Smalland: Survive the Wilds

Great game. Graphics and overall game play is excellent! I would definitely recommend this game to anyone. Would be fun to play as a group. Can't wait to get in there with friends!

dont buy it, if you die in a weird place your stuff is forever lost but you can look at the grave stone that has i all, allllll fucking game. Not even worth 14 bucks more like a 3 dollar game

The co-op is horrible. Its been on Steam for years but it's still a painstaking process to find your friends server, if you can find it at all.
The crossplay is a joke. You cannot add friends on different platforms, so you cannot invite them to your game, and they cannot find your server in their list. So the crossplay is just a plain out lie until they bother to fix it.
Getting your friends, crossplay or not, into your world, in a game thats focused on co-op shouldnt be a chore.
Do your jobs better.

Good game. Its not the best survival game but really having fun with my friend grinding, fighting and gliding threw the world.

what a great time! addictive game. really enjoying it!

Cant share a base with friends.
Unstuck button just kills you so you have to respawn, good luck getting back to your stuck corpse.

Absolutely cannot join a server with friends. As soon as I join, it kicks both of us saying something about the session being terminated because of a blocked player. Then when trying to set up my own for them to join,m it can't even be found. multiplayer shouldn't be this difficult. after troubleshooting these errors still happen. Not going to bother. Definitely getting a refund for this

So far haven't played. Would like to play online with a friend but have been unable to join together, he sees my world but i do not see his with nothing indicating an issue.

If you want to solo play it is an okay game (5.5/10). However if you wanted to host a dedicated server for you and buddies it is absolute garbage. Dedicated server is usually days to weeks behind the client patch, meaning you can't play until the devs fix that. After so many updates and messing around in steamcmd trying to get this game to work (I have run dozens of Dedicated Servers with no issues) our save was corrupted. Server doesn't even show in public forum anymore after a clean install.

A thoroughly OK game.

I found progression to be a bit quick, quickly out leveling my weapons and tools and leaving them for better items. Same for my bugs. I'd hatch a ant only to find a bee egg, and after hatching that finding a wasp egg. There doesn't seem to be much reason to tame/hatch bugs that are lower in the food chain, but you can have my bee when you pry her from my cold dead tiny fingers.

I was greatly disappointed in storms. My first storm the game warned me to take cover and I was SO excited. I almost died of cold and after running to a nearby campfire I sat by it for a few seconds and the storm immediately cleared up and left. Didn't even leave any puddles on the ground. I love storms and this one just exists to force you into a shelter for a few seconds and that's it. And that sucks.

I found Smallands to be charming and if Grounded didn't exist I'd probably put more hours in it, but I am having a hard time finding motivation to keep playing and see what's next. I don't know if it's the shallowness infusing this game or something else but I just cannot see myself putting more hours into it. I hope I can find a reason to keep playing, because I really do find it charming in many ways, just not the important ways.

Really happy with new new updates! They've brought the game together a lot more and removed almost every frustrating element for me. Pretty easy recommendation, especially on sale.

A fine crafting survival blend under the lofty fronds of The Great Trees. The progression is thoughtful and not too cumbersome in terms of obscene amounts of resource gathering.

I avoided this game having owned it for a year. Even deleted it and hide it so I would not see it in my Library. The couple times I played during the initial release left me angry and frustrated.

Fast forward to the April 29th Hotfix; and a tuning of the game options to play in a mode where I wasn't considered FOOD for everything and could take it some sightseeing and get the gist..

A few 400 hours later and 8 generations of World sharing and Pet nurturing I find the game fairly doable.

A few gotcha glitches exist in the navigation and exiting of menus. I've seen reports and made my own so guess it will be resolved and is not a game breaking issue unless you catch it in a boss fight.

World sharing from one character to the next is really nice. Everything the previous character created (except the Big Tree Encampment) can be seen, found, or looted (if left in a chest's inventory), for the next character to use. This is a double edge win/lose. I've found after moving from my main character not to wish to use the tree encampments or the pet's stable anymore. Even tho, by small folk magic, the tree encampments can transfer item for item from tree to tree as you move through the mission, it becomes negligible once you know other prime locations to build your permanent world camps. Since each character must claim the big tree in each game and thus build a new base from scratch is not something I found myself wanting to do after spending so much time on it with my starter character.

