Subsistence

Pretty promising game with a very neat premise. It can be difficult if you want it to and the idea of picking up loot bags/ chests that randomly spawn in the wild is neat. The game can be very grindy at certain points and the lava caves and deep caves needs more flushing out. I am givng it the thumbs down because after 135 hours in a play through I was far along in I lost my entire save and cannot recover it. The game is so grindy that it feels not worth starting another play through so after 137 hours I am effectively done with the game. It's promising for a game but it has its drawbacks too.

If this game had come out in 2016 ... then I would say it was a good game but IT IS STILL IN ALPHA TESTING AND NOT RELEASED!! but it's 2025 and a 10 year old with a potato for a PC can make this game in a week with Blender and free Unreal assets.

It is a well balanced survival game. Beautiful graphics, good UI, a game world that is alive and mostly bug free. No unnecessary hand holding, no dynamic difficulty level or similar bs, you are just dropped to the game world and need to survive, search and collect resources, craft tools, clothes, weapons, have pets, hunt, farm, explore and build and develop your base and/or bases.

Best survival game I have played and I have played many. Not every game is for everyone but this one is objectively a fine peace of art/craft and if you enjoy the survival genre I strongly recommend to give it a try.

I enjoy a slow grind game. Its nice to have something to spend time on and not be rushed to finish a base.

Unfortunately I have to say no. The dev puts out ~2 updates per year. I could go on about the game but just think about that, 2 updates per year on a game that has been in alpha and asking for your money and support for a decade. Buy a game with a dev that cares about you and your money.

When it worked, I liked playing Subsistence. It was basic but still good enough overall to enjoy.

The other hunter NPCs that build bases was a cool touch in a survival game I hadn't seen before.

I didn't like how the wildlife levels up each time it kills you, especially when a wolf wanders into your base and won't f*** off. It was basically spawn camping.

Now, the game has stopped working. Crashes on launch. Unplayable.

For a small survival game, I think that that this game meets some of my expections. I am usually picky, but this is a good game to play with friends and family. You can build, hunt, and survive the weather, animals, and hunters. I see others think it is not hard enough, for me I think it was enough to keep playing. Now, if they ever had a second game with a story, I would definitely look forward to it.

The best survival game ever and devs give update every 3 month what else do you want??!!

Go to be the best survival game i have ever played!!! It runs great looks stunning and the building mechanics are just awesome. I highly recommend this game it's also just amazing playing co op. I have played a lot of survival games and none come anywhere near the quality of this. Even the weather effects and season changes make this game visually stunning. The price is way to low i would happily pay double for this gem of a game. It is quite tough at 1st however there is a guy on YouTube who does a day 1 and 2 tutorial/ tips. He is called Get Started and really explains things clearly. Highly recommend watching his vids. So basically this really is a brilliant and stunning survival game that has hours of gameplay. Added bonus it has controller support which i only tweaked slightly. Basically changed the in menu right stick to work as a mouse......Perfick 😁👍🏻

I really like the game and the survival aspect of it. The problems that I have with it is on how long it takes for updates or new content and on how inconsistent is to load, sometimes the game loads with no issue and other times I can't even open the game without having to re-intall it. Is a problem that at least happens to me often but not too big of a problem to stop me from playing it.

This must be some eating simulator. Even on low difficulty settings game is unplayable.

The character is not fed with 2 chicken fillets, killed a bear - I mean you know - A FKING BEAR, my character still is not fed.

If someone is interested in eating simulator, you can grab this game, other than that - it feels very unbalanced and dont waste time on it.

They keep saying it will get better, but it doesn't. outrageously stupid amounts of items needed to make survival gear etc. They never did explain the 'Mass' needed to build things, and how it is created out of thin air. The generators and solar panels? They produce so little power, are they really worth making? The point is that under normal play, it is nearly impossible to survive the game. I used the cheat codes for health, stamina etc... I still died six times!

I purchased this game quite a few years ago. I played on Easy and No hunters. Even that way the game is extremely challenging to make a go of it on solo. Trying to keep your distance from wolves and bears is an ongoing issue. The drop crates are a necessity to gather. They contain materials you must have to build. Be ready to probably RAGE QUIT a few times.
After you get yourself a small building started you will begin to start feeling a sense of accomplishment and want to continue.
I am still playing the game I started way back. At least now we have more chance to make better equipment and to travel the map (ATV). Building it can be a long and grinding task. This game is NOT an easy game to play. But I have found it to be quite rewarding once I have myself fairly well established. You will find that the quantity of wildlife will be helpful since you need them for a food source of meat and fats. Fats are cooked down to make bio fuel which is heavily needed in game.
There is more to game but not going to ruin it by telling. I LOVE playing this game now. 8.5/10

This game needs a LOT of work, but you are on a pretty good track so far from what I played. Ai pathing needs some serious attention, as does the hit boxes of some of the creatures. Noticed the deer is the only one who really suffers from headshot damage modifiers aswell. Aside from that, the game is honestly really fun and enjoyable to get in. It can be challenging, but that is the fun part of it.

