Single Game Account

This is the absolute best survival game that I have personally ever played, the processes for making something like a pickaxe is so detailed and requires so many things and so much time at first, but then the reward is that you don't have to scavenge for loose ore anymore! The devs are incredibly active at the time of this review and Tyron has even said that he's in the process of adding a feature that I thought of on reddit! For me the fact that its still an early access game, and yet so polished at the same time makes me very happy, and the fact that the devs are active and passionate about the game makes it extra special. I'm very happy to be in the game's early access stage with the wonderful community here! Thanks for this game Tyron and Team

The attention to detail is amazing with replay-ability through the roof. Well thought out enjoyable game, with interactive developers and the constant updates. I highly recommend it.

FR : Je suis tombé sur ce jeu grâce au youtuber "Farfelin". Son gameplay narratif m'a poussé à vouloir tester Vintage Story à mon tour et je ne suis clairement pas déçu.
Un grand merci aux développeurs et à la communauté. J'espère que davantage de joueurs puissent découvrir cette petite pépite à leur tour.
Je suis venu car je pensais que ce jeu allait être une version de minecraft pour l'adulte que je suis aujourd'hui et je suis resté pour son coté immersif ainsi que pour tous les points qui le différencient de son "grand frère".
Si vous hésitez à acheter le jeu, notez que la politique de remboursement est plutôt large (2 semaines après achat ou bien 10h de jeu).
Je vous souhaite une bonne découverte.

EN : I came across this game thanks to the youtuber "Farfelin". Its narrative gameplay made me want to try Vintage Story myself, and I'm clearly not disappointed.
Many thanks to the developers and the community. I hope that more players will be able to discover this little treasure.
I came because I thought this game was going to be a version of minecraft for the adult I am today, and I stayed for its immersive quality and for all the points that set it apart from its "big brother".
If you hesitate to buy the game, please note that the refund policy is quite extensive (2 weeks after purchase or 10h of play).
I wish you a pleasant discovery.

Es un juego muy completo y super entretenido. El precio que tiene es lo que vale y la verdad que por el contenido que tiene está extremadamente bien. Las cosas que puedes hacer en este juego escapan a la comprensión humana, y también destaca la atención al detalle que posee. El hecho de que los procesos, como la creación del cuero con los baldes, sean tan similares a la vida real, le da un toque aún más interesante. Además, se actualiza constantemente, y espero que algún día el PVP sea mucho más preciso en servidores con más jugadores, para convertirse en un mmo survival con estas tremendas mecánicas.

Friendship ended with Minecraft.
Now Vintagestory is my best friend.

I decided to buy this game on a whim one day, and It's been a great decision. I love every aspect of the game, and even found a few servers that I really enjoy.

Great game, would recommend to anyone into minecraft-style stuff.

A Rare Gem in the Survival Sandbox Genre

This game manages to scratch almost every itch in my monkey brain. To keep things quick yet informative, I’ve organized this review into clear topics for easier reading.

Before you begin: I’ve avoided discussing in-game lore, so this review is safe to read. Also, my experience is limited to Survival Mode. Nothing here refers to Creative Mode.

