Lofty Steam multiplayer survival game combines Stardew Valley, Satisfactory, and Subnautica with Solarpunk looks — 350% funded on Kickstarter
Autonomica, an indie game currently in development and slated to be published by Crytivo, reached its Kickstarter funding goal of $150,000 in as little as 24 hours. By now, seven days before the closure of the Kickstarter campaign, Autonomica has managed to raise $601,962 from 7,017 backers. Crytivo has not yet announced a firm release date, but it has revealed ambitious plans that include a launch to PC, via Steam, Xbox Series, and PS5.
Autonomica promises unique gameplay and phenomenal flexibility
While Autonomica is mainly a survival game, it is casting a wide net and incorporating features and mechanics from various genres, including farming simulators, base-building and management, FPS, extraction shooters, and even life and dating sims. Autonomica drops players into the shoes of a logistics expert who has just crash-landed on what appears to be an alien world after getting caught in a supernatural storm.
The uncanny world seems familiar, but there are elements that simply don't make sense. The sun sets backwards, the forest glows, and the island you're on is inhabited by strange phantoms that roam the hills at night. As you step into this strange world, you will explore, gather materials, build relationships with and help the locals, and build a home base. The open-world elements of the game allow for expansive exploration, and the development team says that there will be no load times or forced sleep mechanics to hinder exploration.
Base and home construction in Autonomica seems quite in-depth, thanks to a modular building mechanic that allows for a wide range of creativity. Likewise, the developer has some lofty goals when it comes to agriculture, farming, and factory which are central to the game. Supposedly, players will be able to farm over 100 crops and raise a variety of livestock, with different animals found in their own regions and biomes. Autonomica also gives players a lot of choice when it comes to how they want to run their farms: they can take a more Stardew Valley approach, tending to fields and animals by hand, or they can go full Satisfactory and automate the whole shebang.
Much like its forbears, like Minecraft, Autonomica offers both an intense survival mode and a creative mode, which allows players to build and explore at their own pace.
After surpassing the funding goal, backers unlocked more in-game features, like underwater exploration, mech suits, and aquaponic farming. Overall, Autonomica features a low-poly Solarpunk style, with somewhat cartoonish elements but an overall hopeful aesthetic.
The game seems to be making some bold claims about what will be included in the final game, and trying to merge genres that already feature some complex ideas on their own. Sure, the developer has exceeded the original funding goal substantially, and Crytivo games has a history in social simulation, resource management, and survival games, so Autonomica seems to be a culmination of previous works. But it's difficult not to be sceptical and not immediately think about games like No Man's Sky when looking at the Autonomica roadmap.
Autonomica's minimum specifications also mean it should be able to run on devices like the Lenovo Legion Go (curr. $599.99 at Best But).
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