Single Game Account

The best game I ever played

Vintage Story - A game that almost takes the throne for me

The goods:

When I jumped into Vintage Story, (which I will be shortening to just VS for readability) , I was expecting a hard, immersive experience that felt familiar to it's core inspiration, and unsurprisingly it did not fail to deliver. VS encourages patience and a mind that's able to comprehend the puzzle of surviving. What I mean by this is it's ability to really invest the player in thinking about their next move, and despite how long the days and nights are you never truly run out of questions.

"I should probably get food"

"But wait, a shelter would be more important"

"Oh, but waiting the night in said shelter with berries is going to waste my time, maybe i'll try to find clay beforehand?"

These and other similar questions go through your mind when you first generate a world and explore around. You never simply idle around trying to think of what to do next, because there is ALWAYS something to do the next day or when the sun goes down (Prepping meals, making stuff out of clay, etc etc), and that to me feels like a game loop done right. The next day I attempt to run away from and kill a bear and on Tuesday I go searching out in the wilderness for berries.

I have yet to compliment how this game pushes you towards these goals in the first place, the impending doom of winter, where crops die, animals become less viable and you are only left with what you've prepared in your cellar, if VS didn't have a set in stone system where one season could ruin your entire run then what other factors would motivate you to go out there gathering in the first place? A bear attack? Hostile mobs? Nah, how about something humanity can never solve or fight against, the mother nature. And if things seem to get too difficult or overwhelming, prepare to have a mind for reading because VS is, in fact a "WIKI" game. Aka a game that benefits the player for looking into different things that they don't seem to understand or want to understand, and this game makes wiki reading super accessible, with most of the info you need for early and mid-game all written down when you press H.

When we get to the modding aspect I can't really talk too much on it, but I highly respect the developers going out their way to make an official modDB for VS, you don't see it very often and when you do it's usually from people really ambitious about keeping the games legacy alive, which I have very very high respect for.

The bads:

Mind you, the reader that when I say "the bads" it's not me outright saying some systems simply suck or shouldn't be in the game, that's absolutely not the case, and what did poor criticism ever do good for anything? 

Prospecting: 

This game seems very divided in what its community seems to think about prospecting. Is it tedious? Yeah. Does it serve as a filter that drives people away from the game? Maybe. Do many still find the concept of putting time into finding the ores you want rewarding? Yeah, absolutely. Do I like it? Not really, not right now, at least. This system deserves a overhaul, a balance. Considering how much time one can put into finding a clay node, food, fertile dirt and other items that are necessary for early game, the game doesn't leave breathing room and hits you with prospecting, which can absolutely drive people off, it seems to rub a specific niche group of people who enjoy tedious tasks, but sacrificing a tedious task for the sake of accessibility shouldn't be an idea that's immediately thrown off the cliff. If anything, I'd hold polls for the people who own an account to ask what they think and put potentially better ideas on the table.

 "I've been looking for [thing] for so long and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt!!!":

Clay, as important as it is for early game progression is absurdly hard to find, I did manage to find some but it took time, yet when you receive clay you are awarded with spending more minutes making the pots you require to go further, which I feel is a bit unbalanced, I haven't gotten too far into the game to have more of these "Cant find" moments but hey, worth mentioning everything amirite?

In short, despite the game being in early access this thing is a beast, it's totally worth your 20 if you are willing to get sucked in and blasted with serotonin that activates your pre-historic neurons, and I'm extremely happy with the game that I'll keep it and probably go back to smelting ores real soon after I've hit the post button.

- Mellie 

In first few hours I really thought about refund, because I thought I can't get past minecraftish graphics.

But then I tried few more hours, got my first farm, smelted early metals and really got into the game. It is very well thought out with some complex systems like metal smelting and smithing.

With 1.20 update, some really cool additions are coming in too.

Now I'm around 40 hours into my first single player world, and I'm really enjoying it.

I hope devs will continue to develop this great game for many years.

Discovered this game a few years ago on some random forum. It has quickly become one of my favorite games; I'm not quite sure what it is but I just love the world and feeling of it all. Those first few hours just learning everything was magical, and to this day I still have that feeling while playing. 

More engaging than its competitors!