1. PROGRESSION: Vintage Story has one of the best gameplay loops and progression systems I’ve seen in any game. It’s not strictly linear, you can survive just fine with copper tools and a modest settlement. The game doesn't lock you out of features based on your technological tier. Even at the copper age, you can still chisel, manage advanced animal husbandry, explore, and build complex structures. Alternatively, you can climb the entire metal ladder to the steel age, build castles, forge plate armor, and wield powerful tools. It’s less about necessity and more about the story you want to tell. That said, if you plan to chase the deeper lore (no spoilers!), I highly recommend progressing to the steel age first. Lower-tier gear is still viable, but the increased difficulty might be unnecessarily punishing.
2. BUILDING: Being a voxel game, building comes naturally, but Vintage Story takes it further. It encourages building in harmony with gameplay mechanics like chiseling, temperature, and food preservation. Your builds aren’t just pretty; they’re functional and necessary.
   • FEEDBACK LOOP: I can only speak from experience, but I grew deeply attached to my structures because they provided warmth and safety. What began as a base turned into a home. Hours invested became a sanctuary: protection from wild animals, a cozy shield against the cold, and a secure place to store food for winter. It’s a uniquely satisfying feeling.
   • DIVERSITY: There’s a huge range of blocks and materials to build with. Some are craft-intensive, like Plaster, while others are simpler to acquire, like cobblestone. Mixing materials and experimenting with combinations leads to beautiful, personalized architecture.
   • CHISELING: An addiction on itself. Chiseling brings a creative depth to VS that’s hard to overstate. You can:
     • Engrave walls with custom lore (or canon VS lore);
     • Sculpt statues from stone;
     • Craft luxury furniture from wood (my favorite);
     • Add detailed flourishes to any structure.
     • And that’s just scratching the surface, this mechanic alone could be its own game.
3. MODDING: The modding community is incredible. The base game intentionally leaves space for modders to expand its systems. I’ve even heard some community-made mods get integrated into the official game over time. The synergy between devs and players is something rare and beautiful.
   • BEGINNER-FRIENDLY (SORT OF): The official wiki is well-maintained and extremely helpful, especially when it comes to modding. Combine that with YouTube tutorials and a welcoming community, and you’re set up for success. Modding, in particular, is something the devs encourage, and you’ll feel empowered to jump in.
4. GRAPHICS & PERFORMANCE: The game is shockingly well-optimized. (Especially in an age where AAA titles ship at 200GB and last 40 hours max.) Vintage Story runs smoothly even on my decade-old PC, and still manages to look great.
   • SCENIC & POTENTIALLY DREADFUL: The weather and lighting systems create breathtaking, often haunting landscapes. Rain, fog, and light interplay to form natural paintings in motion. One moment, you’re basking in a cheerful summer morning: blue skies, golden sunlight streaking across grassy hills. The next, you’re lost in a fog-drenched valley, visibility cut short by rain and shadow, the trees ahead vanishing into grey. It evokes a surreal sense of liminality and dread. And it’s wonderful.
5. A SANDBOX THAT FIGHTS BACK: Yes, Vintage Story gives you that classic sandbox freedom: do what you want, build how you want, go where you want. But it also flips the narrative. You are not the center of this world, you’re a brief moment in a world that’s existed for millennia. History precedes your arrival, and survival isn’t guaranteed. The world doesn't bend to your will, you bend to its rhythm. This tension between agency and resistance gives the game real weight. It challenges you, and that’s exactly why it’s so rewarding.
6. SUGGETIONS: For an even more immersive experience, I highly recommend playing without the map, mini-map, and coordinate overlays, and with increased enemy damage (essentially Wilderness Mode). It’s a personal preference, of course—but in my experience, the sense of presence and tension increases tenfold. You start relying on landmarks, instincts, and memory, and the world feels more alive because of it.

TL;DR: Highly recommended.

Absolutely love this game, I have had a ton of fun just modding it, and playing it is even better.

Vintage Story captured that nostalgic magic of playing Minecraft for the first time as a kid - the thrill of discovery and the chilling dread of the dark. The rich story and well-crafted lore make this a masterpiece that I’ve lived through for over 300 hours.

I love this game so much that I dedicated weeks to translating every single bit of it into my mother tongue - all 14,000+ lines of it.

If you enjoy the blocky survival sandbox experience, you should definitely give this game a try! 

I've found Vintage Story to be more difficult then other games out there in this genre, and has a bit of a learning curve to it. But once you spent some time learning how it works, you will understand the amount of depth the developers have put in their game. And it's still being worked on and expanded too.

I really enjoy forging tools and weapons on the anvil, and forming clay to make usable crockery, all done pixel by pixel.. Just fantastic!  I have yet to try out chiseling, which will bring so much detail to building, which I cannot wait to try out. There is much to love if you like the creative aspect of these types of games, and also if you're more into the core of survival.

Breath of fresh air!

This game is a truly a breath of fresh air.

As someone who has thousands of hours in minecraft, this game truly brings a different perspective on the idea of a blocky sandbox world. In minecraft I often complete the game and get all the endgame gear too quickly and then end up getting bored, I am not the type to come up with massive base projects or massive farm projects, after I have all the best gear the game does just become boring.

I have tried my fair share of mods too, and while a lot of them are great, Minecraft makes them feel optional, and the documentation online for some mods are lacking too much to be able to figure out what to do.

Vintage Story solves all of these problems!

Because the deep and lengthy progression and survival is baked into the core of the game, it feels far more rewarding to just play the game hour to hour. It doesn't feel tedious and like you are in for a grind because all of the mechanics are a lot of fun!

This game has a sense of progression that I haven't been able to find in any other game, and I really do recommend it to anyone like me who often got bored of Minecraft because of completing it too quick.

