As I’ve pretty famously stated many times before now, on a general level I don’t tend to be a fan of more survival-oriented games in general. At some point a load of resource collection and crafting, when there’s not something of more substance to regularly back it up, tends to get drearily dull. Of course, there have been exceptions to this, I think most notably in a somewhat similar more low-key survival game that came out quite some time ago named Forager. The key is to try to find a balance of tasks and activities to keep things feeling fresh, or at least show some degree of personality along the way.

In the case of Outpath, I’d say it’s unfortunately lacking in a few of those areas. Essentially dropped onto an island without all that much in the way of direction (and controls which I’d argue are just a little odd), you’ll begin by simply running around and whacking everything in sight, collecting resources as you go. Once you’ve accumulated enough you’ll then have the ability to make a workbench, which will let you make some tools to collect more resources, making another crafting-oriented station, and so on. If you’ve played a few games in this vein, this should be a pretty well-worn strategy. 

In my mind, that’s the rub here though, as there are quite a number of more subdued and stress-free survival games out there that this needs to be measured against, and I can’t say it comes through without taking a beating. As you go you will have the ability to reveal new islands and biomes, which inevitably also bring with them more things to collect and build, but more often than not this also tends to spread everything out more, adding the tedium of getting from one spot to another to the experience. Without any particular narrative or real personality to lean on, the game is also lacking in the cozy charm and feels like you find in the cute Winter Burrow. There’s certainly a fair amount of game to explore and unlock here, but it feels more like an exercise most of the time, just playing it to play, and not necessarily getting any greater enjoyment out of the experience.