Eden Crafters - PC Review

Eden Crafters by developer and publisher Osaris Games—PC (Steam) review written by Valerie with copies provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

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Hello out there! So sorry for the long delay in getting a review out as nothing new has come my way yet. Since I did a preview for this game, I thought I would do a full review with all my likes and dislikes, score, and the coop factor. My partners in crime for this game are: Susan N. and Bryan. So, Eden Crafters, one of the many survival-crafting games that I love to play is the topic of this one.

Well, in the start of the game we still build items to unlock recipes and the planet we are on in our family game is Aetheria. On this planet the enemy is asteroids. We have to get our Rocket Launch platform built to intercept and destroy the oncoming asteroid intent on taking the main island in the sky we start on. When the asteroid does come in the beginning, our progress remains and we can continue on. The cinematic is awesome though!

Currently there are 4 planets to choose from: Echo Prime, Ocean, Aetheria, and Nova Terra. I really enjoyed Ocean planet both in the prologue and in its first playable stages. Our family game is on Aetheria and I just started to play on Nova Terra. 

Aetheria was released December 2024 and I've been having a whale of a time flying around to get to the different areas of this 'planet'. The way this planet is set up reminds me of an asteroid belt more than a planet. Then the terraforming process for breathable atmosphere and voila! A new place to live, build, and explore. I've had a lot of practice with the starting ship and now I feel better about landing on that tiny landing pad. I didn't have to build four pads together to make a large enough surface in the new game! More on this later.

In our coop game we are having some weird graphic issues, like in these three images. The left one at the target radical is a tree up in the air. This is in our family game on Aetheria, on the main land body. And in the second image, Bryan is looking at a refiner that is processing basalt. There's also a graphic glitch where you can see the ship on top from under either the landing platform, or the rocket launch platform. 

As before, I am still having terrain issues, and in our family game it is even evident inside the buildings! It feels so weird walking across a gap in the floor as you can see in the images below. It even causes me to avoid it through a long tunnel that was created to get to a resource we needed. The only thing my son Bryan will comment about the game is the terrain. "The voxel terrain with the character pathing over it constantly gets stuck. Still needs improvement."

I am still getting stuck on the terrain as I traverse it in search of ore deposits. I found that sometimes when I am stuck I can just 'dig' myself out, but other times? Nope, I have to respawn or die to get out of it. Thanking my lucky stars that we are playing on Normal level that allows us to keep our inventory when we die. 

Now on Nova Terra, which came out in June of this year, there is a mystery to solve. I love it! Letters left in buildings, and all sorts of equipment in ruins! Made my day when I started on this planet. As with Echo Prime, you travel to the different islands to hunt for resources and set up equipment to make the water clean and the atmosphere breathable.

As you advance through the game unlocking all sorts of equipment and resources in increments, not all at once, you can track that progress through the Tasks page under the Crafting guide. One other thing that we were wishing for in our coop game was the ability to text chat. 

Let's talk about some of the new items that are now in the game. There's an extra vehicle to play with! Ok, long vehicle! Yes, I am talking about trains! This will definitely make it interesting in our family game, and I'm sure we will make it work! I'm looking forward to using them on Nova Terra, so we shall see how that goes!

Recently another new thing to use is conveyor sorters. I can work with this since we use them a lot in both Satisfactory and Space Engineers. There's also a neat feature with the drone and conveyor belts where you can lift them to extend over terrain or your own spaghetti of conveyor belts. Of course, you have to use the terrain, ie: rocks, or machinery to do it! I wasn't able to hold alt or ctrl to lift it on its own.

Another thing I've noticed that is still popping up is the grass inside the shelter. It became prominent when we built the Material Analyzer which also advances our progress. I took a couple of screenshots so you can see what happens after the Material Analyzer is placed.

While playing on Nova Terra, the music is the same throughout. Relaxing and atmospheric. The environment hazards have a louder track, but you are still not stressed out by it. 