Also a quick heads up for anyone scared of the game being complicated, the in game handbook is amazing, so far I haven't ran into anything important in game that hasn't been covered by it.

ESP
Me encanta, sin duda de lo mejor que he probado estos últimos años, difícil, realista y brutal.
Las tormentas temporales y las primeras noches buscando refugio son emocionantes e intrigantes.
La fauna terrestre es variada, bella y peligrosa, espero ver en el futuro algunas aves y quizá algunos murciélagos al explorar por las noches o en alguna cueva.

Me encanta las posibilidades que extiende el uso de mods en el juego, sin duda vale la pena comprarlo.



ENG

I love it, definitely one of the best I've tried in recent years, difficult, realistic and brutal.
The temporary storms and the first nights looking for shelter are exciting and intriguing.
The terrestrial fauna is varied, beautiful and dangerous, I hope to see in the future some birds and maybe some bats when exploring at night or in some cave.

I love the possibilities extended by the use of mods in the game, it is definitely worth buying.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Honestly this game is something else entirely. When I first saw it my thought was "oh it's like a cool modpack for minecraft" but I was far from right. This game is so much deeper than that and it's hard to put into words how amazing the experience is. I don't normally give games high praise like this but Vintage Story (and the team behind it) really earned a high rating. The gameplay is challenging but fair, the world is gorgeous and the experience overall is better than anything I can get in any other game at this time. It just feels so unique and inspiring to play, I cannot state how much fun this game brings me and I cannot wait to play it with my friends once they purchase it. This game has changed the way I feel about others in terms of open world survival games and has opened my eyes to what a small, dedicated dev team can accomplish. I wish them luck continuing to update this game and I look forward to full release! Until then I will keep playing and easily return even when I take a long hiatus.

Such a wonderful game! 100% worth the price, even now as I write this years after purchase

Really, really engaging experience. For reference, I bought this game in Brazil, and while the pricing was rough, I feel it to be more than worth it. However, given that the asked price could be steep in here, I figured more people might be on the fence just like I found myself to be. So I'll try and answer every question I had:

1) Is the game replayable?

Yes, very much so. My first hour were in one world, then I chose to start over 3 more times, accumulating 20~ hours in 4 worlds. The learning curve is very manageable compared to other games in the survival genre, specially taking into accounts that there are no big "walls" for progress, so you can play without worry, just learning. Even then, every aspect of difficulty is customizable, making it possible to make seasons last longer for learning purposes, for example. This is strictly learning replayability - the game is also replayable when learning through it's systems.

2) Is the game anxiety inducing for perfectionists? Do I need a spreadsheet? Is there a lot of empty grinding?

A very tiny bit, but again - no hard walls (maybe winter... and even then... eh) makes planning a pleasant experience. You'll need no spreadsheets, and the game offers an incredible immersive wiki on the press of a button. (H for the handbook).

As for the "grinding" part, the game can feel very menial and tedious when doing things in an inefficient manner. After learning what to keep an eye out and what to collect from the beginning, a lot of the "boring" parts become just a step you automatically take. I can't talk too much about the end game just yet, sadly. However, keep in mind that this is very much a more "immersive" survival than most others. Be prepared for some repetition, although enjoyable repetition.

Really, the only "grindy" part of the game for me so far is finding specific, rare things. Searching for bees, Terra Preta and tin deposits can be frustrating at best and mind numbingly tedious at worst, if you're particularly unlucky. Some ways of pointing the player in right directions would go a long way into lessening the "grind".

3) Is the game flexible? Is there longevity on the horizon?

Mods are 1-click-install, and the updates seem to be laid out into the foreseeable future. I consider this a strong upside for this game. The price may go up in the future, as early access often does.

4) Is the content so far well made? Is the Early Access worth it?

Yes. From what I've played, all of the systems are elegant and mastering mechanics feels natural and satisfying. The content is well organized and seems to build up in every updated. This review has been written in 2023, version 1.18.x.

5) What games does this compare to? What common pitfalls does it avoid? What similarities?

Whoa that's a lot of questions. I'd like to compare this to a game I've enjoyed in the past: Don't Starve. That game is a touchy subject for me - the game is demanding and oppressive. Days come by and you feel like every action is wasted. When you finally learn to play it, It becomes a chore (a fun chore, just bad for a nervous wreck like me) where you try and do everything in the most efficient way possible before time passes too much. This is not the case for this game, because time is not a looming threat (mostly, or at least not to that game's scale.) so playing it feels more relaxing.