Having run the game from spawn to finish now 8 times, and going back to the starter character to see all my pets is just plain boring. I found myself in rendition character 3 setting the pets lose in the wild as to find them later, thus saving time and getting a boost in game.. I even found it fun spawning away from the default POND location and starting in different locations around the vast map. Once, even spawned in the Forbidden North which was a challenge as that is dangerous place for vets and rookies are food for just standing still.

I like the season changes and it's affects, love the background music track and it plays into the drama or serenity perfectly.

I've not explored the online, nor tried to level up the Factions by doing the "World Events" to earn all the "Contribution Points" needed to buy the extras.

I would highly recommend this game for people who love to build and rebuild. This is a great game for exploring and with the tuning one can just make it a walk in the park and never flesh out the main.

Lori 8th Gen Quick Run

very good game ive played it for 40 hours its very good but the only downside is its so long you need at least 30 to 40 hours to finish it but its so good

Great game! If you like Minecraft or Avatar you're going to love this one. The game is super interesting, has an amazing story and the graphics are great too. I have over 90 hours played in this game and I still find the game super interesting. !00 % recommend it.

Nice game, with some improvement it could become one of the greatest!

Fun! Difficult, and a little new. Definitely needs some polish. But it's really enjoyable and exploring is a blast.

Great fun. This is my second run-through. Bringing more friends!

Meh, could've been a nice coop game but the mechanics are actually pretty bad.

If you enjoy survival games and want a different look you should try this game!

The Good:
The concept of being shrunken down and trying to survive in a world full of giant insects is really cool. It’s a fun idea, and the game controls fairly well. The graphics are decent and do a good job of supporting the setting.

The Bad:
The character customization is underwhelming. The player characters just aren’t very appealing, and with no traditional male/female options—just vague “body types”—the choices feel limited and uninteresting. I get the direction they were going for, but it doesn’t work for me. Honestly, I'd rather play something like Palworld, where the gameplay makes up for the lack of customization.

Resource gathering at the start is frustrating. You're stuck with weak weapons and crafting requirements that depend on materials from creatures you can’t even find. The quests are mostly just “go talk to this person,” and if you try to swim, you die instantly. The map is also a letdown—it’s confusing, doesn’t feel truly open-world, and that hurts the immersion. Instead of feeling small in a big world, it feels like I’m stuck on narrow, preset paths with no freedom to explore.

Summary:
Even at a discount, I didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth. After about an hour and a half, I had no desire to keep playing.

all in all it is a decent game. but it was not what i was expecting when i bought it. it is more of an mmorpg game. and that is not what i was going for when i was looking into it.

The game is challenging to start. Its disorienting and difficult. I love it. At first i wasnt sure is it jank or is it me, and of course it was me. I was doing everything the hard way and making 2 trips with no plan. Then i started hatching ants, and my poor ants didnt last long and i hatched more. . . and then my babies Rick and Morty (warrior and worker) died. With their help though i was able to aquire sawyer beetle eggs. These things are tough. They go everywhere, they carry tons, they save my ass. This is so freaking awesome. We got a grass hopper egg. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, im flyin, im just covering the distance. Im not afraid to venture out from the tree anymore. I just hop and Tawm and Huck will get there in a moment later.
Im so excited to get more bugs. This is so cool.
Ill edit this later, but i just had to vomit my happiness.

Recommended for people who love to explore on their own pace. Story and interaction with NPCs is a bit lacking, but I personally like games where I feel like I can immerse myself and do stuff on my own. My favourite feature would be the companions in the game and I enjoy finding unique tamable creatures unexpectedly. Currently trying to hoard every single creatures that exist.

I just wish there is more customization with the armors in the game. The character customization at the start eventually gets covered up by armors you equip, losing the personal touch of players for the character they made at the beginning. Like for example, I don't want to look like a bird who could star for the next Rio movie but unfortunately that's currently the best stat armor I have unlocked so far, so I have no choice. There's also no difference with female and male characters, maybe just at the start where you are barely wearing anything, so you could see who is who.

There are more stuff that could be improved but I see devs are still actively working on this game so I'm looking forward at to what's in store.

This would be a great game if it were still in early access.
Sadly, in its current state - full of unbalanced numbers, bugs, chaotic crafting, poor nearly-to-none story and missing mechanics - its good only as a relaxing building simulator.
It has a great idea, but that is pretty much all it has.
Well, lets take a look at some key aspects here. I'll try to avoid most parts mentioned by VO[id]S, who reviewed earlier, because he already said a lot of what I have to say (and I don't want to be a copycat).
Possible minor spoilers.

