Can anyone explain the goal of Wayward to me?

[Ratha Wynter]

On its surface it looks like a survival roguelike. Something akin to a more turnbased variant of Dont Starve, but with a more.. linear survival experience? Ive had the game on my wishlist for quite some time and think it looks interesting, but Ive never been able to find a video of someone playing it longer than 30-45 minutes before dying or ending their series. While I normally grasp the gameplay loop for a game pretty easily, Wayward remains a bit of a mystery to me in that I cant seem to determine what kind of interactions to expect from the mid to late game, or if there is any goal other than simply just survive as long as possible with whatever you can craft.

Would love if someone could shed some light about what the draw of Wayward is. It looks like it wants to be a roguelike, but it seems like (via my limited viewing of it) that its missing all of the things that make a roguelike challenging and replayable, like the different characters, starting scenarios, biomes, tons of monsters, unique combat/movement/weapon skills, random magically enchanted items, loot to find, or shops and NPCs to interact with. Now thats not to say that not having those things would make it bad, Im just confused about what it is, and if its more than just a solo lonely wilderness survival simulator. I love survival games, just not quite sure if this one has the level of depth or replayability I'd want in one (though would be interested in being convinced otherwise.)

(I do have some experience with Cataclysm DDA, Dont Starve, and Stardew Valley for what thats worth, as a small smattering of Roguelike/lite things to draw from.)

[Drathy]

I'm guessing you'll get a third-party response sooner or later, but just wanted to mention some things:

• There are different characters (in that you can choose your character visuals and what to focus on for skills). Maybe you mean more like classes though?
  
• There are different starting scenarios.
  
• There are different biomes.
  
• There are over 40 creatures. Not sure if that is "tons" though.
  
• There are unique combat/movement/weapon skills, but likely not in the way you mean. I'm guessing you mean like special moves?
  
• There are random magically enchanted items.
  
• There is loot to find.
  
• There are NPCs and trading.

The game is more than just a solo lonely wilderness survival simulator. Especially since there is also multiplayer. But I'm guessing that's not what you meant by "solo", haha. There is a goal, but it's obscure and cryptic and not the main focus. There is a win condition, but it's primarily an open world/sandbox.

For the more goal orientated, there's also a challenge mode which sets you up with a bunch of modifiers and quests that you need to complete to win. It's probably the most "roguelike" mode in the game since games will last 1-2 hours (unless you die first).

[Davadin]

Is the win condition present and accessible in the current main build?

[Drathy]

Originally posted by Davadin:

Is the win condition present and accessible in the current main build?

Yep.

[Ratha Wynter]

I admit, i was not aware of most of what you said about the game, none of the videos i had seen had showcased any of those aspects of it. My impressions of the game from what I had seen and heard seem to be very different than as mentioned. For example, I was completely unaware that there were any magical enchanted items / loot to find, or that there were NPCs and trading, or different starting scenarios / skill customization.

You were correct in your assumption about what i meant by 'classes' as well as 'special moves' When i mentioned that i was thinking of movement-based abilities, or weapon based abilities. Such as a spear that can hit 2 tiles away, or diagonally, an axe that can cleave multiple enemies at once, a sword that can parry, charge attacks, sneak attacks / backstabs, leap abilities, escape moves, stuns, and or just the ability to sprint away from danger, things like that. (Though my understanding is that its not a combat focused game so not having those things would be understandable, obviously.)

Wayward portrays itself as more of a 'stranded in the wilderness' than an 'I am a dungeon crawler' sort of game, though just by looking at it, its surprisingly not very clear. I decided to pick the game up and will have to give it a try and see how many of my expectations it fills, and or if it is the sort of game i thought it was, or if it really throws some surprises at me in terms of its mechanics and depth. Im not the best 'open world' player in that i typically like to have multiple goals in mind or given to me so that i know what i should strive for next.

In a traditional roguelike its clear that the goal is to kill as many things as possible, earn as much experience and loot as you can, and then find the next floor before the 'timer' runs out (whether thats food, or a big bad monster or whatnot that prevents you from lingering.) My impression is that Wayward is all about setting up and defending a small home / farm and simply surviving the weather/environment/hunger/thist, and not really so much about finding loot, or engaging in tactical combat with monsters.

Anyway with some luck I will have the time to play soon and see where everything fits in and whether or not it scratches that itch that i was unsure if it would scratch. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Having some of those things cleared up does help a bit in setting the expectations.