Description

Don’t Starve Together is the standalone multiplayer expansion of the uncompromising wilderness survival game, Don’t Starve. It is a survival game full of science and magic created by KLEI Entertainment. In this expansion, players are required to work together in order to survive by gathering resources. There are multiple characters available and it is possible for players to choose the same character. Each character has their own traits, giving the players a different experience for each character they have chosen. There is no limit to how long the players can survive, thus the players are able to keep on playing forever, provided they have the capabilities to survive that long.

Game website: https://www.kleientertainment.com/games/dont-starve-together

Game trailer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVbyn7c1X6E

Lens of Elemental Tetrad

Mechanics

The objective of this game is to survive. There are 3 core stats a player must maintain, namely Hunger, Health and Sanity. These stats change accordingly to the environment, which include seasonal changes, and the players’ actions. In order to maintain these stats, players are required to search for resources which are scattered around the entire world map. Using these resources, players are able to get food, build structures, farming and even making weapons for combat.

Aesthetics

Don’t Starve Together generally has a decolourized graphics. The game is generally dark, making players feel more connected to the game in terms of survival. In addition to the colours, the music and sound of the game changes as the day and location changes. As a result, it is easier for me to feel immersed into the game. For me, I personally really like when the characters’ expressions change along with the day, actions or even the environment changes. By looking at these characters’ expressions and actions, it makes me feel as if I am inside the game itself.

Technology

Don’t Starve Together is available on the PC, unlike Don’t Starve which is available on mobile as well. The game looks as if it is 2D, but it is considered more as a 2.5D game – everything in the game is aligned on a plane (2D), but rendered as 3D. It is relatively easy to control the character in the game. It is just simply either WASD and Space bar to walk and action, or just by mouse left and right click, making the game easy to play with just one hand.

Story

There is no storyline to Don’t Starve Together, as it is just players coming together and trying to survive and fight off monsters. The game begins with the players all spawning at the same area, and everyone goes out to find resources and help one another to survive the entire game. It is easier for these type of survival games to not have a storyline, as everyone will be on the same page all the time.

Lens of Problem Solving

This game has different seasons, and there is a boss that appears at different seasons. Some bosses are more aggressive; thus, they will run to the players and attack them. However, there are actually ways to get rid of these bosses – either by engaging a fight with them, bring them to fight other monsters or even bringing them to far away that is not near the players’ bases. For example, during the winter season, a boss named Deerclops will definitely appear. If we do not properly resolve the problem of Deerclops, it will kill all the players and destroy our base. There are also other problems of maintaining hunger, health and sanity, whereby planning and gathering of resources is required.

Lens of Challenge

The first challenge players face is the beginning of the game. Players are being thrown straight into the game without any guide or help to make the players’ life easier. Instead, players are expected to play without any help and they are required to trial and error during the start of the game if they are playing by themselves. This learning process is painful as it can take a long process to learn. When people are just catching how to play the game, they will most likely be on the verge of dying.

Since Don’t Starve Together is an extension of Don’t Starve, the map is bigger and the bosses also have much more health as compared to the ones in Don’t Starve. This makes the challenge of the game more balanced and just right. Since there are more people in the game, the challenge brought by the boss is just right as the bosses now have more health. This is good as if they just maintain the original health, it makes the boss too easy to kill, and there will not be any challenge in playing the game.

Lens of Cooperation

Don’t Starve Together goes well with teamwork and communication. As the map is way larger and there is more people, it is more efficient if the team communicates and let each other know where each individual will be going. Also, through communication, players are able to allocate roles to each other. For instance, some people will be in charge of farming, some in charge of mining or some are even in charge of fighting monsters. It is essential for players to work together to avoid double work being done, and to increase chances of survival.

Lens of Punishment

Don’t Starve Together is harsh on players when they die, and especially when there are no living characters in the game anymore. When all the players that exist in the world are dead, the world will reset and randomly generate a new world. Imagine if the players have played very far into the game, and all their efforts are gone when everyone dies. This can be very depressing to players that have spent a very long time in player that world.

Another punishment in the game that might be a little harsh is the death of the player. When the player dies, all the items and equipment drops at the spot of death, and they need to find means to revive. Once revived, the max amount of health drops – causing the player to have lower health when they start again.