which adds an additional level of complexity to the game. If the Onbu does not trust you, it may choose to go its own way rather than where you would like it to go.
Now let's get into what everyone is really here for. What is the game like?
I think at this point it goes without saying that I have been greatly enjoying the game so far. We opened an adorable thank you card from the studio, thanking us for purchasing and playing the game and welcoming us into the community. Meanwhile, we are introduced to the first track of an incredible score (courtesy of @NukeTan). Woodwind and electronic, it lends itself perfectly to the idea of a casually styled ecological apocalypse and is filled with the exact right amount of whimsy that would be expected of a game like this. The score is also supported by interesting vocalizations which to me were very reminiscent of the likes of 'Avatar: The Last AirBender', 'Brother Bear', etc.
To start playing, you have the option to choose between three levels of difficulty; novice, intermediate, and master. Another thing which showcases how much the game cares about user experience is the ability to customize your own difficulty! As a first time player, I did forgo this option and selected novice.
The opening cutscene is stunning and introduces the incredible art style (done by Stephanie Stutz and Markus Rossé) and animation (done by Markus Rossé and Martina Hugentobler) that is evident throughout the game. Vibrant and dynamic, ‘The Wandering Village’ doesn’t need to do much in order to maintain visual interest. Once in the game proper, there is stellar use of 2d characters inside 3d spaces, and utilizing these different mediums to represent different elements of the game. The villagers, while simple in their design, are adorable and fun to watch, it is very easy to care about their well-being. I was so enamored with the art style that I mentioned it several entirely separate times when I was writing my notes for this very review. So far, the only character we interact directly with is the Elder of the village, who was our previous leader. It is with his notebook that we are bestowed with all the information we could possibly want about the game and how we receive the tutorial steps that teach us how to play. Lore, what each building does and how to craft it, how to use our tools, etc etc etc. His dialogue is helpful and witty, and his character design fits perfectly into the world that we have been introduced to.
Once you have completed a few steps of the tutorial, it becomes clear just how intuitive the game really is. It didn’t take me long to get the hang of what I was meant to be doing and travel off the path the tutorial had laid out for me. If you have played other city/settlement building simulators or material management games along the lines of ‘Oxygen Not Included’ you will most likely pick up on the mechanics of the game faster than someone who has not. However, experience is certainly not a requirement to enjoy this game!
You can utilize pausing and fast forwarding game play, set tasks for your villagers, and expand your town to your heart's desire. Of course, there will be obstacles along the way that you will encounter as your Onbu traverses this world and its many biomes. The most stressful of which I have encountered so far being trying desperately to save a group of poisoned nomads we found along the way without yet having a village doctor.
This is the perfect game for someone who is looking for a beautifully designed and well written experience that the development team have clearly put their hearts into. I genuinely can't begin to express how much I adore the concept and how it has been executed, huge props to the developers! I can not wait to continue playing and seeing exactly where this world will go.
If you are an enjoyer of games like ‘Slime Rancher’, ‘Oxygen Not Included’, ‘Don’t Starve Together’, ‘Stardew Valley’, or other games of a similar vein, this is the game for you to check out! Click on the image below to check it out or buy it now on Steam during Early Access and get 10% off for a total of $22.49!