Circling back to the flying that Susan N. is having trouble with. I'm sure there are a few others out there with the same issues, so I shall impart my way of using the ship. Its pathing has changed with the recent fixes, so, it makes it that much easier to fly. Before the recent fix to the flight path, as you head toward a mountain or land body that is high up, the ship would pitch up on its own and level out. After the patch, the ship levels itself and you are the one using spacebar to fly up and over the mountain.

The main tip I found that is the easiest to manage is to use the spacebar to get into the air and just tap the forward direction key (W) so that the ship is just barely going forward. Don't just hold the forward key and barrel through the skies if you're not used to it because you definitely overshoot your target landing area! Take your time. The keys A & D are your left and right. No, there isn't a reverse. That's your fancy flying turn around to get back to where you want to be. Sometimes I have found that it is a very 'wide' turn!

When you use the S key to bring the ship lower down, if you are careful enough, you can use that to your advantage so that you line up with the landing area. As you get down low enough (because the ship is in automatic landing mode) tap the forward key a couple times to go forward again and then S to land. Took me a few tries to learn this trick, but it has helped immensely with easing my frustration in landing! 

There are new upgrades to the map and a couple of them I am both not fond of and hopeful that a color change will fix them. The sulfur and the gold are almost identical in color. I wish they would use a darker with a bit of brown in the yellow for the sulfur. Also, the graphene & basalt grey fades into the terrain when you are zoomed out making it harder to plot your course for that resource. My suggestion for the sulfur color would be #7e6815. For the basalt and graphene, use black and/or an image of the resource itself.

And now a few words from the newest member to the game Eden Crafters. Susan N., what do you think of the game? Did you have any issues at the start?

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Hello!

I got my hands on a copy of Eden Crafters a little while ago when a friend of mine gifted the game to me. Naturally, I had to hop into the game and see what it was all about.

My adventures began on a planet that has large bodies of water with tons of radiation and immense heat. Unlike in the family game where we can erect water collectors to feed the greenhouses and ground fertilizers to create a breathable atmosphere, I had to place several water pumps and purifiers to have the same results. Trying not to die to a high level of heat still takes me for a ride.

Now, some of the aspects I like about the game are things pertaining to ease of placement and a couple modes of transportation that aren't available in other automation games like the aforementioned Satisfactory. For example, you can get a land paver, which is not something you can get in other titles. I am also a fan of a steady progression system that doesn't give players too many options. Although, with the good things like transportation and the ability to remove or add sand to the area, there are some minor gripes I have. For one thing, in single player and in multiplayer modes, the game doesn't always register if parts of a building are present. What I mean is there are times where the floor is missing a panel or certain parts of the terrain will peek through the walls as though they aren't solid objects. Yet, there are points where entering the drone mode will cause the camera to get stuck inside wind turbines or solar panels on the roof of a building you're in. 

Another minor issue that we encountered in multiplayer occurred when my brother would place a building extension, but my mom and I would still see a solid wall. I'm uncertain if that issue is due to the connection between our computers or something else, but it would sometimes fix itself with a restart or after leaving the area and returning.

Although, those minor issues I mentioned above don't fundamentally change the enjoyment of the game, they just add to strange elements that hopefully see improvement over time. But there are some features I wish we had in the game. In multiplayer, it would be wonderful to have a distinct icon or indication of who they are on the map. This could be as simple as each person chooses a color that they would appear on the map in, or perhaps their work uniform is a randomized color set by the game which would carry over onto the map. Another way this could be achieved is simply adding the players username or initial on their icon. 

There is only one thing that bothers me the most about Eden Crafters and that has to do with your ship controls. I don't know what it is about it but I'm not a fan. I prefer to walk or use a buggy or sit on a conveyor as it takes me to my destination instead of using the ship that I actively avoid using. Honestly, I couldn't begin to explain what it is that I don't like about it, but I know that some people will need to adjust to the flying in Eden Crafters. Perhaps with time I'll improve, but for now I avoid it like the plague.

