Voyagers of Nera takes the concept of survival crafting and applies it to a vast ocean world filled with things to do and see. Players can journey across the ocean either solo or with their friends, as they search for new locations and crafting materials, while battling monsters and attempting to build settlements. It's developer Treehouse Games' first title, so thankfully, the studio is spearheaded by industry veterans with bags of experience.
To find out more about Voyagers of Nera, The Best War Games caught up with Treehouse Games' co-founder and CEO, Michael Chu. The genre is having a huge boom period at the moment, which shows no sign of slowing, and Chu is acutely aware that Voyagers of Nera needs to carve out its own image in order to stand out from the crowd.
8 Best Survival Crafting Games With Expansive Tech Trees
These survival games have incredibly deep tech trees to sink your teeth into.
Voyagers of Nera Comes During a Busy Time For Survival Crafting
Despite survival and crafting games being around since the 1990s in some form or other, the term 'survival crafting' is little more than a decade old. Games like Rust and Ark: Survival Evolved helped to popularize the phrase during the 2010s, but the 2020s have seen the genre reach new heights. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people turned to gaming as a means of socializing and bonding with their friends, and survival crafting titles in particular experienced a significant surge in popularity. Even post-pandemic, this popularity has endured, and Chu was keen to tap into it. He explained,
"We love survival crafting because it's just so flexible. You can play solo and have an amazing time. Someone else can join, hop right in, then drop out whenever they want. Someone can base build while someone else hunts monsters. You have all these different ways to contribute. You can stay online after your buddy logs off and build a beautiful base, build them their next set of gear, and they can log back on and be like, oh wow, you did this awesome thing, thank you! Even if it's just a way to be generous to each other."
Voyagers of Nera Was Built For Survival Crafting Fans
Many fans of the genre get enjoyment from pouring hours into loot and resource grinding. On the flip side, this concept can be alienating for newcomers, and this is a precarious balance that Treehouse Games needed to consider. When asked whether Voyagers of Nera caters to survival crafting experts or newcomers to the genre, Chu explained,
"Survival crafting is having a moment right now. I think more and more everyone's realizing it can be such a flexible fit. Friend groups of all kinds are coming to realize like, we can always play one of these games together and have a great time. But expectations are getting higher. I think from that, some people love the grind, and some people hate it. Honestly, I think the best answer is to find an experience that fits a lot of the people that really have to carry the flag for the game, a lot of people who really love survival crafting."
With the genre more popular than ever, Voyagers of Nera certainly has a large target audience. It presents a great opportunity for Treehouse Games to make a strong first impression while it is initially in early access. The studio is committed to ensuring that player feedback forms a central pillar of the game's continuous improvement as it progresses towards a full launch further down the line.