This is a review from a solo player perspective. It has a steep learning curve, at least for me. Or maybe i'm just old. I do play a fair amount survival games (most of them still in EA). But this one I almost gave up on. Beautiful setting. Even though I started disliking playing at some point it still drawed me back in. After dying so many times I finally got the hang of it, kinda. No real POI. So at times it can feel quite empty. I wish the map was a bit bigger. I build a base and around me NPC's build their base and they keep shooting at my base. If you like this kind of struggle I recommend this game.

I have played a lot of early access games openworld survival games (Rust, Sunkenland, Seven Days to Die, etc), but even though this is almost ten years old, it still feels very rough. It does not properly support ultrawide resolutions, everything is stretched and there's no POV setting.

The basic controls and mechanics also seems a bit chunky, and not what I would expect from a game this old.

The screenshots looks great, and are what drew my attention. I dont think that I would have the patience to play through it enough to build anything like this though, so I'm refunding it.

I don't recommend buying or playing it for now, I think there's a long to way to go to make this actually enjoyable.

This is a grind by yourself but I guess that's how it should be. Fun game

game is amazing. dont let the negative reviews discourage you. it is definitely a grind but its fun. ive been playing on easy and even then this game is hard. if youre into survival games then this is one you have to play.

This game is impossible, two player mode on easy feels like the most difficult game ever. It in no way feels like an easy mode. Why in the world would you not have a way to spawn in your base. I have to died over 50 times with animals at every tree on the map and your loot bag despawns in 20 mins which feels like 5 mins. It takes the fun out of this game. Needs a lot serious tweaks before i ever play this game again.

This game is the epitome of SURVIVAL. Even on easy mode it's HARD...but it's also addictive. My nemesis is the bear. The axe has relatively no effect on it...or the wolves and they will follow you into a body of water. Is this game for everyone?...hell no, but for someone who is a serious survival gamer...HELL YEAH!

good game. harsh, but fair

Hard game but that makes it good. Need a challenge when playing these types of games

So, this game has been in "early access" for so long that it's kind of silly at this point. It's one dev, I get that, but could just launch and add new dlc content to continue to make money. As it is, I'm willing to support by buying skins. (Please more skins.)

I'd like to see more character models. If nothing else, make the NPC antagonists look different.

All the same, I've almost logged 1,200 hours. The children yearn for the mines. Want a game where you grind for resources and build your palatial estate? Look no further. Has a learning curve, but once you know, you know. Invite me to your server. Lol.

Genuinely impressed with this game, frequently updated and one of the better cheap survival games

I love this game, only thing I would like more is a reason to finish the game - an end goal where you discover something or find out the reason things happen during the game e.g. where the other people and planes come from etc.

I like the close to reality survival games.
But there are still things to fix and work to get better.

Adding:

- A backpack (lighter, knife, shovel, etc.)
- Using knife to carve/butcher big animals
- getting inside water should wash off hands, also if you are too long inside water with animals in backpack they should die
- drawing should infect you
- maybe create different Mine sites to excavate minerals e.g. (The Infected)
- Free snap point for structures (more structures)
- Fire should dmg player
- poring water on fire should extinguish it (fireplaces, mollys, airplane, etc.)
- An NPC's with missions to get resources

Fix Bug:
- If you fall from a high place and in middle of the falling use the hang glider the game is bugged and char moving like admin on the ground unless you find a wall and use climbing axes.

bad

Bought and played with friends, and while I had a blast hearing my friends pop a vein in frustration, all the fun I had was thanks to them and not the game. It's a grindy mess with no real balance in economy. if you want to build a crappy shed it's gonna take you a lot of looking for RNG boxes and after an hour you'll have a wall and a floor.

The fact this is 9 years old and still in alpha is all you need to know.

overall i am loving this game! i would love to see more end game updates. i would also love to see a player skill system added, as well as the ability to craft and or level up tools for more yield and faster action timers ect. i would also love to see an upgrade added to weapons that increases durability (they wear too fast) as well as adding more attachments such as scopes,lasers ect. and lastly a hunting knife for skinning animals with potential better yield. oh and one more. please add gloves to the clothing!

If you like challenging but rewarding survival games- GET THIS GAME!