All of that said, I love the graphics style and the ability to terraform the planet sand piece by sand piece. Watching the foliage and trees grow as you progress towards a breathable atmosphere is highly satisfying. I enjoy being able to fulfill automation dreams in Eden Crafters and the Warehouse is a game changer of a building. Honestly, more automation games need this sort of feature, because as you get to late game, running back to storage for resources is a pain in the butt.

Another thing I oddly enjoy are the asteroids. It creates a level of urgency without making you go crazy. Though, I will state that I didn't experience the asteroids in my solo game, and only saw the mechanic in the family game - which is definitely unique for this genre.

Overall, I enjoy Eden Crafters immensely and I can't wait to explore the other worlds and build an epic facility both in my single player game and in the family game. Honestly, I think while the game is not perfect, I think it deserves at least an 8 or even 8.5 out of 10 because I'm having a blast playing the game when time permits.

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And that wraps up our review of Eden Crafters! My last thoughts are; I'm having a whale of a time in this game. The graphics, the survival and building aspects, the new tools, and the trains. The small little fixes to the map where we can see how much power we have in each grid, the water consumption, and the newest icons for resources found with the new tool. Even my flying gets a nod in the enjoyment of this game. I’m also going to give it an 8.5 out of 10 score. 

 

Score: 8.5 / 10

 

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Eden Crafters - PC Preview

Eden Crafters by developer and publisher Osaris Games—PC (Steam) preview written by Valerie with copies provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time:  9 minutes

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In this open-world game you are challenged with turning a hostile planet into a habitable haven for all of human kind. You have the ability and equipment to temper the climate, and to create a breathable atmosphere! Oh, and on top of all that you get to turn toxic lakes into clean water! Talk about a huge undertaking, but you are given planets where resources can be found to be forged into parts for the machinery to automate your way to bigger buildings and advanced equipment. You start out with two planets to terraform, Ocean World we had in the prologue along with the toxic water planet called Echo Prime. Aetheria comes out later this year, and the rest in 2025.

So, for those of you who have already played Ocean World: Eden Crafters Prologue, let us introduce you to Eden Crafters Early Access! The second planet is our choice for our coop play and the first thing we noticed is how much the landscape resembled the Ocean World with more hills and landmass. Part of the terraforming process on this planet extends to the water where it is toxic, so we have to filter it too. There also isn’t any ‘disaster’ like the huge wave that you have in Ocean World and we are very thankful for that. The main reason being we don’t lose our power grid.

We can’t help but notice just how much this game plays like Planet Crafters and in some parts like Satisfactory. The building parts for our base are a different texture to the ones in Subnautica and Planet Crafter. During our progress in the game we found that crafting some of the automation parts unlocked other parts and building pieces. The material analyzer is a new machine in the game that gives us more unlocks as we discover more resources. You can’t do any of the material research ahead of what is active, nor can you put in the amount already collected so you have more inventory space. We've also noticed that there isn't any visual representation of supplies put into the material analyzer for it to process the next research item.

The starting area is along the coastline of an island. You have a ship with some starting supplies: 2 oxygen capsules, 2 food rations (+50hp), some cement, and the starting tool (which is auto assigned to button 1). You sit in the ship to replenish your oxygen until you grab enough resources to make your starting building. This game also allows you to build from inside your base provided the connecting wall turns green. Since I am the person invited to my son’s game I found that I could not build on a wall of the building that my son had already placed. That is very annoying along with the not being able to use the Ctrl key and left click on a resource to transfer all of it to a container.

Your build menu is called up with the Q key and your inventory with the TAB key. That inventory screen also shows your personal survival equipment and as you progress through research and unlocks you’ll find a few more openings for new survival equipment. The health, energy, and oxygen bars on the bottom left of the screen with a temperature gauge above it lets you know when you are low on health (replenished by food), energy (replenished by power from base building), and oxygen (also replenished from base buildings and oxygen capsules with tanks unlocked later). One gripe here is the fact that using our starting tool drains away the energy (or stamina) where we feel it should be a separate bar to itself. Standing still also replenishes your energy/stamina bar.