Positive

Controls

Quite intuitive default settings, with some unusual twists (like quick cycle by "C"), but actually pretty good overall.

Visuals

Nothing much to comment here, except that I was expecting less.

Sound

Usually, I turn the sound off at some point in any game when I'm not on a quest. I just listen to music while farming resources or running dungeons.
Well, not here. Sounds good - literally.

Theme

That was why I wishlisted this one the moment it went to EA. I just love the smallfolk theme, reminds me of someone who went down a rabbit hole.

Negative

"Survival mechanics"

Okay, there is a hunger bar, and yes, you can freeze to death.
That's it.
Oh and also - you can just craft a single, easy-to-get food and have a full hunger bar with a cold resist buff.
That negates all difficulty that should ever arise from the "survival" here.
There is also a "You feel hungry and thirsty." notification, but there is no thirst mechanic.

One-hand, two-hand, off-hand

While I don't find the combat entirely tragic, it is amazing how you can swing a two-handed weapon just as fast as a one-handed one.
Incredible how a one-handed weapon has the exact same damage as the two-handed variant. With the same durability, the only difference being higher block value.
Hmm, block value. Wonderful concept, if it were of any use, because most of the time you'll want to parry your opponent instead.
Or if there would be a shield or any other off-hand to use alongside with those one-handed weapons and equipment.

Unbalanced melee/ranged combat

While the combat itself is not terrible (a bit souls-like), I can't understand why I hit for so much with the best bow (not even mention the gun...) while hitting so little with the best melee weapons.

Incubation and "raids"

Nice one, actually, but gets boring really quickly. Enemies are pre-set for each incubation, spawn points are pre-set as well, and flying enemies are buggy as hell (at the point where I was consuming a whole chest of grey fly eggs, I became quite frustrated).

Companions and mounts

I really enjoy collecting these in any game. Even in Conan Exiles, where animals are only good as a decoration.
The problem here is that over 95% of them are literally useless in the endgame.
During progression, I got used to my hornet, black widow, green beetle and a bull ant (yeh, somehow he filled the last slot due to low point cost).
They were quite leveled (around lvl 70) and they were basically doing the whole combat for me.
Then I arrived at Monuments and most of them got killed by a bird. It wasn't a battle, it was just a massacre.
Okay, I told myself I wasn't careful enough.
But then I noticed some high-level bugs roaming around and started taming them. Suddenly, I had a lvl 94 hornet and few others.
All previous progress basically erased, in vain. Because you can just tame high level ones, with a higher level cap.
Good, got the birds covered, advanced to the final location.
When I tamed the first tarantula, my brain simply couldn't comprehend the math or logic that devs used here.
And it wasn't just tarantulas, but scorpions and horn beetles as well.
They simply have such high base HP and damage that they outclass the rest of the companions in the game. Plus, they start on lvl 1, which means much faster leveling than the previously great high-leveled tames.
But whatever, I finished the game (simply by running around the final boss, watching my tarantula and scorpion tearing him apart) and I wondered how to use the other companions.
And I actually found a use!
Some of them have perks that allow them to collect resources!
Great, wonderful and ... not working. They just stand there doing the collection animation - and nothing happens.
Worse. Companion. System. Ever.

NPCs

It feels like all NPCs are the same. You can ask them for a quest, trade or a hint. There is almost zero background, very few show any signs of personality. I get it - its not Skyrim - but hey, there are survival games with solid NPCs. So why not at least aim for "average"?

Lift animation

I really dislike this one. Everything else in the game has nice visuals and animations, but the lift just moves from point A to B on the same route, no bumb, no swing. Nothing.

Resources, tiers, crafting system...

I could write a review only on this topic because this is something that I consider a core of a survival game (be it Don't Starve, Raft, Valheim, Conan Exiles...) but I'm going to briefly state that is is terribly unfinished and chaotic here.

Leveling, stats

Well, I understand that every game has its own system - but here, it just feels too plain and unfinished.
Same goes for companion leveling and stats.

Overall map content

Even for a game called "Smalland", the map is too small and lacking content.
There are large fields of rarely-used resources, wasting space that could be filled with meaningful gameplay.
This would be fine with procedural generation like in Valheim or Don't Starve, but with a fixed map, it just doesn't hold the player's attention for hundreds of hours.