With a valley of content to explore, this game has brought me joy and never gave me a creative block unlike the other big names out there.
I enjoy that the focus of this game is more exploration and survival based rather than true creativitiy, even though there are a plentiful amount of options to decorate your world with if you are into that type of thing.
Every time I return to Minecraft, I find myself bored, unengaged, and speedrun to try and get to the end of it. It really has too much to do in that game when it comes to buildings that I get overloaded with options.
With this game, I always have to slow down and enjoy the process with the game and forces me to go with the flow and really focus on the progression rather than skipping through it.

I would always recommend this to others that are having the same issues I am.

Thank you, and keep developing!

Beautifully made game. If you enjoy voxel games, bushcrafting survival, or both, you'll love this one. It's very lovingly made and is a great experience even though it is relatively early in development. The developer is very responsive and the community is awesome.

TLDR: I put 120 hours into the game in 2 weeks. It's the first survival game I've played for more than an hour. If you're even remotely interested in what the game advertises I think you'll love the game. Great survival and great building options built in - easily the best building game I've played.

This game really surprised me. Every survival game I've tried previously, including Ark, Conan, etc., has been an almost immediate no for me. But, while looking into Minecraft mods/alternatives, I found Vintage Story, and after reading up on it and watching some gameplay, I was really interested in trying it out (still not sure why, exactly). Because of their generous refund policy, I decided why not and gave it a shot, fully expecting to refund it within the first hour or two. Well, I blew past the 10 hour refund limit the first day I bought it.

What I like:
1. I wouldn't describe this game as fun necessarily - I think "satisfying" is more accurate. Most activities involve both a fair time investment and some kind of struggle, like finding your first tin vein or learning how to find that tin vein. Then, when you actually do, you just get a real sense that you've done something; I actually shouted "hell yeah!" when I found my tin and iron veins. Unlike a lot of modern games where it's a constant barrage of achieving/acquiring things, Vintage Story makes you work for it and it just feels better when you get something done, even if the rate of doing things is slower.

2. Just cool mechanics in general, lots of small things. You can build a greenhouse which will keep your crops warmer, which may let you get an extra harvest out of them before winter. On the topic of winter, animals become leaner (fewer drops) and you have to care about your body temperature. You can build a cellar to keep your food cooler and slow down the spoilage rate during the summer. Just lots of really neat things like this that add a lot to my next point.

3. Immersion. This is actually one of the most immersive games I've ever played. Great ambient sounds, fantastic and mostly realistic environments (blocky graphics aside), having to actually deal with the world around you. This is something that's hard to describe, but when I'm playing the game I feel like I'm really exploring a cave, or some ruins, or whatever.

4. Building. If you've played a voxel-based building game before it's basically that. But, there is a built-in feature called chiseling which is the real game changer. This has different levels of granularity which allow you to remove chunks out of most blocks, so you can make customized pieces useful for decoration. Additionally, you can combine multiple blocks for use in chiseling, which allows you to use all the textures of the combined blocks. Want to make a wood and stone block so you can do something like make a stone pillar with a wooden adornment? You can. This is such a cool feature and if you love building in games I think this will be huge for you - it has opened up huge doors for me.

5. Tons of customization options. You can adjust hunger rate, tool speed and durability, and so many more parameters right out of the box. This is a big positive to me because I think it allows more people to enjoy the game by changing/removing parts of it they don't like for whatever reason. Or just for accessibility - I set tool speed to 300% due to hand pain and not having to hold my mouse as much is great.

What I think can be improved:
1. Adventuring, They're actively working on this, and as of the latest patch have added the first static story dungeon to the game (which I haven't gotten to yet, but am looking forward to a lot). But, outside of that, I don't feel a strong desire to really go out exploring, particularly in the caves. There is loot, but aside from the lore it can all be gotten much easier and safer. And caves can be really dangerous. So it's a pretty poor risk-reward structure.

2. A reason to progress. Except for copper to make a saw to make certain things like chests and more building blocks, you really don't need to progress past stone tools. On one hand, this is great because it's really an open-ended sandbox game. But, it would also be nice to unlock cooler stuff as you progress up to steel (and possibly beyond). Right now if you go beyond copper you're basically doing it just because, not because you want to be able to craft something fancy for your base, or make minecarts, or anything like that.

