Astroneer Reviews
There's so much to dig into and explore that it's easy to lose hours upon hours without batting an eye. Despite the learning curve, I found myself putting on my headphones and zoning out to the sweet soundtrack and some mindless digging. I wish that the systems were explained a little bit better but some light reading and personal discovery help this underrated indie shine.
Astroneer is a lot of things - base management sim, mining game, exploration title, open-world sandbox adventure - yet all of it works, easily outclassing its contemporaries in the genre. If all you ever wanted from a space exploration title is to have fun and enjoy the game at your own pace, then there is no better choice out there than Astroneer. It's an exceedingly good title that's made even better with the many ways you can play it.
Its jigsaw pieces, jolly and randomly-scattered as they might be, only assemble in a finite amount of ways.
Once you get past the lack of a tutorial and find your feet to progress in the game, Astroneer turns into a wonderfully crafted open-world survival game. It is one of those games that gives you as much as you put into it and lets you work at your own pace towards your goals or the games. It is a calming and genuinely enjoyable experience to play if you stick with it.
Once you wrap your head around everything, Astroneer’s crafting and resources mechanics are remarkably soothing to interact with.