Well, I believe that's most of what I wanted to say.
Anyway, I must admit that I actually enjoyed playing the game - I am used to play early access and beta games. But this is supposed to be a released title - and it definitely doesn't feel like one. Not even close.
So, if you are looking for a relaxing game to play with your partner or children, grab this one on sale - but don't expect much beyond graphics and building.
If you are looking for a solid survival, go play Valheim, Enshrouded, Nightingale, Don't Starve or start a new run on Fallout 4 on survival mode.

The tree mechiniC would be 1000 times more usefull if It were possible to call the tree bulter down to take you back up.
I hope it gets fixed or modded becasuase its really to fun to climb complete a ten minutes parkor puzzle every time you want to store an item.

While the concept is good, the execution really isn't. It doesn't look as good as other games of its type, it doesn't handle as well, and there are some absurd bugs such as the character refusing to look to the left or right and just running in the same direction forever. I was really looking forward to exploring a game that put a magical/fantasy twist on this Honey I Shrunk The Kids type genre of game, but was really disappointed in what I found myself opening.

I waited a long time for this game to release and when it did I was excited to play. However, upon launching the game it was so horribly un-optimized that moving around was just a lag-fest. So finally, after waiting for more than two years to come back I tried it again but it seems not much has changed. The game feels more optimized and is polished enough that it doesn't feel like an early access title, but there are still tons of bugs that I just can't get over; all of the little things that just add up that make this game not even worth booting up again until the low-hanging fruit bugs are ironed out. Barely two minutes in my mouse "escapes" the game after opening my inventory - I have to restart the game completely. One of the UI windows gets stuck after a random tutorial message pops up. I can't even get back into the dedicated server I set up because it just constantly throws a "Connection Timed out" error. I'm sure the game feels fine for others but personally if even the small, easy things aren't addressed why should I bother investing more time into this? Time to wait another few years to try this again.

Very much in the vein of valheim in terms of combat and materials balance, without the sailing. Also the system of tree owning to move your base around is fantastic. it saves a lot of the drudgery of rebuilding bases in this genre of games.

stuck at " press any key" verified all game files, reinstalled nothing works

It's a fun game

It's not Valheim (but what else is), but it's stable, immersive, good fps, and really scratches that itch.

The best way I can describe the game is obtuse. If you want to do anything you need to unlock a blueprint by speaking to an NPC. Most of the early game blueprints mean you need 3 things: fiber, wood, and resin. But there's nowhere on the map you can find all 3. Or you will just never find enough and always run out. You can repair most of your tools for free at the workbench, but not the sword, you need repair kits for that. That wouldn't be so bad if the sword didn't break in ~30 swings.

Combat is very awkward. Most mobs have a very obvious sound or animation when they're about to attack, and if you perfectly block them you won't take damage. But sometimes that animation lags just a tiny bit you can get hit. Other times mobs will have a fast attack that you won't be able to block in time. And if you have to fight 2 enemies at once you are toast.

I want to make better armor and weapons but I haven't talked to the right NPC to unlock better weapons yet. With the limited resources I have I can only go a few places before enemies hit too hard and I can't find new materials. I love exploring in these types of games but walking around is hard. Of course you are small. The map is fairly verticle, and every surface is glazed in oil and you are likely to fall alot. You're supposed to get a glider at some point but I haven't unlocked that yet.

Open world survival games are supposed to be about exploring and finding new resources to unlock new recipes. To unlock new things here you have to find an npc and do their faction reputation quests. But you can only level one faction at a time. These people are all very spread out .

It feels like this game was turned into an open world survival game as an after-thought. I wouldn't recommend it.

If you like games like valheim, raft, grounded, subnautica, and ark, this game is none of that. Go play one of those instead

do you want to be a fairy? Do you want to run about the forest and do tiny insect genocide? this might be the game for you!

It is cute though.

I haven't finished the game but I wanted to say what a great game this is.
I usually play a game in sync with a friend of mine from college. Not co-op, just we play the game on our machines and compare notes, adventures and videos to share the experience. He's closing in on 60 hours and is about halfway through.
I thought this was going to be a cheap, 30 hour game at most, but its nothing like that.
Systems are well thought out, expansive world, great graphics, pets, building, its fantastic.
I'm not into it right now because I'm just not in the mood for another survival crafting game right now after so much time in Enshrouded and Valheim but I give this my highest reccomendation.