Overall, I love Vintage Story and plan on playing it for a long time, keeping it in my "always worth playing/replaying" list (I'm still playing it, I just wanted to get a review out). The dev seems very active, has a good roadmap and, from what I can tell, does a good job of working towards completing it. But, even if development of the game stopped today, I think it would be well worth the price and you would get a lot out of it. Plus, it has native mod support and a fairly active mod community, so like any other mod-heavy game you have tons of options once you get through what the base game offers.

 

I bought the game a couple days ago and I have to say it's been one of the best purchases I've made this year so far. The mechanics, the environments, even the progression is so well thought and so immersive, I really can't get bored with all that offers, specially with the latest update (1.18.0) and all that adds.

Is very well optimized and crafted in general! and the OST is AWESOME, I have to say I kinda have an addiction right now haha only thinking about "what will I do next" and even gifted a key to a friend too.

But overall a must play if you like challenging survival games! totally recommended!

Haven't had this fun and comfy of a time playing a game in literal years. Please send my regards to the chef because y'all cooked some of the best stuff this decade. 

Worth every penny and more ( I bought Supporter Addon as well ) !

I can't think of a single game that has captured my attention like this one has. The initial learning curve is steeper than you might be expecting, especially if you're coming here from Minecraft, but completely worth it, and constantly evolving as Anego Studios continues to support the game and release a major content update every few months. The developers are actively involved in the community, and the community itself (on the official forums and the discord server) is very friendly and helpful.

TL;DR: this game makes crafting your first pickax feel like a true earned accomplishment. Highly recommend.

Habs bei Gronkh im Stream gesehen und liebe die Spielmechanik. Echt tolles Spiel. Weiter so.

Saw it on the stream at Gronkh and love the game mechanics. Really great game. Way to go.

This is no doubt the best game that I have tried. I got my sister hooked and she is already ahead of me! I first found out about it a while ago on my favorite YouTube channel. I was instantly in love and about a year or so later I was finally able to get it! Definitely recommend for minecrafters who want something more. The price is a steal in my opinion and the game was worth every penny! It even runs okay on my mom’s old windows laptop. It really is “a survival game at it’s best.”

Its honestly unbelievable that game still in early access can still offer WAY more fun gameplay than finished AAA release and not require me to sell my liver to even buy it, Love the work you guy's are doing with this game

Amazing. 10 hours in so far. It's like a mature version of Minecraft! Very good and fleshed out survival elements and gameplay as of right now. Really makes you feel like you are stuck deep in nature and have to be a true Wildman to survive. Can't wait to see what else happens in development, its already so good!!! Also, mods can make certain aspects easier, or harder, or add completely new stuff that feels vanilla.

When I first saw this game, I wasn't sure what to think. It was voxel based, and had a sort of weird crafting system, while also paying some minor amount of lip service to lovecraftian influences.

After a few years of playing this game on and off, I can safely say my idea of what this game is has developed greatly. The game is not perfect, and it doesn't pretend to be; it has a few rough edges that are being worked on as I type this out, and you may occasionally find performance issues, or the odd rare bug; however, you can mod the hell out of this game and really experience no issues so long as you're smart about it. The developers used to be mod makers, and as such the level of mod compatability is off the charts. This means that not only do you have the tons of content the developers put in, but also the Googleplex of tons of content that mods can provide. You enjoy modding minecraft? Well welcome to that, but on some as yet unnamed stimulants that the World Health Organisation advises caution in taking.

That's not to put down vanilla! Just playing utterly unmodded can still have a playthrough time of hundreds of hours, even when you are rushing the objectives. If you're looking for a game to scratch that itch that "Primitive Technology" leaves in your gut, then this is absolutely that game.

So, after first finding this on YouTube and thinking it was a Minecraft mod, I was really happy to find out it was not!
After playing the game for about 100h non-stop and barely entering the Bronze Age, I'll probably be playing this for years!

TLDR
This game is very complex, but everything you learn/discover gives you a great since of accomplishment.
Even the hardest thing so far, which was learning the Prospecting mechanics (Finding Ores), became fun and rewarding.

Its a really great survival game with interesting gameplay and crafting systems and also gives you a lot of tools for customizing your builds.

More details on what to like
- Being a voxel game, it still has detailed items and props that make the world feel complex and interesting.
- Chisel mechanic!!! This basically allows you to model some blocks like wood and stone, and mix them together!

