No story, no NPCs – Solarpunk fills me with joy regardless
In survival-crafting game Solarpunk, I manage solar power, plant vegetable gardens and build automated drones. I quickly fell into the «just a bit longer» cycle. I need more.
Solarpunk doesn’t do anything new. I’ve seen every single gameplay element in one form or another. So I’m naturally sceptical going into it: «Just another cosy survival crafting game,» I think. On top of that, there isn’t even an open world for extended exploration, an engaging backstory for me to follow or NPCs to bring the world to life. I was pretty sure I knew what to expect: I’d get bored after two hours at the latest.
But this doesn’t happen. Instead, the «just one more…» effect sets in. Just a quick trip to retrieve a load of ore from the electric drill. Then a quick harvest of mature plants and sowing seeds. And while I’m at it, I might as well trade in those resources for a new research blueprint.
The encouraging progression system ensures I never get bored. Solarpunk constantly dangles really enticing rewards in front of me. Here’s one: a chicken strutting around near the lake. How can I catch it? In the distance, there are more islands that I’d like to explore. What do I need to do to get there? And among the unlockable blueprints, I see helper bots that I absolutely need.
A clean and peaceful world
The game borrows its name, Solarpunk, from an optimistic sci-fi genre. At its core is a vision of harmonious coexistence between people, technology and nature. Sun, wind, and water provide necessary power and intelligently applied technology takes care of most tedious tasks. In a Solarpunk setting, pollution and exploitation are things of the past.
This is exactly the feeling this game aims to convey. It’s a peaceful experience with no combat, giving me a quiet space to build a sustainable home – either alone or with up to three buddies – and customise it to my liking. I grow crops, mine ores and process the resulting resources.
During my explorations, I discover animals I can take home with me. When they’re happy, they reward me with eggs, wool, milk and truffles. That’s right – no meat. In Solarpunk, animals get to stay alive. And come on, who could possibly slaughter such a cute little piglet?
To ease the burden of all this work, I set up a renewable energy grid to power my systems. Later on, bots and drones will handle most repetitive tasks. This grants me free time to build more efficient greenhouses and more beautiful conservatories.
Reaching floating islands by airship
Early on, the game introduces me to its mechanics through simple tasks. Anyone who’s played survival games before will quickly find their way around, since the gameplay loop is identical to any other game in the genre. In keeping with the cosy experience, the game places a greater emphasis on decorations and skins for the airship and bots, in addition to unlocking new technologies.
The game doesn’t tell me who I am or why I’m on a modestly sized island floating in the sky. But I can see more islands on the horizon, and right from the off, I get a feeling I’ll be visiting them soon.
I receive new construction plans and manufacturing recipes in exchange for resources. Feels a bit bizarre that my high-tech research table requires, of all things, an ear of corn for its next upgrade. But from a gameplay perspective, this makes perfect sense, since these mechanics tie exploration and progression together. I don’t have any corn yet, so I have to find a corn plant before I can research new technologies. The game always requires me to prove that I’ve progressed far enough before I’m allowed to learn something new.
Take, for example, the construction of an airship dock. With my very own airship, I can set off and explore other islands. Most nearby islands aren’t particularly spectacular; they’re very similar to mine. However, I do find plants and ores that don’t exist on my island there. So, without further ado, I set up a drill that automatically extracts all raw materials.
The power issue
Early on, I spend most of my time doing simple tasks. The garden beds I’ve planted require a lot of tending. When it doesn’t rain, I have to grab the watering can myself on a regular basis. I can’t forget about harvesting and planting either. At least electric sprinklers save me from having to spend all my time watering.
The big question is electricity generation. From the start, I can build traditional generators that need to be fuelled with combustible materials. That certainly doesn’t fit with Solarpunk’s clean energy philosophy. In addition, generators have one major drawback: fuel only lasts for a maximum of twelve real-time minutes. After that, they need a refill. This is especially annoying when it comes to ore drillers on other islands.
The alternative is solar panels. At first glance, they might appear less efficient. They’re expensive to manufacture, and a single panel won’t generate enough energy to power a drill. And they’re useless in the dark or when it’s cloudy. Given this, I’ve been holding out for a while, sticking with generators. A mistake, as I realise hours later: my ore yield remains limited due to the short generator runtime. Despite their drawbacks, two solar panels perform significantly better in the long run.