This has become one of my new fave games. No real story to it from what I have seen but that was not a hindrance to this game but actually a strength! Lack of story was not even noticeable with there being so much to do-pure survival focus. Manage thirst and hunger. Your hunger drains a little quick with being cold speeding process but thankfully only protein and veggie bars to maintain. Hunt any and everything, forage, loot and build to survive. straight forward and easy to understand crafting tho its a grind for the resources especially higher end crafting. Dynamic weather and seasons with a day/night cycle with a proper night! ( you can barely see a foot in front of you) its a grind to gather and supply yourself to be able to handle each season with the appropriate gear. Looking for zombies, monsters, crazies and freakers??? Well you WON'T find them here. Being someone who usually plays survival games with those enemies it was very refreshing to have only animals as well as humans to worry about ending your struggling life- oh if you don't count the weather. Animals are aggressive tho you are able to skate your way around them with each predator giving you a couple warnings that you will learn. Human superior and more deadly than animals right?- WRONG! its a grind to survive as every attacking animal will wreck your day. "but I have a gun with ammo!" you say? Yeah let me know how that went after the lvl 1 wolf or bear is pooping you out! Has a similar mechanic to Shadow of Mordor's " nemesis" mechanic- animal kill you=animal go up in lvl= equals animal more superior to human now. dying multiple times trying to recover your loot while each attempt lvls up sed creature to master of the woods is possible and not that hard to happen. Ai hunter humans attack you and your base as well as building their own. These bases can be attacked and looted but you'll want to grind out some more advanced gear and weapons to take them on as well as break into their shelters. Theres no harm in falling back to live and fight another day but you just took on hunters.... good chance they will want vengeance and be easily able to track down your shelters location.
THIS GAME IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HURT BUT THOSE WHO LIVE FOR A CHALLENGE.
Having a hard time surviving your first few days?.....got a friends who's got your back? then get them in there! Cause I forgot to mention it has multiplayer co-op. Reason I haven't mentioned it is I have no multiplayer experience to talk about.

PVE-CO-OP PVE only which makes this game a survival gem

8/10 - Did i mention this game has alot of GRINDING! its a grinders dream and I am all here for it. I would have given this game a higher rating if the map was a bit bigger ( mind you it is quite big as it is) as well as a few more animals added.

GET THIS GAME

Man this game is wild. Even the easiest setting is hard. I love survival games and this is for sure a survival game. Not a bunch of help or tips, after the initial getting started list it just disappears and you are on your own.

dont buy this game, it's complete rubbish,i barely survived 2 minutes. the animals will kill you the minute you spawn in, it never used to be like that, constant crashing, after recent updates.

The game is good, punishes you when you take a risk and fail. needs some polish and QOL fixes, Hope the devs add some content and keep the game alive it has so much potential. I'm going to keep playing, haven't even got into the MP yet.

great a survival game

A Little more label to sort better or signs you can write on.. good game xD

Love this game cant stop playing it

Great graphics, no glitches in almost 4 hours, 7 player multiplayer worked perfectly on a G-Portal dedicated server. So much fun to run around with friends or solo, game has polish & the dev is active. We have just scratched the surface - I am looking forward to uncovering all the secrets.

Very grindy game but I have had it since forever and I appreciate how many update the Dev has added even if they are spread out over long periods of time.

Very addictive game. Developer is always improving things. Best played in co-op!

we just need led base lights on a switch so they all come on at once and very less power as they be led

Hardcore Survival. Amazing what this Indie Developer has achieved with this game. Still in Early Access, but basically no major bugs to mention and it feels like a complete game. The research and crafting is so in depth and the base building is amazing. The seasons (summer, fall, winter, spring) also plays a big role in how you survival in this game as everything changes with every season and you have to adapt accordingly. Amazing. Can't wait for the full release, as I believe there is still much much more to come. Keep up the amazing work ColdGames.

Great chill game, highly recommended. A+

Game is pretty dead despite haveing been out for at least a few years the grind is way too unbearable and you cant even play it without useing cheat engine at the very least you would have thought that they would have released the source code for modderes so peple could play how they want to also the game is very boring not much to do except repititous stuff no bosses no monsters same old map the scenery is nice but gets boring after a while i can see why so many people stopped playing it if you do spend your money on the game i sugeest gettting cheat engine its the only way to advance in the game and actuallybuild sometihing resources are way too scarce. ive tried to find a way to make the game bearable but with out mods or new content new eneimies monsters !!! some new maps !!!and more weapon mods, mabey some kind of horde mode and a complete rebalance of resources. Something i think the only thing that has been added has been the cable car thing. Also some more game ini settings for the player to choose how they like to play havest control damage enemy count things like that.

hoping an update would fix everything. but game still wont launch on my brand new system. no probables with other games. even ark and conan have no issue. Im annoyed and frustrated

To many animals. cant move 10ft without an encounter. Nails are rare. Moving on.

I come back to this game every now and then and after jumping into it most likely the last time I'll give it a final thumbs down before leaving. To much of a grind no sense of reward just more grind. If you want more details read below.