- The mechanics are very complex but easy to learn. Also you have a handy survival guide always at hand;
- Built in shaders and live environments;
- Immersive first person view (which has a toggle option);
- Well done sound design (From footsteps to weather sounds);
- Game runs really well, lots of graphic options to adjust;
- From what I can tell, game development is very much alive with a good planned future for the game;
- Also a good live community with servers and mods;
- MP servers or LAN options as well (One account per user);

Overall, if you're looking for that kind of game to play, focused on just having your little corner and surviving, or creating a whole village with lore, with good atmosphere and interesting gameplay, this is it!
Mind you, making a village will take a lot of time 

This is my house, entry please.

Edit: Reduced picture sizes

Vintage Story is a refreshing step into sandbox survival, blending creativity with a touch of realism that sets it apart in the gaming world. From the moment you start, the game immerses you in a beautifully evolving world, with dynamic weather, shifting seasons, and a level of detail that makes every moment feel alive.

What makes this game truly shine is its commitment to realism. Crafting isn’t just about clicking menus—you’ll have to manually shape tools, gather resources, and adapt to changing environments. The survival mechanics are intense, requiring you to plan for seasonal changes, preserve food, and master complex systems like farming and metallurgy. It’s challenging, but that’s what makes every achievement feel so rewarding.

The game’s progression isn’t handed to you. You’ll struggle at first, but as you learn and grow, there’s a genuine sense of accomplishment. There’s also an intriguing story that unfolds as you explore, adding a mysterious layer to the experience.

While it has a steep learning curve, and the multiplayer could use some more features, Vintage Story offers a deeply engaging experience, especially if you’re into realistic survival. It’s a standout in the genre and worth diving into if you’re looking for a challenge.

fun times

I like hitting rock with stone, make brain feel good.

English:

It is one of the best games that I have had the pleasure of trying, it is understandable that you may feel a certain approach to what Minecraft is, but I assure you that it is very different from it, it is noticeable once you are inside the game and experience it for yourself. your own account.

I truly recommend it to everyone, although it may seem overwhelming at first.

Español:

Es uno de los mejores juegos que he tenido el placer de probar, es comprensible que puedas sentir un cierto acercamiento con lo que es Minecraft, pero te aseguro que se difiere mucho de el, se nota una vez que estas dentro del juego y experimentas por tu propia cuenta.

Verdaderamente se lo recomiendo a todo el mundo, aunque tal vez al principio pueda parecerte abrumador.

I'm going to start my review with a few ideas that would easily earn it a 6th star, because I don't feel like making another account on some third party website to suggest simple ideas.
-Low tier chisel: The cozy art of sculpting/chiseling is locked behind the smithing age, when a hard rock should suffice to etch into many soft blocks. There are ways to balance a low-tier chisel, such as low durability, inability to carve any larger than the smallest voxels, only working on softer blocks, etc. 
-Custom world settings: These can be changed at generation, but cannot be saved as a custom starting scenario, meaning every setting in every new world needs to be meticulously changed before one can start a new adventure to their liking.
-World Gen: There are issues with world-gen... Forests of trees thriving atop granite mountains and growing out of gravel, giant sinkholes that open up beneath you because you picked a berry, LOTS of floating islands... This may be intentional, but...
-Stuff: I'm sure ya'll are working on it, but there's sooo many mods that add simple mechanics and items, like fishing rods and scarecrows, that would be simple to implement, I imagine.
As for my actual review, this is the perfect combination of survival challenge and cozy chill sesh. It's heavily customizable to one's own personal desires, as well. There's always the minecraft comparison, which leads me to wonder why minecraft runs so, so poorly compared to something as pretty as this. I can see why the devs moved on from modding that mess. VS runs very smoothly

Amazing game, especially for the price and great support and updates from the creators. Can't wait to see the game get its new content through future updates

Just can't stop playing. The mechanics are genius and the game is very immersive. Cannot wait for more updates. Truly an amazing game made by an amazing team!

El Juego es encantador.

As someone who played a lot of minecraft when I was in college (and it was in beta), I've always felt that I wanted a bit more MEAT to the game. I never tried the vintagecraft mod, so I hadn't heard of this game until I stumbled upon it by chance. And I have to say, it's almost everything I ever wanted from Minecraft, and much more. I cannot recommend the game highly enough if you love heavy survival simulation games with mining, crafting, and building.