The Planet Crafter
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
The Planet Crafter Trailers
Planet Crafter - Official 1.0 Launch date announcement trailer
Planet Crafter - Official Steam Trailer | 2021
Critic Reviews for The Planet Crafter
It would have been nice if Planet Crafter had gotten the AAA budget and polish, but the game as it exists nails all the important parts in ways that can make multi-hour gaming sessions fly on by in minutes. It's a dead cold rocky ball without a hint of life when you get there, but each new crafted item is another step closer to the terraformed paradise it can become.
The Planet Crafter is unique among sci-fi survival sandbox titles, featuring depth and complexity but on a planetary scale. It could use some quality-of-life features, but the compelling gameplay, exploration and aesthetic make it hard to put down.
The Planet Crafter is a cool survival crafting game with lots of possibilities. It just would have had more of an impact with a good end-game goal or a story peppered in.
Planet Crafter is a very peaceful, satisfying game worth dumping your hours into. It's a game you play to relax after a hard day's work, and what better way to show it than by turning a lifeless rock into somewhere you can call home?
The Planet Crafter truly captures the roleplay feeling of terraforming a strange new planet and offers a rewarding and immersive terraforming experience. It is well-paced, and multiplayer makes it an even better experience, with groups of friends being able to work on solo projects side by side or enjoy focusing together on completing goals. Though it would be nice to be able to have more direct interactions with other players and a chance to customize looks to distinguish one another, the multiplayer is well done in its execution of being able to feel like a team working on common goals.
The Planet Crafter provides a free new injection of green life to the survival genre. As opposed to starting in a forest and chopping trees down. You are instead creating that forest from nothing. The game employs familiar crafting and survival elements that have been seen in many other games. I think the only deterrent to some players is there is a lot of busy work in this game that may not click with people not taken with the genre in previous attempts. However, if you are new to the genre, Planet Crafter is a great starting point. And if you are a fan of the genre, it brings plenty of that addictive crafting gameplay and exploration, which will keep you hooked for some time. Add onto that the ability to play with friends, and you may just have your next online game, a night game. As for me, I can see myself jumping on this on Steam Deck for some time in the coming year and possibly beyond.
The Planet Crafter can't seem to make up its mind about what it wants to be. The survival mechanics are iffy, the narrative elements spotty, and the "chill" vibe it's shooting for misses badly. Avoid this particular rock.
The Planet Crafter is an exceptional exploration-based survival-crafting simulator that portrays the transformation of a once deserted world.