One thing my son noted is his building of something out on the water quite a piece away that should have a building distance limit. However, I did get him to use buildings to make a long tunnel to get out to the item to disassemble it for proper placing along the coast. In the above screenshot you can see the poof of disassembling smoke which I found a nice touch. There are no distance markers or features for us to know how far away things are. Satisfactory has a distance limit which is shown by both text warning and the object turning red. Satisfactory also shows the distance to resources on the compass as well as highlighted on the map. Planet Crafters has a 500 meter build limit away from the player.

Crafting in the game is easy enough. The build menu, even with the tabs for the sections of objects to build, we found the recipe pinning very useful. There is the starting workbench and then not long after we can build and use the assembling bench. One big discrepency I noticed in the production assembler machine is the amount of resource boxes for input aren’t even. So, when I was crafting iron beams, there were two slots being used for the plate while only one slot for the rods which has the greater amount needed to produce one iron beam.
 

Another thing we noticed with the crafting process is that the detail will only show the per minute statistic, and only on the build menu screen. It doesn't show on the machine information and resource screen. For analytical minds with detailed strategic planning, my son found that missing stat created a gap in his counts of resources to parts created when accessing the machine menu. For myself, it was cumbersome to constantly pull up the build menu screen to refresh my memory of the per minute stats. My son also noted that there is “no way there’s that much waste” in most of the recipes. That adds to the fact that he found the recipes unrealistic. 

My son and I both love the drone for building! Since we don't use stairs that often at the beginning after unlocking, it helps greatly in placing our power network on top of the building. Later when we tried out using the stairs for inside the base we found out that the block used to fill that area back in didn't quite make it to the edge to seal up the building for your oxygen. That would be hazardous in an extreme environment if one only built the first floor and then placed the stairs.

In building up our automation processes we were annoyed that we could not cross conveyors, nor was there any verticality to create a stream-lined automated production line like in Satisfactory. The ‘spaghetti network’ is real when you view your handiwork and that your network shows up on the map. Is that intentional? We don’t know, but it wasn’t a pleasing sight. There is an object in the game now that we can view the terraforming process in greater detail than the tasks menu. Definitely colorful and detailed when you can pick out the areas that you had already terraformed.

A few more cons to this game. There isn’t an autorun feature, and my son has a problem with the health degradation due to hunger being your health gauge and not a food gauge. The gold and sulphur icons on the map are too close in yellow color to distinguish one from the other at a glance. It takes hovering over the icons to see which is which. Another con is in the second player joining the game. When I joined my son’s game the text of my name blocks the vital stats between the energy and oxygen on his hub.

When we are running around we were constantly getting stuck on the terrain voxels. The time it takes to build up the terrrain takes away from the build time for our base and the terraforming process. Later we get access to a vehicle that can smooth out the terrain, and if you’re not careful, take down a mountain! Also, one glitch with the steamroller where it dipped into the ground or popped a wheely happened if I wasn’t holding down the left mouse button to ‘smooth’ the terrain. That made it hard to line myself up to smooth out a slope. 

I get that same glitch with the rover when travelling over uneven terrain. It's almost forgiving in not getting stuck, but damned annoying when trying to steer!

Flying the ship was a challenge for me in the prologue and now in the early access game I found that challenge remains. The controls are W for accelerate, A & D for left & right directions, moving mouse changes your view, and S for landing. I am unsure whether or not S is also used to slow my flight as each press just brought me down lower to land. Oh, and get ready for takeoff with the SPACE BAR! 

While flying at such a fast speed, it makes it very hard to line up to set down on the landing pad. Sure, I could use the controller to call it back to the landing pad, but that isn't the point when I want to land where I had put the pad in line with the production I was going to take ingots/parts for my next project.