Keep in mind that gameplay may change in the future, but really, many survival games fail to interconnect systems (specially on the sandbox genre!)- games like Starbound, which adds many different aspects and mechanics with no rhyme or reason connecting them - empty worlds full of things, not to explore, but to perceive once and cash out. This game avoids that common mistake, for every mechanic leads into another in a sensible way. Materials are never useful for one thing only, ergo, you are naturally led into using every tool in your arsenal instead of avoiding obvious wastes of resources (...I still don't like the Hunter's backpacks and the makeshift shield yet, though...).

And, as you might have guessed, this game is inspired by our favorite block game, with a striking similarity to the Terrafirma mod. A very nostalgic mod for me that always left me wanting better execution, with obscene grinds that drove the fun out the window. If you played that back in the day, you'll feel right at home - but I highly prefer this game's take on it.

6) What about multiplayer? Does LAN still exist?

The game does possess a nice multiplayer experience, although every person needs a different account to play. While you can use an account in multiple computers, only one instance can be played at once. Lan Parties are still possible, with one of the paid options being a party pack. There are open servers and hosting seems to be well worth it. The game feels like it'd be fun in multiplayer, although I haven't had the pleasure to try, so I'll keep this brief.

7) Performance?

Runs smoothly, really. Having a pretty run of the mill computer, I expected much worse performance, but the game is well optimized and possesses many graphical options. I was pleasantly surprised by how customizable and flexible the experience really is.

8 ) Lastly... Any hints?
 

- - - - - -

Parting words: I've been having a blast with this game. Highly recommend it... Watch some playthroughs if you're still undecided. I recommend playing with some nice QoL mods. CarryOn is a favorite of mine, and is something I hope vanilla incorporates. The devs seem to be really good people, and the game is promised to stay healthy, without bloat or executive meddling. Surviving is fun, building is fun.

The ONLY (kinda) negative I have is that... God. There are too many wolves and bears. To the point that it seems bugged. I commonly hear wolf howling every 10 minutes. Once I slaughtered a wave of 5 wolves, then found 5~more on a hill, approaching. Then again, a third time! In one day! So much meat that I had no reason to even cook. Seemed to be a glitch or stroke of bad luck, for my new world has not had this happen yet (although running around I'd see a wolf every 15 seconds... But I could just avoid them.) And just for veterans to understand: I had 50~60 lumps of fat. Before winter even approached. In fact, I used 8 of it in sealing some crocks. That's... That's too many. But it might be an Issue of Skill™, so my apologies.

TL;DR: Fun to learn, fun to master. Not anxiety inducing, comfy, cozy... Good devs, good mods, good performance, good potential. God I hate the wolves.

Thank you!

Nice and relaxing game. Progression is slow-paced but it is fun. It is very atmospheric and has nice graphics.

Be careful of bears...

Well priced, worth the money. The devs are the biggest green flag. The progression is just fantastic. My only issue is randomly out of nowhere ill go from 120 fps to 30 fps for like 5 minutes then it goes back to 120. I could just have an outdated graphics driver but it doesn't say I do so I don't know

I love every single attention to detail put into this! I haven't even gotten too far into the game yet but I cannot stop coming back to it, exploring this interesting, lively world around us. The world generation detail of no hardcoded biomes, but instead all of it counting on different parameters, from rainfall amounts, to how south you go, with the temperature changes and even changing season it's absolutely amazing, the soundtrack is beautiful too, from the music to the atmosphere of the world, hearing the winds, rains all the different weather events!
And from what I've seen, as of buying this, the game is far from finished according to the devs, yet already contains so much while also running pretty heccin well compared to some other well known Voxel games.
And the modding community is well and alive if you need even more
I cannot recommend this enough and have been excitedly talking about it to others and likewise excitedly coming back into it as well.

It's the kind of game you install after dinner with the intent of playing 2-3 hours before bed then you take a look at your clock and it's already 5 AM.

Français - Vintage Story est un jeu que je trouve trop sous côtés... Nous avons à faire à l'un des meilleurs jeux de survie qui était de base un mod Minecraft est devenu un jeu surpassant celui-ci dans tous les domaines. Anego Studios ont réussi à faire plus de mise à jour que Mojang ainsi qu'une plus grande variété dans les mises à jour. 