If you like the setting and theme, this is a great game.

Introduction:

Småland is a supervised play facility in IKEA, where parents can drop their child off.

Now Smalland on the other hand, is an open world survival game with stunning visuals, realistic artstyle in a fantasy setting, and filled to the brim with opportunities. Though it's lacking clear indications, is very grindy, and feels like just another copy/pasted survival game.

Story:

1 / 5
Bare bones. Like the foundation's been lain, only to be left withering in the rain. Talk to NPC, defeat boss, gather distinct bodypart, return and be shocked by the result: Rinse/Repeat to the next NPC, for about a few times. Then the story's foundation becomes overgrown by Mother Nature's firm roots, and loses its structure above by an almighty tempest.

Visuals:

4 / 5
I really love it! The vegetation, the biomes, the insects, everything is beautiful from afar or up close. A bit stuttering at times, but nothing too hindersome.

Combat:

1 / 5
Choppy. You can perfect block, but everything has this massive input latency. You can't cancel your attack, so you're gradually bound to parry all the time. LMB light attack, RMB heavy attack, E to block. Key binding is yank.

Reading enemy attack patterns, and windows for perfect blocks isn't worth anyone's time with these annoying latencies.

You can crouch, and I haven't found a reason for it's usefulness. Sneak attack? You can do that without crouching, when the enemy has turned its back on you!

Co-Op:

0 / 5
I refuse to believe that this was implemented with any real thought. There's no such thing as shared bases when playing with friends, making a private server inviting friends and making buildings public isn't working in anyone's favor either. A real fuss when it comes to having fun.

I read someone made a dummy Steam account with the same game key, join server, claim tree, made it public, made it sit around 24/7... Jada jada jada! Nice work-around, but it really shouldn't become so complicated JUST for your friends build in the same area!

Armors:

1 / 5
Visually pretty, practically boring.

(per piece) Light armor offers less protection but offers +2% movement speed, cumbersome Heavy armor has more protection but a -2% ms penalty... Later on in the game, it becomes obsolete. Like a forgotten feature.

Cold protection really is dumb, pop-in a campfire whenever you're shivering. Armor sets? Dull; 3% blunt/pierce resistance.

Healer's Armor? Offers health rege- GET HEALTH POTIONS!

Tools/Weapons:

2 / 5
Really odd. A Hatchet is for woodcutting, an Axe is for combat. Why not merch the idea to avoid confusion? You can craft "Scythes", but I was baffled by the damage output. Turns out it's a fast one-handed weapon. So... a sickle? Like... imagine holding a whole-ass scythe with one hand?

Repair hammer is like a magic wand. Repairs buildings/parts instantaneously, with the blink of an eye, and requires no materials. Grapple Hook? Unreliable! Hooks are ammo for your grapple, and costs a fuck ton. You can get easily bonked by a branch or stick , no reduced fall damage after use, so you just fall if you fail. -Nanananana USELESS!

Shears are for cutting spiders eggs for silks. And for the life of me, I was NOT prepared for my character to slap with the shears onto the egg sacks! I really was expecting a sweet cutting animation. But damn it! I was crying with laughter for a hot minute because of it! Got me good! Please don't make a separate animation, it's TOO GOOD like this!

Recipes/Schematics:

1 / 5
Armor recipes? Talk to NPCs: "Hey nice armor, craft one for me?" "Sure!" Then a panel opens for you to craft the armor in question, IF you've got the materials. Closing the panel gives you the recipe, so you can craft it later.

Schematics can be bought by certain NPCs, by trade, or with the game's currency "Hoots". Once you get your hands on the schematics, a scroll will be placed in your inventory and acts like a consumable. Activate it, and you can craft it yourself.

Odd, it's 2 different things with the same premise.

Nourishment:

1 / 5
Like any survival game, food and water is necessary to survive. In Smalland only food matters, water is cringe. Getting food is easy, as your character can eat raw food without withdraws, poisoning, debuffs, or permanent repercussions.

Cooked food gives more, and a few minutes of nourishment loss, but no buffs... So I see no point using the Cauldron at all! Then there's the Stone Stove, with way too overcomplicated recipes that, again, gives you NO BUFFS! You'll get a "Well-Fed" icon at the 75% threshold, STILL wouldn't call it a buff!

