You are an unnamed survivor that washes ashore on an unknown island. Without any memory about how you got here, you must survive and find a way home. Surviving Skeleton Island is an open world survival craft game by Bert Games that doesn’t reinvent the formula.
You wash up on a relatively safe beach, survival consists of finding food and water while creating a small base. After that, you explore the island to find clues and better materials to help you survive. That gives you plenty of time to build a foundation and learn the game while you explore the island. It’s filled with various creatures and undead that pose a threat. You are a fragile survivor at first but eventually become a force to be reckoned with. Soon food and water are the least of your worries while creatures on the island learn to fear you.
Building yourself a small base and surviving on an island is thrilling. It’s even exciting at some points as you explore the wonders the island has to offer. The main thing holding this game back is that it doesn’t offer anything unique or special. Fortunately, there’s still a lot of potential waiting in the wings and that provides some hope. If that potential isn’t utilized properly, this may end up being yet another survival game.
Having the beach as a safe haven makes Surviving Skeleton Island significantly more inviting. While you can die if you aren’t paying attention, it’s a great training ground. There are plentiful supplies and tutorials spread around to help you learn how to play. You don’t have an actual tutorial per se; searching the beach is how you learn the basics. It would be nice to know keyboard shortcuts beforehand, but it’s not too difficult to pick up.
Crafting new equipment and items takes place in a menu and you can see what ingredients you need. What you can make is dependent on your level. Fighting creatures, harvesting resources, and just surviving until the next day gives you experience to level up. It’s a grueling process but it also helps you appreciate your current setup. Once you level up and build better equipment, you can venture deeper into the island.
It’s a fun process but there isn’t much that differentiates Surviving Skeleton Island from other survival titles. Your equipment degrades as you use it. Sleeping is the best way to restore happiness. Enemies and precious resources are found deep within the island. Explore dungeons to find your way off the island. These have been done by other titles. While other games haven’t covered being stranded on a supernatural island, the general formula is the same.
This doesn’t mean that Surviving Skeleton Island will remain a generic survival game. But what you see right now in its Early Access state doesn’t feel unique or extraordinary. It’s a nice time, but it doesn’t feel too different from other survival titles. If you like what you see, you might stick around if this was your first survival game. But if you have played a few titles, Surviving Skeleton Island doesn’t do a good job of standing out.
Fortunately it is still in Early Access and there’s a lot to look forward to. It’s nice discovering new environments and challenging yourself. The thrill of survival is here even if it isn’t unique. If you have been looking for a new survival game to challenge yourself, Surviving Skeleton Island could be it. Keep in mind that it doesn’t do anything extraordinary right now and you can get some enjoyment from it.
Victor reviewed Surviving Skeleton Island in Early Access on PC with a provided review code.
