I read through many of the reviews, especially negative ones before purchasing this game. It was actually the negative reviews that caused me to purchase this game. I love survival games. They are some of the few games I can play that do not cause me issues, from Minecraft to Subnautica to Raft. Those games are great, but in them I tend to have to mod them or cheat in order to get the game play I need.

You see I suffer from PTSD from military service and extreme anxiety. Virtual crowds are a no-no for me as are real crowds (crowd anxiety). So most games I play have to be solo games. When I play survival games, I like to follow stories a bit (don't need it but like it), I love the farming and crafting aspects... I want my hunger and thirst to go down and me to have to make water and food. What I do not like at all... and it spikes anxiety attacks is fighting. I can't handle attack animations. I tend to mod out aggression in survival games.

This game so far is perfect for me. It's non-triggering, I can hunt without being "attacked" meaning there is no sudden attack animation. Just me walking and finding out I now have poison. That I can handle. This is very soothing. So yeah, I think I have found the perfect survival game that seems to cater to my specific needs. And I don't have to mod it... So I recommend this game to anyone that has issues with attack animations, suffers from anxiety, but still wants a challenging game play. And yeah... I follow along with the meditations... it's soothing.

I love survival crafting games. As long as it's literally playable, I'm going to enjoy it. Take that bias in mind when considering my review.

Now, even my love for the genre can't overlook some serious issues that I have encountered.

Firstly, I played the demo. I assumed that the opening "cinematic" was a placeholder. It was not. It's just an artist's storyboard. Please polish this. It gives an extremely unfinished impression in the first 10 seconds of opening the game.

Secondly, the early game is in dire need of some balance. There is an RNG on whether or not you contract a pathogen from a water source. You can also accidentally step on a snake. Or eat something you shouldn't. If this happens, you are supposed to craft some sort of medicinal herb or concoction to cure yourself. Except, early game, you can't. It's locked behind story progression.

What this means is if the RNG gods are particularly ornery today, you die. You cannot progress fast enough to outpace your health loss.

You will end up dying a couple of times, getting annoyed, and either quitting or taking my route of things. Which is saving habitually every time you're about to drink, eat, or walk 5 feet away from your shelter. This discourages early-game exploration.

Retreat to Enen does have a unique take on the genre, however. You do not "die", so to speak. You are part of a civilization that has learned to live harmoniously with your surroundings. This is your pilgrimage to cement that harmony into your understanding of the world. You have a unique energy source that must be refilled via guided meditation at specific locations. If you fail your pilgrimage, you are extracted.

In all, I enjoy the game and will continue playing it. But unless you are a fan of the genre, you may find yourself deciding that Retreat to Enen lacks the polish and attention to detail you need to keep playing. I would love to see the game worked on as the developers get more feedback.

I like survival games, although I don't like zombie games. I'm delighted to tell you that this is a survival game with no zombies. It's still in very early stages but being actively worked on with a steady stream of improvements and additions.

If, like me, you struggle to find your way around, then this game will start off tough as you don't have a point of reference for yourself on the map. However, once I got past initial frustrations with this, I actually found it quite refreshing. How often do you play a survival game with your eyes glued to the map? Not really survival is it? This game makes you take note of your surroundings, makes you pay attention to the landmarks around you and that really adds to the depth of play.

Is it easy? It can be, if you turn off the aggressive animals and things like that, then you have a survival game where you focus on finding food and water and building the house of your dreams. You will need to navigate your way around three islands to find key locations, at each of these locations you will meditate and unlock the next tier of items. It's a new approach to an old way of gaming and thoroughly enjoyable. If you want more of a challenge, keep the aggressive animals turned on, then tread VERY carefully, or you'll end up as a snakesnack!

The game doesn't yet feel complete, and it's obvious that there is still a lot of work to do on it. However, what's there right now is a lot of fun and presents challenging gameplay. The regular updates and dev interaction on the Discord show that this really is a labour of love and is not going to become another disappointing piece of abandonware. There is more than enough there right now to allow you to spend many, many hours building your base and exploring the islands.

I went into this game expecting a typical survival sim. This game, however, is a meditation guide in disguise. The game focuses around having 3-4 short self-meditations per day and one guided meditation at ruins in order to level up.

This mechanic is definitely not going to be for everyone, but if you're trying to learn mindfulness and meditation, this game may be exactly what you need.

