MeinMMO editor Dariusz loves difficult games, but his settings in Palworld would be too easy even for Ash Ketchum – but it’s actually more fun than he thought.
When Palworld celebrated its record release in 2024 with incredible numbers, I played the survival game on two different save files: one solo with hard grind, the other in co-op with friends.
It has been two years since I last played the “Pokémon with guns”. I skipped the updates the game received between the early access launch and the 1.0 release. With the full version, I have started fresh and am now playing Palworld in a way I have never played a survival game before:
Like a 4-year-old.
But not like any 4-year-old. When I told my MeinMMO colleague Karsten how I am currently playing Palworld, he thought of his 4-year-old son. The little guy supposedly plays the game just like I do. Whether I play Palworld like him or he plays it like MeinMMO’s PvP-sweat, I leave to you – but we both are having fun with the way we play, that much is certain.
Short-lived fun instead of laborious grind
I’m honest: The main reason why I’m playing Palworld again now is professionally. If I write guides or other articles, I want to be up to date with new knowledge. That’s when I thought it might make sense to make as much progress as quickly as possible.
So I lowered the difficulty so much that there is almost no grind or challenge. I deal increased damage, get an absurd amount of XP for everything, farm endless resources, and hostile attacks can barely harm me.
Actually, that’s absolutely not my playstyle. I love challenges, play all story games on the highest difficulties, enjoy grinding, and extend my playtime by making it as hard for myself as possible. And that’s exactly what I also love about survival games. I want to suffer.
My cozy Palworld is surprisingly fun for me, though. In 3 days, I played around 22 hours – and in a way still grinded hard. I have defeated most bosses, built the most important constructions, caught many cool Pals, and am making great strides toward the end of the game.
Speedrunning Palworld to have fun afterward
In my Palworld, only the enemies suffer. You can’t really call it a survival game. I enjoy thoughtlessly traveling through the map, catching Pals like on an assembly line (pun intended), and consistently seeing progress without having to grind for hours first.
Still, I’m already looking forward to finally being done with the “story” of Palworld: Then I can finally focus on what I love most in survival games:
Building a really nice, big base.
During the week, I certainly won’t be able to play much after work. So it will likely take a few more days before I’m done with the game. That’s why I’m glad to keep my Palworld experience rather short this time. Building a base and farming all the necessary materials are always my highlights in survival games. This time, I’m just taking a big shortcut to get there.
Additionally, I want to play many other games besides Palworld. Just a few weeks ago, I explained in an article here on MeinMMO that I currently have x shooters I want to actively play – Palworld wasn’t one of them. For me, it’s ideal that I don’t play Palworld for weeks only. I have a lot of fun for a short time and can then move on to the next game.
Think of a cool H2
I’ve gained a special insight for myself with the release of Palworld 1.0: A game doesn’t always have to be a challenge.
Sometimes, it’s good to just play thoughtlessly. And as a survival game, Palworld is also perfect for playing it again in the future – that way I can still pick up the challenge that I actually love.
How do you play Palworld – with normal settings, ultra easy, or as difficult as possible? Let us know in the comments!
After Palworld, I want to catch up on some survival games this year that I have skipped in the past few years. If you want to guess which ones they are: They are all in this article by MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus, where he presents the currently best survival games: The 30 best survival games 2026 for PS5, Steam, and Xbox
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!