Solarpunk, surviving in a sustainable ecosystem - Review

Solarpunk draws inspiration from a school of thought that views the world from a rosy perspective, where renewable energies and green tech play a fundamental role. And this vision is not so wrong, keeping in mind the struggles we face every day due to climate change and, it must be admitted in some ways, capitalism. 

Compared to Cyberpunk, where the world (almost all of it) is inevitably decaying and futuristic, in Solarpunk everything is turned upside down, with a vision of the future that is the antithesis of nihilism itself. These premises inspired the guys at Cyberwave in creating a video game of the same name, a production that respects the principles of this cultural movement while also setting a single goal for the player: to live a relaxing survival and crafting experience, focused on creativity and slow progression.

The underlying concept somewhat embraces the idea we have already "experienced" with Outbound, which is an adventure based on living in nature and using resources to contribute to an increasingly brighter future. In Solarpunk, however, we will not move far and wide across large maps to discover, but rather start on an island in the sky rich in resources that will allow us to build our very own base and navigate the blue aboard, imagine that, a solar-powered airship (and it doesn't even need fuel).

As the developers suggest, Solarpunk is not a competitive survival game and has no story to live. The focus is on building, raising animals, tending to fields, and furnishing our very own little houses. Lots of farming then, where exploring the various islands can prove to be very relaxing, provided you love crafting and farming... but this seems almost obvious. 

A Sky Island for an Eco-Friendly Life

The player's first task is to name their world and choose its type between a standard or tranquil approach. What is suggested to us is obviously the standard, where we will have to manage hunger and thirst levels, recover our inventory if we lose it due to an accidental death, and watch out for lightning. Opting for the other setting will make us almost immortal, and we will live in a world that is the antithesis of the very concept of survival. 

Now we are ready to live in our world, a small island suspended in the sky, handcrafted and not randomly generated: exploration in fact supports the sandbox even if it doesn't always remain the main focus. What we will find in our hands, at least at the beginning, is a basic set that allows us to lay the foundations of our experience: a logger (to get wood from trees), a hoe for cultivating, and a pickaxe for breaking rocks or obtaining other fundamental components for survival, but above all for construction.

Solarpunk thus gives us everything essential to start, guiding us through a small tutorial in which we will have to complete simple objectives, such as planting and watering a berry bush or creating a workbench. The latter will be very useful for creating new interesting tools such as the beehive (to produce excellent beeswax) or even better a furnace in which to shape glass or other useful resources that we will need in the near future.

Progression will happen sequentially; each component will give us access to new creations and exciting tools to simplify our work. And imagine, we can even dedicate ourselves to some healthy gardening, also installing solar-powered sprinklers. 

And besides hard work, there's also time to become accomplished architects and interior design experts. We can therefore build our house, furnish it in the best possible way, place plants in well-sunlit spots, and invite some friends to help us out thanks to the online component: even if the experience is mainly designed for solo sessions. Every day there will always be something to do, and for a world projected into the future, it will also be necessary to place rainwater collectors that will quench our thirst in times of drought. In fact, we will also be called to take into account three indicators: remaining health, hunger, and thirst.

To always be well-fed, we will also need to build a small farm with animals that will provide us with fresh eggs and other succulent delicatessen. In short, you've understood, Solarpunk is a continuous crescendo, an experience in which dedication will be required but which will never be extremely punitive, and this can only be a good thing for a game that aims to relax the player.

Wandering Through Solarpunk's Various Islands

The world is expanding, but something is still missing. Our small island needs new raw materials to progress, and therefore it will be necessary to build an airship to explore the world out there. Once we have built one, we will be ready to travel to new areas and make them progress in no time.

The striking aspect of Solarpunk is the pleasant construction of the game world, which can be automated as we unlock new functions, projecting us in a certain sense into what could be defined as a perfect future. The game concept is very simple and can be summarized in a well-defined cycle: gather resources, craft, do some healthy farming, upgrade tools, and expand more and more, even to other islands. And without you even realizing it, hours will pass, and you won't feel tired at all, provided you don't love titles where you have to progress dynamically. 

Obviously, repetitiveness is the order of the day, but fortunately, the entire experience is not that long, unless you start building various structures non-stop, but this will always depend on the player's will. To be honest, we appreciated Solarpunk's gameplay system where you can live in a context where resources like sun, wind, and water manage to create a real energy system. 

Certainly, it's not an experience for everyone, but the hours we spent with it literally flew by, and we are sure that any player who loves this genre can spend many more, especially if they decide to share the adventure with friends in multiplayer mode. It must also be said that the airship's control system is not always the best, the various islands are not so rich in detail, and sometimes small bugs made us literally fall into the void. In any case, Solarpunk is a functional indie game aimed at those who seek true serenity in video games.