The Planet Crafter, an independent game developed and published by Miju Games, will officially launch on PC on the specified date. The game centers on an open-world terraforming experience where you essentially craft a planet into one that can support life, in case you haven’t checked it out in early access. You will be entering a hostile planet’s ecosystem and trying to make it habitable for humans, other plant life, and more. You can do this alone or with friends. With the most recent trailer above and additional information about the game below, Version 1.0 is set to launch on April 10, 2024.
The Planet Crafter Overview
| Release Date | 25 March 2022 |
| Publisher | Miju Games |
| Developer | Miju Games |
| Game Modes | Single-player |
Story – Still in the Making
There isn’t much of a plot in Planet Crafter as of yet. All you have to do to start terraforming the desolate planet where you start the game is follow the instructions. You’ll eventually get a few messages that briefly describe your character, but not much more than that. Nothing about it affects how the game plays. Apart from the overarching goal and a few preliminary cues, none of the narrative components provide any specific direction. That being said, you have a goal from the start and it’s usually fairly obvious what to do next, so this isn’t a directionless experience.
Message logs from crashed spaceships can be found all over the world, hinting at strange activity on this particular planet. There is room here for a proper narrative to be added later. Even though they are all quite few, taken as a whole, they raise a lot of questions. This has the potential to organically develop into a more coherent plotline given some more time. But for the time being, if you’re searching for a narrative-led adventure, this isn’t a game you should visit. Fortunately, the gameplay manages to carry it, as the developers had hoped.
The Planet Crafter System Requirements
| OS | Windows 7 or higher |
| PROCESSOR | Intel Core 2 Duo |
| MEMORY | 4GB |
| STORAGE | 2GB |
Can I Run The Planet Crafter?
Operating The Planet Crafter requires a minimum of an Intel Core 2 Duo Q6867 CPU. To play the game, though, the developers advise a CPU that is at least as powerful as an Intel Core i5-12400T. The Planet Crafter requires a minimum of 4 GB of free disk space to be installed. The Planet Crafter requires a minimum of 4 GB of RAM to be installed on your computer. Furthermore, the game developers advise having about 8 GB of RAM on your computer.
You can play the game as long as your graphics card is at least an AMD Radeon R5 M230. However, an AMD Radeon R7 A10-7850K graphics card is advised, per the developers. Operating systems for PCs that support Windows 10 64-bit and above include Planet Crafter. It also comes with a Linux version.
Gameplay: Survive and Conquer
The former entails keeping an eye on your oxygen levels, hydration, and overall health. Your oxygen runs out the fastest of all of these, but you can easily refuel by going back to your landing pod or a structure you’ve constructed. Drinking water, which can be made from ice found all over the world, increases hydration. In addition to rapidly decreasing your health when you fall or are hit by meteors, your health bar also functions as a hunger meter. The meter will continue to decrease until you eat something. Anything you’ve grown or scavenged will immediately increase your health by a predetermined number of points.
These three constraints determine your capacity to finish the second gameplay loop, which involves gathering resources. Similar to other survival games, you can construct a variety of tools and buildings. Most are tools for terraforming, but some are wearables that raise your stats. You’ll be able to access increasingly sophisticated technology over time, allowing you to explore farther and terraform more quickly.
The extent of the upgrade system is unexpectedly high. The desire to advance to the next major technological advancement provides a strong motivation to keep going, even though much of the progress you make may involve waiting for new developments to arrive. The fact that your terraforming level is rising and you’re getting closer to the next upgrade throughout the entire game adds to its replay value. You’re still advancing even when you’re doing nothing. I had a really hard time removing myself from this never-ending positive feedback loop for long enough to write this review.
