Enshrouded has been in Early Access on Steam for over a year and has received loads of new content since then. The latest update of the survival game, Wake of the Water, is the biggest yet and has attracted over 50,000 players – including MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus, who can’t stop playing.
When Enshrouded launched in early 2024, it hit an incredibly bad time: Just a few days before, Palworld was released, the game that was supposed to dominate the gaming landscape for months – and unfortunately also a sandbox survival game.
Accordingly, the survival game from Frankfurt has sunk quite a bit. Nevertheless, it was successful: at the Early Access release, over 160,000 players played on Steam (according to SteamDB) and it was even awarded the German Computer Game Prize for the best German game of 2025.
Still, I have left it completely aside for almost 2 years now. Why? On one hand, I was still working on Rogue Trader when Enshrouded released. You know, this absurdly large role-playing game in Warhammer 40,000.
On the other hand, I simply didn’t want to play early access titles that were still being developed. Having to start over all the time isn’t fun, and Enshrouded had a few problems when it launched.
Back then, I didn’t know that developers Keen Games would release seven massive content updates within not even two years, which would greatly expand and enhance Enshrouded.
After meeting with the developers at Gamescom and looking at the seventh update, I wanted to finally dive deeper. I didn’t expect that I wouldn’t surface again so quickly.
60 hours in 2 weeks and no end in sight
My Steam clock says that I have spent a total of 79.2 hours in Enshrouded, with 58.9 of those hours in the last 2 weeks alone. Friends started just before Wake of the Water, and eventually, I joined in. Nowadays, I mainly play in my own world because I just want to keep going.
But why do I start now, and why does Enshrouded captivate me so much? There are several reasons, but the probably most important one: Enshrouded is now in a much “more complete” state than it was at launch.
Back then, I checked it out but wanted to wait. Today there are large skill trees, different weapons, and play styles. Plus, the world continues to grow with each major update. It feels almost like a live service game that constantly receives new content and that completely for free.
I was also able to preview Wake of the Water and know what will eventually come my way. The new content excited me so much that I decided to take another look at the entire game. And I haven’t regretted it.
A lot of grind that never gets boring
If you, like me, have been in Enshrouded for a while or not at all, I’m sure you will be just as excited. Of course, the survival game is first and foremost a classic game of the genre with corresponding mechanics:
- I start almost naked, craft my first tool out of stone and wood, and – importantly! – a glider, which is essential for movement in Enshrouded.
- The further I progress, the more materials I need: first scrap, then copper, bronze, iron, better wood, and processed animal hides, leather, fabrics …
- With that, I not only create new tools but also weapons, armor, and workbenches to craft new things.
- Hunger and thirst are luckily optional and, by default, tied to useful buffs like in Valheim.
All in all, this means I constantly have to farm new stuff. But in Enshrouded, that doesn’t get boring because the world is excellently designed. Visually and with the numerous hidden puzzles and jump & run passages, it strongly resembles modern Zelda installments.
Exploration is fun because you can find something almost anywhere: ore veins or other new materials, treasure chests with strong loot, or just a few documents with lore about the world or even new quests.
Additionally, there’s a story that runs through the game. I keep discovering new “survivors,” NPCs who want to live in my ever-growing settlement and have needs – which ensures more quests and new crafting options. Enshrouded has managed to keep me more engaged than almost any other survival game.
I love crafting and exploration, but combat is my favorite activity
What surprised me the most is the RPG aspect. The skill points in Enshrouded are not just good for new recipes or a few increased attributes. There are actual builds! Whether as a mage, healer, tank, rogue, or archer – every play style has a specialization.
Normally, I’m the type in survival games, especially in a group, who travels through the world collecting materials so the builders can expand the home undisturbed. For myself, I only take resources for new gear.
In Enshrouded, however, I have so much fun with my build and hunting for new items that I repeatedly dive into battles and search for loot. At times, I play the survival game more like an action RPG with looting and leveling. It only gets better in my gaming circle with different roles. It almost feels like MMORPG.
Enshrouded is very close to my ideal survival game, and I am excited about what is yet to come. I’ve already managed to pry a little information from the developers…
By the way, the game was already able to triple its player count at the update itself. Shortly thereafter, Enshrouded set a new record: 50,000 players simultaneously, more have not played since release. (according to SteamDB)
What’s planned for the future – and what’s not
In the preview for Wake of the Water, I had the opportunity to ask the developers some questions. The head himself, Creative Director and co-founder of Keen Games, Antony Christoulakis, answered me.
MeinMMO: With the last overhaul of the miasma and now the water, there are already two environmental threats (with time limits). Are you planning more in this direction, or would you rather like to expand the existing systems?
Antony Christoulakis: Currently, we have no fixed plans for new systems in this direction, but at least discussions about further expanding the existing systems. For now, it’s exciting to see how the feedback from players on water looks.
MeinMMO: How did you manage to create fluid physics for such a large world and so much water without melting every PC?
Antony Christoulakis: Ha! That is surely a question that our technicians can answer better than I, but it was definitely quite a bit of work. We started working on the technical foundations for water simulation over a year ago… well before the actual work on the last update began.
MeinMMO: We can finally swim. When can we climb properly?
Antony Christoulakis: We currently have no plans for a free climbing system (like in Zelda). More freedom would fit our core approach well, but regardless of the effort, it would bring some progression issues.
MeinMMO: While playing, I got hit pretty hard, more than I’m used to. Are the enemies now all stronger, am I unable, or is it just the new balancing?
Antony Christoulakis: That could be related to the balancing update. Our goal is, of course, to maintain tension throughout the gameplay (and not let the player become too powerful). Fortunately, there are many settings to make life a little easier if the default difficulty is too high. But even here, we are of course looking forward to feedback and we will certainly continue to try to improve the balancing in the future.
MeinMMO: As a two-handed player, I’m very happy about the great sword and have already had a lot of fun with it. Are there plans to expand the skill tree further? What weapons do you actually like to play with?
Antony Christoulakis: I’m glad to hear that! We want to further expand/change the skill tree for sure. There are already some ideas here, but I can’t promise anything concrete yet. Preferences for weapons here vary quite a bit among us… I personally am trying to play as a mage again to get a new impression of how easy it is to get through the game with it (before, I was more focused on melee combat).
MeinMMO: Unfortunately, I haven’t made much progress with fishing yet… do you have plans to expand the system? Fishing quests? Legendary, fishable items or something like that?
Antony Christoulakis: There are no concrete plans yet, but I firmly believe that we will surely build new fish and special items in the future (but even now, you can already fish legendary items if you are lucky enough 😉 ).
MeinMMO: Thank you for the answers!
I believe starting Enshrouded right now was a very good decision. After my current 60 hours, I am in the middle of the third of six areas in the game. Since the newer updates have all gotten bigger, I probably have about the same amount ahead of me.
Keen Games is currently aiming for a 1.0 release in 2026. If I hold back a little, I have a good chance of continuously being supplied with new content, and we’ll see how it goes afterward. One thing is already clear: Enshrouded deserves its place in our list of the best survival games.
