Flotsam Review

Flotsam is a simulation survival game developed by Pajama Llama and Published by Kongretgate. Currently on Steam, its available for $24.99, and I'd say it's very much worth the price if you like simulation games. I have to say that I was not very into them, even when the Sims came out, but ive started to get addicted to indie games, they opened my eyes as to what a real good game is and can be.

At first, getting into Flotsam was very difficult knowing that I have never really played a simulation survival game before. I did get past that fear and aggravation as time went on, I started to build my little community and actually got a lot of things done! Although on the first run I did not do very well and my survivors did die, I still got a lot further than I ever expected. I saw where I went wrong and corrected them the next time around.

When building around your Townheart, which is just really a little hut that is floating in the sea with nothing attached, keep in mind to make space for everything you need to build onto it. Your very first objective will be to send a survivor out and gather debris, plastic and wood to use for materials that you will transform into useful items. Now, the concept of collecting trash that people have just carelessly thrown out is such a good way to promote recycling and keeping the world safe, its is such an awesome statement. After collecting the trash and turning it into materials that can be used for building, you will be tasked with building your floating village. For this, you need to send a survivor out to go collect materials, indicated by a buoy that shows where you want your survivor to swim to. You can widen and shorten the vicinity as to how much you want collected. Keep in mind that these survivors do eat and drink, they will get tired after swimming and building, so as your survivor is working his stats will start to deplete -but you can keep on eye on these stats, best to check on them ever 10 mins or so, so you know what they need. After you collect some materials, build a deck extension to make more space for creating new things. The first thing you'll need to craft shortly after the deck, is a bed, or beds for your survivors to sleep in. After all the hard work, they will need to rest.

Now, it will take some time to collect and build, collect and build, but it doesn't get boring. You build so many things and have so many things going on at once, it is hard to be bored. Building things such as drying racks for your wet wood, or distillers to clean the water and workshops to make the firewood for your distiller, these things are a must and vital to your survivor's health and longevity. It takes a lot of wood to build all of these, after you complete the first tasks the guide in the top right corner will help you along the way and tell you what you need to do next. The only way to get to the next segments of the game is to simply follow through on building. They will automatically unlock after completion of the first few steps.

After a little building, you'll have to build more complicated things such as a scavenger and fishing boats. These save time and effort for your survivors. If they are using the boat and not swimming, you are saving energy and other vital stats that would deplete a lot faster if you didn't have these creations.

You'll soon have to create a Dock Port and rope. In order to have boats, you must first have the Dock Ports. The rope will be for sails, that you definitely need for travelling. Soon you will start to run out of things to collect and build with. Moving from spot to spot is a must. It does take a little bit to actually get the sail, but hang in there, you will feel an accomplishment after making both small and big feats. When the sail is up and created, you'll be able to travel and find other survivors and task them with jobs. You can specifically task survivors with certain jobs or have them all do everything. Whichever is easiest for you. Me, I let them all do work, having more people makes building a lot faster and easier. You'll find abandoned islands that you can scavenge and find useful things that you cannot find in the water. Keep on building your village and keep your survivors alive, it is a great task, but can be done. It'll take you a little bit and you will have to start over again, you just need to work out where you went wrong and don't make the same mistakes as you did the first time. You'll get better and better as time goes on.

This has to be one of the best games I have played, hands down. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a challenge, or if you like simulation games. It is fun and time consuming but keeps you right on the edge of your seat ready to build more and expand your floating village.