In Flotsam, players must help a group of disaster survivors build a new home. To do so, they must manage a floating city and gather resources along the way—a lengthy process that will appeal to those who enjoy more measured gameplay.
The game starts with technical issues. It’s hard to tell what exactly is being rendered in the initial stages, but this “something” puts a significant strain on the CPU and GPU—the system heat was an order of magnitude higher than when playing Of Ash and Steel, which had a memory leak issue. After a few hours, the game returns to normal, and the only issues that persist are minor bugs.
Perhaps significant power is required to generate the enormous thickness of water, with its numerous animated objects. According to the plot, the world has survived a great flood, and now survivors can observe the submerged remains of civilizations, among which fish and whales swim. On the surface, floating debris and islands that were once elevated areas are visible.
A group of people called drifters have managed to settle on an ark that plows the waters of a new world. To survive, they need food and water, which they still need to obtain. To live a happy life, they need decorations that will keep them in a good mood.
Keeping the floating base operational will require tons of resources. Initially, you’ll have to make do with floating debris, which consists of wood and plastic. If you’re lucky, you might stumble upon a food source in the form of seaweed. Once the drifters have cleared out the islets, it’s time to open the global map and head to the next ones.
The collected resources are needed to construct production buildings around the base. Initially, you need to lay down paths, and then build buildings along the edges – over time, the base will become a fully-fledged floating city. Each building has a weight, which increases the energy consumption of movement and eventually prevents further construction altogether – as you develop, you’ll need to create devices to lighten the buildings.
It won’t be possible to simply use the collected waste for construction. Processing plants will have to be built to dry wood and process plastic. There are separate buildings for desalinating water and making seaweed salad—without these, the drifters will die of hunger and thirst. Each building has a unique animation, showing workers turning levers or processing materials with tools.
Working increases the drifter’s level, allowing for research. You can research boat construction, which significantly increases speed and resource collection, as well as allows for efficient fishing. You can also construct a building for recycling scrap metal or crafting various tools. Surprisingly, even using scrap for everyday activities can lead to real technological progress!
Most buildings require energy to operate. Initially, wood serves as fuel, which is also needed for construction. Over time, electricity can be harnessed by laying wires throughout the city. It’s generated by various generators powered by pedal power or the gasoline found in the area. However, it took me an inordinate amount of time to find the right electronics recycling plant, which is essential for converting the facilities to a new form of energy!
An important step is reaching the islands and half-sunken buildings. The buildings contain everything you could possibly need: furniture, old electronics, canned goods, and scrap metal. On the islands, you can gather wood and, if you’re lucky, even vegetables that survived the disaster. Gathering some resources requires tools, which also require some crafting.
Drifters—additional workers in need of food and shelter—can periodically be found on the islands. If specialists are discovered, they will unlock new research branches related to their specialty: electricity, farming, and medicine. Finding a DJ will unlock a radio tower, allowing specialists to be spotted on the map one by one.
Many specialists are located in contaminated areas. Interacting with objects here increases pollution levels. Drifters’ habitats will need to be equipped with a filtration system and buildings associated with the selected doctor. Otherwise, pollution will lead to illness among the residents. If you decide to mine resources in contaminated areas, you’ll need to construct buildings to clean the catch of any accumulated contaminants.
In later stages, the city becomes self-sufficient. Most buildings run on electricity, and farms allow you to grow your own food. You can even train seagulls to help you! You can afford such luxuries as building decorations for the city and cooking delicacies for drifters. All that remains is to travel between islands, collect parts for rare tools, fuel for generators, and complete missions.
Diagnosis
At first glance, Flotsam seems like a relaxing game, but it’s not! While the gameplay may seem like a peaceful journey through the water, to survive, you’ll have to constantly hoard resources and distribute them among ever-expanding production facilities. The game has a huge number of mechanics, which can be difficult to keep in mind.
At a modest price of 465 rubles, the game is worth a try—especially considering the 50% discount the developers are offering to mark its release from Early Access.
Pros:
- Beautiful views of the vast ocean
- A large number of diverse mechanics
- Room for creativity
- A large number of animations related to drifter activities
Contra:
- Heavy system load at the beginning of the game
- By the end, the number of mechanics exceeds all conceivable limits
- Rare, but still annoying bugs