Factions?:

0 / 5
You can join factions, I think. You can join 1 faction out of 4, yes, 1 at the time. And swap if you're done. I swear the way it's implemented is odd. You can earn Contribution Points in World Events, which was bugged for me, I've got to complete 1, earned 6 points. Absurd!

The way points work is you contribute to your active faction and up your reputation, earn mediocre perks and rewards in return. To work towards 1 buff you'll need to invest a staggering 1.000 points total. The GRIND is in capital letters.

Incubating:

5 / 5
After claiming a tree encampment for yourself, you can start incubating eggs. Really kudos on this feature, love the little raids while the eggs are incubating. Done after 5 minutes, and you'll have a new pet at your side.

Love it! It's like Ark, minus the 1TB space it takes in your Drive.

Companions:

5 / 5
Another great feature. By trapping, taming or after incubation. You can have a party of 4 active companions with you while you journey the land unscathed. Like you, by gathering and combat, your companions earn experience too. When leveled up, you get to choose what attributes they'll have. Whether you have a beefy green beetle tanking all impacts, or a fast hornet asking for a speeding ticket, the choice is yours!

When a companion goes down, you can revive it with a revive incense. Or you can end its misery quick with a final blow. But you know damn well, a jumping spider with its 8 glossy puppy eyes, whimpering: "Revive pls..." that's not goin' to happen.

Base building:

3 / 5
Easy to get around eventually. Nice ample amount of parts, small variety, severe lack of decorations... I didn't bother myself, but I know some people like a nice base to call home, or a fortress with huge sign saying: "Come at me, bro!" during raids.

Decorations are really lacking in variety though. You can find collectibles scattered across the land, take up space in your inventory until you place it.

Attributes:

2 / 5
3 points are earned by leveling up:
Strength: Damage by 1 PERCENT. Yes please, delivering high damage is my forte!
Dexterity: Speed by 0.5%. It sounds great, but it works for walking/running, not gliding. At that point get a mount, increase it's speed!
Constitution: Health by 1. Ehh, decent. Become an impact sponge, just drink health potions.
Endurance: Stamina by 1. Almost every action drains stamina. So, get it!
Intelligence: "Affects crafting"? Don't bother with this one, unless you somehow care about crafting Legendary tiers. Not worth the effort. This is implemented way too rough into the game.

Overall:

While the game offers lack-luster content, only the positives paint a better picture and description: You'll have 4 companions journey with you in search of materials for your base to grow stronger. You incubate eggs, fight off enemies during raids and make sure your eggs don't come in harms way.

But what this game really lacks is merit; An overall structure of progressing your character and the main story. But halfway through, you'll realize that even the journal doesn't update anymore. Really this blindness of guessing where to go next is really off putting.

4 / 10

[i][b]"Smålfolk"

this is exactly what i was looking for as an expansion past what Grounded did. Tameable animals, similar systems. A general expansion on the small world idea. One thing i always wanted in Grounded was Reptiles. or just ya know more bugs. Like ark and grounded had a baby. No game really recreated the endgame system grounded had and i dont expect this one to have that but if you liked the setting of grounded but wanted to see more bugs more area and more exploration then just the yard this is definitely for you

This game is lovely and exciting to play with my husband and daughter. Fighting new creatures, figuring out how to use new items, and how events work. (events are sometimes up in the tree branches. took us a while to figure that out. lol)

Improvements or expansions I'd like to see in the future:

- I would like more decorations options. We each have our own room and like personalizing it!

- An option for companions to have no collision. We all have been sent flying off of the elevator and branches to our death because of one of our cute companion's bumps us out of the way.

- It really needs to have better details/explanations about what things do, such as, intelligence attribute means you have a better chance at crafting a better item. Stop being so vague with your descriptions, please!

- My hornet's rare Pollinator Skill doesn't seem to work. Attacks the plant... then nothing. plant not taken down, nothing collected. And I've found no advice online if I'm doing something wrong.

- You need more index information. Each time I discover something list it in a journal/index/codex with what I discovered. I like the Antenna Sense ability a lot but its only usable when I'm around the creature or resource. I want a list of the creatures I've discovered and the list of things they dropped for me so far to reference. When I create a tool for the first time, I want a list that describes what resources it can be used on.... I think you get the picture.

- I haven't played the whole game yet, so if this is already an item ignore me; I want an upgrade that allows a piece of Armour to light up in the dark so I don't have to carry a torch. Kinda like a miner's hat does in the Mines of Moira game.

