Enshrouded needs Stakes

There are certain dangers understood to be part of the survival action game experience. First and foremost among them are the basic human needs of food and shelter.

How heavily games rely on these varies by game, and games like Valheim and Enshrouded, employ food as a source of buffs, rather than something necessary for immediate survival. What Valheim, Terraria, and other games do have are enemies.

Enemies that do not care if I just started out. In many games like this, there is the unwritten rule that, at night, there be monsters - and it would really do me well to have a roof over my head. Sure, my first shack is shabby, but it is a necessity. I need a roof and some walls, so the early game monsters don’t eat my freshly spawned shanks. This forces me to think about resources and building early, even if, strictly speaking, I don’t need to worry about food.

Not so in Enshrouded. As soon as you stake a claim on a plot of land by constructing your flame altar - the heart of your future base – nothing can touch you within it. You don’t even need to put up walls, you are completely safe. There is nothing coming to attack you, no decay affecting your structures, and I believe the NPCs you can recruit to your base also don’t care if they have a roof over their heads. Guess they are low-maintenance. Add to this that you can teleport back to your home plot from anywhere in the world, and any tension simply evaporates – along with my interest in the game.

I suspect that some people will like this lack of early-game pressure, but this makes me bounce right off the current iteration.

Do you like Enshrouded? Do you think I should give it a fair shot? I'd love to hear what keeps you playing, or if my initial misgivings are resolved with more playtime.