Subsistence made hard by crafting mats overkill. Need to make a stick spend a log, need fiber then use eleven twigs you gathered to craft one. Need logs then beat endlessly on the same trees you did five minutes ago. Harvested the whole forest and it's a good thing because you'll need the whole forest to craft one floor piece.

Need some ammo? Treasure those few bullets you found and even the fewer you can craft but good luck on the ammo doing much good as your bullets seem pathetically weak. You might do more damage throwing your gun at the enemy.

In many cases the only real way to get ahead is by exploiting the game. Craft four walls - drag a higher level creature to it, chop it to death as it clips part way through the wall or can't get through the door. Oh and by the time you're doing using that little exploit the bear or mountain lion will have had the power to nearly destroy the house. Yes, these animals have the power of T-Rex's jacked up on meth. And after all that effort you get a little meat, some sinew but overall so little that it's not rewarding.

Hunters most likely all trained with Delta force so have fun with that. You are a wuss, always were and always will be despite your greatest efforts and if you manage to finally set up that base you like so much and get things running I still didn't feel a sense of accomplishment, more like annoyance. Imagine buying a beautiful new car after loads of hard work only to find out you paid ten times cost and got fleeced by the dealer? That's how I always feel playing this.

I think with some this game can find its niche but know this, it's kind of like a Dark Souls for survival. The experience is in the punishment not the journey not the the accomplishment but the punishment. All things considered when it comes to a crafting survival it's very very shallow and conceals it behind the punishing grind for just a few resources.

The game is very challenging but fun. More fun with friends though.

I still play this game from time to time to check to see how things are progressing and I have to admit that this thing needs some Quality of Life adjustments before you can really say that this is a "fun game to play".

QOL #1 - The chests need to be dropped slightly more often and they need to contain more items. Period. No more finding blueberries in your ammo crates. No more finding protein bars in your construction crates. You MUST increase the amount of them ESPECIALLY if you're playing solo also getting 3 shell drops and 6 gunpowder drops in an ammo crate should be illegal. The idea is to give us the sense that this crate will be a lifeblood to us rather than be a crap shoot as far as what we get in them.

QOL #2 - When you die for the first time, why do you take our pistol from us? Makes no sense. You can have a full mag of ammo or you can be completely empty, it doesn't matter. You lose the gun. Why? Why does the gun have to disappear when we were given it to begin with? You take nothing else from us, so why do you take this?

QOL #3 - Hunter Bases. While we don't mind them existing, why do you never refill the chests? The group respawns and they've built more on their base? Cool; refill the chest. You don't have to refill it fully, but always have SOMETHING in there instead of having nothing after the first time you loot them. It always takes a large amount of resources or time in order to get inside let alone be able to have the effort rewarded for your hard work/resources put into it.

QOL #4 - PLEASE for the love of all that is holy and unholy remove some of the ground clutter or increase the size of the chests. The amount of time spent wandering around and thinking you've found a chest only to realize is a fern is absurd. You could even give them a slight bit of glow at night so we can find them during the night time too.

QOL #5 - Why aren't there more prominent fruit bushes? Blueberries being a weed is ridiculous. Tomatoes being a weed makes a bit more sense, but beyond that? No. Give us bushes to harvest. They can even wait until the next year to respawn and give us a chance to realize how often we can visit them, etc. But yeah...give us bushes with food in them.

I'm sure there are more things that I can list, but these are the glaring ones to me.

4/10

Don't buy it.
It's another factory of farming, wasting time, and damaging nerves. There are so few resources that you can survive, just survive, and not want to leave the game. But not so many to get satisfaction from playing. All the time on the edge. You will only be able to create something after the first 50-70 hours of wild, nerve-wracking farming. And a lot of illogical mechanics. Probably, an "improvement" store will appear in the game soon. It feels like the developer is from Ubisoft. The only thing missing is NFT.
After each death, and there will be a lot of them at the beginning, you have to run "naked" for at least 5 minutes across 2/3 of the map to recover your resources and not loose them.

Respect yourself and your time. Do not encourage the development of such farms.

p.s.
I just noticed that "enhancements" are already available for purchase on steem for a "small but fair penny". Where are the NFTs?

Subsistence is a difficult and time consuming game, for me this is part of why I find it so fun. There is a lot of challenge, to survive the elements and predators in nature while trying to gather the resources necessary to further improve your base, weapons and means of generating resources to survive. The addition of hunters into the game that actively attack you and your base, adds an objective for you to improve your base to add defence and to improve your weapons so that you can hunt the hunters. The game has many features both small and large which adds challenge and enjoyment. This isn't a game you can play for 10 minutes at a time so if your looking for a "quick" game, this isn't it but if your into a difficult survival, then this is it.

this game is no fun to play at all you have to do way too much just to stay alive