We’ve likely all been crafting with blocks since we were little drooling idiots, so when Minecraft came along and gave everyone a chance to become children all over again it was hugely successful. Now somehow despite being a lifelong lover of games I’ve never actually played Minecraft. I always struggle with games that ask you to create your own fun, and alongside this I don’t have a creative bone in my curvy body. Maybe I’d love Minecraft though, and maybe one day I’ll find out. Until then I will happily play Everwind, a survival, crafting game made of blocks that focuses more on combat and leveling.
When you first generate and jump into your universe, you’ll be greeted by all those pixel-y blocks that the world has come to love. Even in its early access state there’s a nice tutorial that’ll teach you about the game, all as you escape a tower full of skeletal foes. You’ll get little glimpses into combat and crafting while fleeing the stone walls, and eventually will taste freedom as you touch the floor of the island for the first time. It’s time for the real fun to begin next, as you repair your first airship.
What helps Everwind stand out from other survival crafting experiences are the airships, which you’ll use to travel across the ocean and sky to various islands. As long as you attach a cockpit, engine, balloon and power source to some blocks you’ll be equipped to slowly drift about, but with the right materials you’ll be able to craft yourself a lightning fast ship with all manner of storage, campfires and decorations to make this vehicle a home. I immediately felt a sense of ownership over my lovely little sky raft, and set to work making it even better.
Like any good survival game, there are loads of different crafting tables and materials to create in Everwind. You’ll need to collect sticks, stones and grass to make basic tools, then you can use them to build forges, metalwork tables, and all the other usual suspects. Before you know it you’ll be making all sorts of different armour sets, weapons and advanced flying gear, which will serve you well on your travels.
There’s a big emphasis on combat in Everwind, because of the three tribes of enemies you’ll find across the islands. The first person scrapping feels pretty decent, although it’s easy to have your health whittled down by quick hits. You have a whole load of options to use against foes that improve the combat more too, like shields that can block damage if your timing is right, magic spells, and a trusty bow for ranged combat.
As well as crafting new gear, you can also get stronger by levelling up and spending points in your skill trees. You have three of these full of seriously meaningful upgrades, from silent movement while crouching to revealing enemies through walls with your handy compass. It would take hundreds of hours to level up enough to unlock everything, so get ready to lock in.
Despite being an early access title, there’s no lack of content in Everwind. Your custom world will have dozens and dozens of islands to explore, all featuring different biomes and points of interest like wrecked pirate ships and shrines to ancient heroes. Exploring these islands will grant you ingredients for meals or alchemy, which are fully fleshed out systems that are well worth spending time experimenting with. Rare materials can even be used to upgrade your airship’s core, which enable you to rise to new maximum altitudes, top speed and total size. The altitude is especially important because higher islands have rarer loot and tougher foes, so you’ll have to soar to get the good stuff.
Everwind is fun alone, but will be even better with a buddy or three. You can play in four player co-op with ease, and when in someone else’s world you’ll even level up your character to use back home. With the right group Everwind will be a top tier multiplayer experience, so find some friends and get creating some extravagant aerial vehicles.
Everwind is already looking seriously promising, and there’s still so much planned for the early access period (like animal handling for all the adorable Capybara). The survival and looting side of the game meant I never had to rely on getting creative to have fun, but if you’re an expert block builder then that’s all waiting for you too. Everwind could easily be the next big survival crafting game, and it’s worth jumping in already if that sounds like your block of tea.
Everwind is coming to early access on PC via Steam on March 17th.