First observations (this survival | crafting game just came out today):

+ A lovely and rather peaceful audio experience. I could see myself wearing my headset and falling asleep lol (but that would defeat the mindful aspect of the game ...)
+ Gorgeous graphics. The visuals for this game are very nice and adds to the immersion factor. The wildlife was decently implement although hopefully going to be worked on some more. This game does have some eye candy factor going for it.
+ Meditation moments - it was a rather nice aspect of the game, to take a break from exploring and having a guided mindful breathing session. I havent come across that in any other survival game that I have played so far. It would be cool to have a selection of guided meditations to slowly grow accustomed to.
+ The crafting | building is easy to understand and use. I didn't do much building as of yet as I was enjoying the exploration elements.
+ A different kind of survival game and a nice change in flavor so to speak.

I found that the first person camera is a wee bit sensitive. More controls could be implemented in the settings so that the player can be able to tweak a few things to their own preference.

My only negative is regarding glitches pertaining to slipping through hills and such at certain areas of the terrain. It has no collision guard or whatever that may be called. I found myself slipping underneath the mountains, etc. Swimming in the ocean was visually pleasing, one of the best that I have seen to date, but when you swim above water there is a shaking effect.

Hopefully the problems will be quickly fixed as this game is an enjoyable addition to anyone's video game library, especially if you are an open world / immersion player like myself. Immersion | Meditating might become a new niche for developers.

Understand this - Retreat to Enen is a very different kind of game. Relaxation and exploration are the goal. There are no zombie hordes to murder, no explosions, no eviscerations. What this game does provide is beautiful scenery, tranquil exploration and fun building/crafting. Now there are enemies - venomous snakes, wolves and bears (which can be removed in the settings if one so desires), but combat really isn't the focus, here.

Instead, you gather supplies to keep yourself fed, craft tools, build shelters and explore the lush environments. There is also a really great meditation mechanic (yes, I said meditation!) that restores your spirit, which enables you to find hidden treasure chests. Discovering and meditating at the hidden ruins in all the different biomes will enable you to return home and 'win' the game.

I found this game to be interesting, fun, relaxing and therapeutic. I actually feel good after playing this game. For the price, it's well worth checking out and adding to your library. Enjoy!

I put a good 5 hours into this game today so I will give you my honest opinion and I will most likely write a bit.

Firstly, I read some reviews and really felt people are way to harsh when it comes to what they 'think' a survival game should be. As comparing this game to your typical survival game makes no sense. As Retreat to Enen, has been more a mental experience than anything else.

Yes, it does have the general elements of the survival genre , like managing your health , nutrition and farming ect. However, the main vibe around this game is mindfulness. So , yes this won't be for everyone, when it comes to the survival genre overall. This is more a game for a certain type of individual. Basically, if you wanted a game that is deep exploration and heavy PVE orientated, this is not it. This is more a vibe with nature. Soft survival with a sound, mental and visual experience.

There is a light backstory that is fitting and it has a bit of immersion with an overall goal to work towards. But I feel it has been enough for me, due to the fact I was not looking for a game that is heavy story or goal driven. I wanted to relax and enjoy the visual stimulus of the game along with the general elements of the survival genre but without the heavy PVE elements or deep story line to follow.

Lastly, yes there is small bugs in the game, which game doesn't have them? And for an indie game , I think that is expected. The bugs I came across was not game breaking at all. Only issue I had was that my female character sometimes breathe like a male and the snakes had to lift their head for me to kill them. That was it. Legit , not any other issues. And normally I always get issues with my games :P .

Now should you buy ?
If you are looking for a light survival experience with emphasis on mindfulness survival. Yes.

I would not recommend this game FOR PEOPLE that want the typical heavy exploration and story line that are looking for a hardcore survivalist game.

If you are interested in a slower survival game, this is for you. It isn't a hardcore game by design, that is for sure. Just peace, love and nature. I can see why some people who buy this don't enjoy it, but it is on 50% off sale right now and well worth that price. I wouldn't recommend this to my PVP buddies, but for someone that doesn't want to stress about anything at all, this is your game. Build a base, explore 3 different biomes to get better recipes and just chill.

I am smitten with the nature and atmosphere in this game. Players can choose to disable some or all threats for a gentle game play experience or enable all the dangerous wildlife for little extra challenge and cardio. Resources and weather impact the experience. Plus, the flowers are gorgeous! The developers are engaged with the community and listen to our feedback. I can't wait to see more content!

There are a few gaps and bugs that are still works in progress such as lore, map/navigation. build mechanics but these pale compared to how wonderful the player experience is.

This game is a work in progress at the moment but I'm here for it.

If you struggle with mental health or need to relax after a long day, this is the game for you. It's peaceful. If you love nature but don't want to go outside all the time, this can help. It's a lovely game with wonder messages. I enjoy it.
Just wish it had a creative mode as well. (I haven't played it in a while so I'm not sure if it does already.)
Love it. Thank you.