À l'heure ou j'écris mon commentaire, nous sommes en 1.19.8 et le jeu est tout simplement incroyable et les annonces faite pour la 1.20 ont l'air tout simplement splendides. Bref merci à vous cher créateur de Vintage Story de nous avoir sorti une pépite pareille et hâte de la suite. 

Anglais - Vintage Story is a game that I find too underrated... We are dealing with one of the best survival games that was originally a Minecraft mod has become a game surpassing it in all areas. Anego Studios have managed to make more updates than Mojang as well as a greater variety in the updates. 

At the time I write my comment, we are in 1.19.8 and the game is simply incredible and the announcements made for 1.20 look simply splendid. In short, thank you dear creator of Vintage Story for releasing such a gem and looking forward to the sequel. 

Wide as an ocean - and refreshingly, as deep as the Marianas Trench (though I wouldn't go swimming in the winter in Vintage Story as you'll likely be sleeping with the salmon!)

Overview

Many people unfamiliar with Vintage Story will likely label the game as a Minecraft clone, but that couldn't be farther from the truth; Vintage Story looks, feels and is built from the ground up with gameplay systems and details that, at a reach, only the absolute best and biggest of Minecraft mods combined could reach. Vintage Story is truly it's own stand-alone game, with the only real connection to Minecraft being the fact Vintage Story uses voxels.

At it's core, Vintage Story is a hardcore survival game, where the fauna and environment could kill you in a moments notice if you don't know what you're doing. It has a steep learning curve, true, but defeating and mastering that curve is incredibly satisfying and involved - achieving your goals, or just achieving the next step in progression feels highly rewarding, and I have to admit myself there has been many times I've looked out upon my little basic homestead with more than a little pride, relishing in the victories it took to conquer my surroundings and build it.

How the Game Feels

Vintage Story feels like a game crafted with pure love and care - every aspect of gameplay has detail and intrigue, from farming to smithing, and even after dozens (if not hundreds) of hours, there are still aspects of the game to explore (though perhaps I may be slower than others).
This detail for the most part avoids using tedium and filler to pad out those gameplay aspects, instead using real-life techniques to guide how players craft, build and function in their worlds. Of course, the staple crafting grid does exist, but it's use is minimal, mostly used when adding a complex system (such as adding an axe blade to a stick to finish crafting an axe) would be considered tedious and silly.

For some the learning curve and deadliness of the world could be a turn-off - however, each and every new game start comes with the options to change almost everything about your world, from the durability of your items to even the length of days and how many days there are in the month. As a result, each and every playthrough can be unique, and tailored specifically to how you want to play. There's even a guide handbook in the game, accessed with the press of a button, which not only walks you through the process of crafting certain items and reagents, but also provides a detailed listing of every object, fluid and otherwise in the game, and where possible informs you of how to craft them and of their purpose.

Development State

Vintage Story also has a small, but extremely reliable development team at it's helm. Updates come forth at an exciting pace, almost always offering meaningful and timely improvements or additions to what even now is a (in my humble opinion) a fantastic experience.
In terms of current playability,  a game with the content and polish Vintage Story has right now could (and has many times) pass for full release on a platform such as Steam (despite many story elements being in development) - in short, as of the writing of this review, with the current state of the game one could spend many, many, many hundreds of hours in this game and still many gameplay features would still be waiting to be discovered.

Final Word

Quite simply, if Vintage Story has already interested you, you should buy it. Vintage Story beats out so many other games in the voxel hardcore-survival sphere, "AAA" or otherwise. You'll lose hours or even days to this game, and it will throw surprises and unexpected curve-balls at you, even after hundreds of hours of gameplay. There are many, many early-access and in-development hardcore-survival games out there, but this is one I would heartily recommend to anyone.

bought this game sometime last year and it is literally the best game ever... i need more people to discover vintage story and have their eyes opened to the wonder and magic of it...

fajna gra

Game is reasonably good and continuing to grow in both content and potential as I have played it over the last year and odd.

As for those looking at it, it is a challenge to your knowledge and skill in how you manage and make efficient your designs and the way you go about your early months in the game as it is relatively simple to get a dirt shack(I know nobody likes looking like a noob from MC) but it is a means to a beginning in this game and your progress is very much measured in both your ability to overcome the environment and the skill required to make drastically more useful and complex equipment in the world of VS.

So beware the Wild and the Storms of which threaten your ability to survive, it is a vast world.

-AK

I love it already, thanks a lot for your work!