- Farming/gardening would be super fun too. I'm just dreaming at this point, haha.

Lastly, to the top review I saw... yes, you can build on same tree together. Make it Public, not Private with the tree gnome statue. Maybe that wasn't an option yet when this person played the game at the time, but it definitely is now. Anyways, that's it. Loving the game.

while i have 60 hours or so played, most of it was grinding for gear/building or restarting during the early access, the game can be fun at times, the world looks really nice, character customisation is limited, Incubation Raid system is appalling your tames kill/knockout each other even friendly fire is off, mobs bypass/ignore defences an just walk around them, tames sometimes attack raid mobs an sometimes just ignore them, your tames do more damage to your base when defending than the actual raid does i can't recommend this game right now

the story is very basic and honestly boring, the reputation system is way too grindy with very limited ways to earn it, you get a world event every so often that's just kill a mantis earn miniscule amount of rep points or do the extremely unfun incubation raids terrible design/mechanic, the currency (hoots) is mind numbingly tedious to obtain killing some other small folk (aether) to earn maybe 2-10 coins the bird mount costs 500...there's many other faults if you want to try it i suggest getting it on sale

TL;DR - World looks very pretty, lots of bad mechanic choices, very grindy, boring story try it on sale if you must

still needs a lot of time in the oven, but it's a really cool survival game, similar to grounded in a sense.

Fun and addicting. Love the character customization compared to Grounded. Storyline needs some work but very fun overall!

You get hit through the wall by shit you can't even see.

No spoilers here, but I am referring to a game mechanic to try and help new players not get frustrated like some of the negative comments I see. This way you know this info up front so you don't waste time.

On a side note... as of the date on this comment, I am in no way connected, affiliated, endorsed or sponsored by the developers. This is my opinion and guidance alone.

This is a great game if you are coming from Valheim. The user interface and gameplay are virtually the same. Oh, but if playing with Keyboard/Mouse, switch the "Use" key-binding from 'F' to 'E' so it's the same as Valheim. That was an early OCD frustration I had. Also, Valheim was made with Unity and Smalland was made with the Unreal Engine which is why this game has a nice face-lift over Valheim (not including HD mods).

I preface my next comment/paragraph below on being a dedicated server admin who plays with a bunch of my buddies. We had to learn to adjust our play-style once we realized the design choice of the Trees. This is not an error or bug by the developers. And again... this game ain't Valheim, so things are going to be a little different.

Now for the comment, I've seen a few negative reviews of people complaining about a multi-player/coop situation about the Trees you can claim and build on, but technically do not share with your coop friends. This is by design so each player can build a place of their own. If you want a team-base that is always present regardless of a players presence in the game, you have to either build something outside of the radius of a claimed tree up in the trees, or find a good spot to build on the ground. We have found a really good location underground in carved out tunnels with open spaces inside.

The "situation" is that even once a Tree is claimed, if you do NOT tell the Tree Gnome statue to make the tree "Private", anyone can build on it. The only difference between a 'Private' and 'Public' tree is saying others can either build on it or they can't. You, the claimer of the tree, still own any and everything that is built on your claimed tree. Regardless of who built the stuff. So if you log out for the night, everything on the tree disappears for everyone else. So if you want collected resources, beds, workstations and whatever else available 24/7, you have to build together outside of any claimed tree's radius.

The comparison with Valheim here is the Ward. If I build a house in Valheim and put a Ward in it and don't let anyone else add their name to the Ward... they cannot build anything within the radius or even enter the structure. So if you simply tell the Tree Gnome statue in Smalland to make the tree 'Private' from the start when you claim it, you will immediately remove the confusion from the game.

Also... if you leave the game and your tree disappears from others... you do NOT lose what you built or stored. Simply claim another tree that is available and everything is restored. Some of the negative comments you see, the player may not have tested this and simply thought they lost everything. That is NOT the case. Your stuff is associated with your profile, so simply claiming another tree brings everything back. You may not be in the same location, but you do no lose your stuff.

So do I recommend this game? YES! ... especially if you like Valheim or similar. Being tiny and fighting bugs is awesome. The devs did a great job with the scale and feel of being tiny.

