2D Mining/crafting survival RPG Aground is ready for you on Nintendo Switch. Learn more about it in our Aground review!

 

2D mining/crafting RPG Aground was taken to Kickstarter back in early 2018, with a humble $10,000 goal. Thanks to the support of almost 600 backers, the game project managed to secure $13,514 in funding. Thanks to this, the game was eventually released on Steam last year, since it had missed on reaching the $15,000 stretch goal for the game to also get console ports. It’s now 2021, and Aground has now landed on Nintendo Switch from Whitethorn Games, Fancy Fish Digital, Ratalaika Games, and Snöbox Studio.

In Aground, you’ve been shipwrecked on an unknown island during a storm, and must quickly find shelter from the raging rain before you get sick – or worse! All that you can find around you are some fallen tree branches, which you collect in order to build something to protect you from the weather. Perhaps collecting some berries would also be a good option, so that you can eat something to keep you healthy. Your humble start in this adventure is only the first step in a journey that – if you do things right – will take you to the stars!

 

Once you’ve created your character by mixing things up with the different skin color, hair color, hair style, facial hair, eye color, shirt color, shirt style, and pant color options, you’ll be ready to go out on a new adventure. Remember all the wood you collected on your way from the shore? You’ll be able to put it to good use by repairing a nearby hut, which will help you make it through the night. Eight pieces of wood is what is needed, so be sure to drop off however many you’ve already collected, so that you can get the rest without spending too much of your stamina.

You’ll soon gain access to stone axe, which will make it a lot easier to gather wood by chopping down some trees – not to mention the axe can help you defend yourself from the wildlife! At first, you’ll only run into small rats you can easily defeat with a swing of your stone axe, but you’ll soon run into board that like to get up close and personal as they rush towards you. The good news is that you’ll meet other survivors on the island, with whom you’ll slowly start to build a new community.

As you complete tasks, your character will level up. As this happens, you will gain skill points. Skill points can be allocated to a variety of stats in order to boost them and improve your character. You can increase max health, max stamina, the overall weight you can carry, the critical hit chance for melee attacks, the chance that enemies will miss with their attacks, the damage you deal with melee attacks, how good you are at defending against attacks so that you can lower the damage you receive, how good you are at cutting down trees, the range for ranged weapons, the catch rate of the traps you build, or how good you are at bargaining the selling price of items. Each upgrade for these stats will have a different cost in skill points, so that you don’t end up being too powerful right away.

 

Once you’ve built a smelter, you’ll be able to turn raw ore into bars. First, you’ll need to collect enough coal to build the smelter, and then you’ll need additional cost to keep it going. This will also apply to the rudimentary kitchen you’ll be able to build. A kitchen is very important, since it will allow you to cook the raw meat you and your companions collect – as long as you have enough wood to keep the fire burning bright!

There will be many quests for you to take on during your time with Aground. These will include objectives such as the aforementioned “repair hut,” as well as having you collect apple seeds so that you can use them in the farm you’ll also build, collecting magic materials for a cloaked individual, crafting a workshop so that you can build metal tools, or hunting down some boars for your fellow hunter by using a bow and arrows so that you can practice your hunting skills in this brave new world.

 

There are 90 medals for you to collect by completing a variety of objectives. You can unlock medals by repairing the hut, building a storehouse, building a smelter, mining a diamond, cooking a pizza, defeating a variety of enemies, chopping down a purple tree, crafting a spellbook, or defeating a wyrm. There are also plenty of medals that are hidden, so you won’t be able to check out their requirements until you’ve unlocked them.

Aground is a fun 2D mining/crafting game on Nintendo Switch with an addictive gameplay loop and a ton of stuff to do as you try to go from barely surviving on a deserted island, to conquering the stars. It’s a game that will keep you going to complete “just one more quest” at all times, with a growing cast of characters that will aid you on this journey. Aground is out on Nintendo Switch with a $14.99 asking price.

Disclaimer
This Aground review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Whitethorn Games.