Back at my house, rechargeable batteries ensure that my sprinklers keep running even after dark. This is becoming more and more important, since my garden’s only growing over time. Animals need to be fed and new technologies consume resources. So, I need more sprinklers, more power, and therefore more solar panels and batteries. All of this needs a lot of metal.
This is exactly where delivery drones come into play. They save me the trouble of constantly flying around to collect ore. However, they’re causing my power usage to skyrocket. Equipped only with solar panels and generators that kick in at night, I’ll soon reach the limits of what’s feasible – unless I want to fully cover my island with them. New wind turbines do help generate energy, but in turn, they consume a lot of ore.
One thing’s for sure, I’m never bored. I’m always on the lookout for new technologies that might be helpful. I spend hours tinkering with my setup, trying to strike a good balance between power-hungry automation and resource-intensive power supply. I’m also eager to finally replace the candles in my house with electric lights. Living a nature-oriented, solar-powered lifestyle doesn’t mean I have to live in the Middle Ages, after all.
Between work and play
Most of the time, cosy games bore me pretty quickly. Often, they don’t challenge or motivate me enough. But Solarpunk is one of those rare peaceful games I still really enjoy playing even after a few hours.
The relaxing music contributes to this just as much as the «green» aesthetic. All the decor is designed to create a cosy, natural atmosphere. There’s a huge variety of potted plants, both large and small. I hang them from the ceiling like traffic lights, place them on shelves or on the floor, quickly crafting a lovely reading nook in my sunroom. For outdoor use, there’s wooden garden furniture, birdhouses and plenty of decorative garden accessories. I can even set up an insect hotel.
When I log into the game and walk from my airship past the greenhouse, I immediately feel right at home. Then I check on my chickens and the little pig, crack a smile seeing they’re doing well, collect wax from the beehives and check any deliveries from my foraging drones.
The future isn’t all rosy
Despite all my enthusiasm, I keep running into quality-of-life issues. I can definitely tell that Solarpunk’s core development team consists of only two people.
Here are a few examples: neither the tree menu nor any device description tells me how much energy a system produces or consumes. To find that out, I have to go through the trouble of creating a display and integrating it into my system.
Annoyingly, I keep accidentally tearing down the wall behind it whenever I move furniture around. Come on, all I need is a simple indicator to show me what I’m currently targeting for demolition. The lack of access to the storage crates annoys me, too. If I want to build or craft something, I need to have the necessary materials in my inventory. Having boxes full of all I need won’t do. Dear developers: nobody enjoys constantly running back and forth between boxes and build sites!
The most annoying problem, however: constantly having to move things back and forth between my inventory and the quick-slot bar. Eating a raspberry? Only works from the bar. Planting new raspberry plants? Make sure those seeds are on the bar. How about placing a piece of furniture I’ve assembled? Yep, bar. It’ll always be cluttered anyway, since the game automatically places gathered items in empty bar slots. Whether it makes sense or not: what on earth am I supposed to do with crafting materials in a quick-access slot?
Solarpunk has been available since 8 June for PC (Steam, Epic Store), PS5, Switch 2 and Xbox Series. The Steam version was provided to me for testing purposes.
In a nutshell
Cosy and challenging at the same time
Despite featuring heavily recycled gameplay, Solarpunk still manages to keep me engaged for hours on end. Its combo of relaxed base building, energy management and resource gathering works well. New technology and automated equipment take a lot of work off my hands, but create new challenges at the same time. I have to keep my power supply running while meeting the needs of every plant in my garden.
Beyond that, Solarpunk is mainly a sandbox where I discovered for myself exactly what I wanted to build and achieve.
The graphics are simple but pretty, and the background music fits the friendly setting just as well. I hope more islands and biomes are added in the future. The developers estimate it should take about 20 hours to unlock all the content. After 14 hours, I still have quite a bit left to explore, though I don’t see many unexplored islands left on the map.
Solarpunk could still use some fine-tuning when it comes to usability. Above all, constantly fiddling with the Quick-Slot bar is unnecessarily frustrating.
Pro
- Relaxing gameplay
- Comprehensive and encouraging progression system
- Endless tinkering options for power supply
- Friendly Solarpunk aesthetic
Contra
- Fiddly controls
- Tiny game world lacking liveliness
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
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