The game looks amazing and is quite enjoyable but unfortunately very short and way too straightforward with literally every mission is being kill that boss and kill that boss and after that go kill another one. Also I think it would be better having tamed creatures in smaller sizes so they won't block your way constantly

if you love survival crafts this is a hidden gem. plenty for you to do and explore. I've played all your favorite survival craft open world games and smallands holds it weight against the giants in its genre.

Pros:
- custom world settings to create the type of difficulty you enjoy
- simple yet satisfying combat. Learn the emeny movesets in order to progress
- one of the better building systems. Pretty simple at first but you can create complex structures
- tameable creatures.. most of the worlds enemies are tameable minus the bosses and mini bosses
- world map is large and very fun to explore.

Cons
- Can be a bit grindy at points in the game. Such as farming the end game currency
- The game can be surprisingly resource heavy
- Faction system is not well implemented and boring.
- questing is linear and kinda just there to get you to the next area
- needs some polish but the game studio is extremely small.

Coming from Grounded, this game feels like an early access game. Clunky and unpolished. Co-op/ multiplayer feels like an afterthought

Balance is dead, animations are dead, optimization is terrible, building system is so-so, large variety of enemies, but with such animations and balance there is no point in so many locations and units, it is better to just play Grounded

Lots of fun from beginning to end, looking forward to the next chapter and thank you for all your hard work.

It's like grounded but 10x better

If you're a fan of games like ARK and Grounded, I would recommend giving this game a try. It feels similar in certain aspects to both games, but is definitely its own creature. I've already massively enjoyed the game, and found the hours I've gotten out of it have been more than worth the money spent. With the 2025 roadmap recently announced, I have even more excitement knowing that even as a new player there will be stuff for me to look forward to, even if I must wait a bit. I think this game has a handful of things that really make it shine so far.

As a brand new player, I felt like I was gently directed to go where I needed to go without being hard-railroaded into doing so. The freedom was nice, having full agency over where I explored but still having parts of the map guide me towards the first objectives.

In general, the atmosphere of each area is well designed. The lighting, map design, decor, fauna and flora of each area make you feel how you should when you're in those areas. The overall aesthetic of the game is quite nice, it has a distinct style that separates it from similar games within similar genres. I would say overall, it leans more fantasy or faerie with the main civilization of the game being faerie-like and small, however the more masculinity-inclined players can still find NUMEROUS ways to look tough, imposing, or awesome- so don't let it put you off, it's just another fantasy race. There is much about the game that is fighting, riding creatures, climbing, grappling around, farming materials and other good staples.

The building system is your typical grid-based basebuilder, but the shapes and parts are nicely designed. While of course you will always run into building restrictions by the nature of these building systems, you can almost always find a creative way around it with different parts rotated different ways, sized differently, or with grid snapping turned off. There is a distinct lack of variety with decor items, but I am holding out hope there will be more in the future. You can still make an extremely lived-in or decorated base if you know how to play around with your items, but I won't lie that is something I really want- more lights, more jugs, jars, storage boxes, clutter, clutter, clutter.

Mid to late game you can unlock some significant boons to your movement via some craftable equipment. The movement gained is really fun and feels like it opens up the map in all sorts of ways. It seriously feels satisfying to unlock a new hard-to-obtain piece of equipment, at first struggle to use it, but then get the hang of it and learn to move about in the map in ways you would not have assumed to be possible.

Mounts and companions (bugs you can tame) need a little work, with some mounts feeling a bit lacking in features or uniqueness, but some of them are satisfying and can be acquired early game, such as a grasshopper- allowing you to travel long distances with less hassle. Later game mounts such as scorpion, are very powerful friends to have and you can feel it too.

While sometimes I find myself wanting more enemy variety, I was still surprised that even several tens of hours into the game I was still finding new challenges to overcome (whether navigational or combat related).

As for the story itself, it's a bit skin and bones, but i still found myself intrigued by the charming characters even through their minimal dialogue. If you're wanting a breathtaking story with animated characters and voice lines, then this game doesn't have that. I do wish the various NPCs would have voice or animations, instead of just standing still while talking to you- but for what it's worth, each character is unique in personality and looks, and I think they are each charming and interesting in their own ways. Normally in a game like this, I don't even remember the NPC names, but I found myself growing a little fond of the more quirky characters, even if I wish they had more to say and do.

Overall I really enjoy this game, and my favorite part is building up a home/base I can call my own, to showcase all the advancements I've made and store my creatures. I am eagerly looking forwards to the 2025 updates with the new owners of the game, and I can't wait to play more.