Released on April 10, 2024, by Miju Games, Planet Crafter is a survival sandbox that puts players in the role of a lone explorer with an ambitious yet perilous task: to terraform a hostile planet and make it habitable.
Available on PC (Steam), Planet Crafter blends survival mechanics, resource management, exploration, and construction, creating an experience where every decision influences the surrounding world.
But does the game truly manage to keep engagement high throughout the journey?
The Appeal of Terraforming: A Planet in Transformation
One of the most captivating aspects of Planet Crafter is its environmental progression. The planet starts as a barren wasteland. As players gather resources and build machines, oxygen levels rise. Pressure increases, and temperature climbs, triggering visible and tangible transformations.
What makes this process even more engaging is how player choices influence its progression. It’s possible to accelerate heating or pressure, depending on the technologies developed. Unlocking different tools happens at varying stages. Additionally, exploration lets players discover blueprints and crafting recipes ahead of time. This alters the terraforming path and makes each playthrough slightly different.
The game successfully conveys a strong sense of progression and satisfaction, particularly in significant moments—like witnessing the first rainfall on an initially arid world. This environmental evolution enhances the experience, providing clear visual feedback on the progress made.
Exploration and Progression: A World Full of Secrets
The planet isn’t just an empty landscape waiting for transformation; it’s a world filled with mysteries and secrets. As terraforming advances, new areas become accessible, revealing caves, spaceship wrecks, and mysterious structures that hold valuable resources and insights into the planet’s past.
One of the game’s strongest features is its well-balanced resource management system. It dynamically adapts to the current terraforming phase. Early on, players focus on securing oxygen and water. Later stages shift towards advanced materials for complex constructions and technological upgrades. This system keeps gameplay engaging and prevents it from becoming repetitive or frustrating
Progression extends beyond planetary stats—it also applies to exploration, as new zones continuously open up. This encourages discovery and keeps players invested, avoiding the monotony often found in similar titles.
Building and Customization: How Much Freedom Does the Player Have?
While terraforming and exploration are standout features in Planet Crafter, the construction system has some limitations. Though functional and well-integrated with the game’s mechanics, it feels somewhat rigid, restricting creative freedom. There’s a noticeable lack of customization options for structures, which often appear too standardized and lack versatility.
The game allows players to construct living modules, greenhouses, production facilities, and advanced machinery, but the variety of aesthetic and structural elements is rather limited. More freedom in building design and a wider selection of decorations would have made this aspect even more rewarding.
Despite these constraints, construction remains a core part of the experience, enabling players to optimize operations and create a self-sustaining ecosystem. If Miju Games expands this feature in future updates, the building system in Planet Crafter could become a true highlight of the game.
Conclusion: A Satisfying and Immersive Experience
Planet Crafter delivers an engaging and rewarding experience, thanks to its dynamic terraforming system, well-balanced resource management, and progressively expanding exploration. The sense of achievement from watching the planet transform is one of the game’s strongest aspects, making every stage of the process feel like a meaningful milestone.
However, the construction system could benefit from more flexibility, and some aspects of exploration could be made more diverse and in-depth. Despite these minor drawbacks, the game maintains a strong sense of progression and immersion, ensuring players stay invested in their journey.
For fans of survival sandbox games like Subnautica or Astroneer, Planet Crafter is a must-play title, offering hours of enjoyment and a deeply satisfying sense of accomplishment as the planet evolves.
Planet Crafter by Miju Games is available on Steam.
Planet Crafter
PRO
- Dynamic and rewarding terraforming
- Well-balanced and engaging progression
- Exploration filled with secrets and new areas to discover
CON
- Limited flexibility in the building system
- Lack of customization options for structures
- Exploration could offer more variety
8/10