All in all the game feels very relaxed, and you can build and move at your own pace. There are no time limits to anything (except maybe not enough power or water for machinery to run) even at night. 

So, while we continue on with our coop game, we leave you with happy thoughts that things are going to improve and more stuff for you to accomplish. We are having a great time with expanding our power grid for the next phase of advanced machinery to build more stuff in our efforts to terraform this planet! Echo One, do you copy? I couldn't resist!

 

Score: N/A 

Update: Since we're still going strong playing our coop game, I thought I'd let y'all know that I am having a whale of a time with my jetpack I finally built for myself! A heck of a lot easier than flying either of our ships we have. I had made an extra large landing pad *laughs* just so I can line myself up to land the cargo ship.

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Escape a ‘nightmare fuel’ planet of giant waves in the Eden Crafters free prologue, now available on Steam

France – June 24th, 2024. Osaris Games is thrilled to invite players to dive into Ocean World, the new free prologue of the upcoming factory survival game Eden Crafters, now available on Steam!

 

Ocean World is set on a water planet terrorized by giant waves triggered by a nearby moon. Rising miles high and coming at regular intervals, these towering tsunamis threaten to obliterate everything in their path — including the player. Will you survive, tame the ocean, and lay the foundation for humanity’s new home… Or will you be swept away by the relentless tide?

 

Ocean World: Eden Crafters offers an immersive preview of the game’s core mechanics, featuring base-building, survival, and voxel-based terramorphing. The full game is set to be released in 2024.

Developers have also published a new trailer to accompany the release of the prologue.

Download Ocean World: Eden Crafters free prologue:

store.steampowered.com/app/2811830/Ocean_World_Eden_Crafters

Watch Official Release Trailer for Ocean World: Eden Crafters:

youtu.be/DOAplVBYQrI 

Inspired by one of the most memorable scenes from Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, Ocean World is just one of the planets available in the full release of Eden Crafters. Early impressions from fans of the factory survival genre have been positive, with some describing the Ocean World scenario as ‘nightmare fuel’ and praising the game for its immense potential.

 

Developed by the dedicated team at Osaris Games, Eden Crafters is a co-op, open-world factory survival game that challenges players to turn a barren planet into a haven for humanity. Eden Crafters features complex automation systems and expansive base-building capabilities, standing out with a voxel-based environment that’s ripe to be reshaped — and revitalized — by the player.

 

Each planet in Eden Crafters presents unique obstacles, from toxic lakes and radioactive terrains to massive tsunamis. As a designated Eden Crafter, the player must adapt and overcome each challenge using advanced automated systems, including resource-gathering conveyors, machine-driven factories, and environmental transformation tools.

While early impressions draw parallels with titles like Planet Crafter and Satisfactory, Osaris Games differentiates Eden Crafters by focusing on ecological restoration. Here, automation serves not to exploit but to restore and revitalize the ecosystem, setting the stage for Eden Crafters’ core philosophy: habitats should flourish long after the machines have done their part.

Key features

• Craft and Automate. Begin with basic resource gathering and progress to full automation with elaborate conveyors and sophisticated factories. As you advance, technology evolves from simple tools to complex instruments capable of planetary-scale geoengineering.
   

• Shape New Worlds. Carve out lakes, sculpt mountains, grow hills, and change the course of rivers. Voxel-based environments empower players to dramatically alter the terrain of each planet they set their foot on.
   

• Explore Unique Planets. From treacherous landscapes and radioactive terrains to giant waves caused by a nearby moon, each planet offers its own challenges. These vast worlds provide extensive environments for players to rejuvenate… and if you’re not in the mood for danger, there are peaceful planets to explore, too.

 

• Build a Biosphere. Modify the climate, purify toxic lakes, generate a breathable atmosphere, and bring clouds back to the sky. Survival is just the beginning: your mission is paradise.

 

• Play Alone or With Friends. Venture alone or team up with other Crafters in online co-op multiplayer. Together or alone, forge a path toward a sustainable future.

Media & Influencer Quotes

“The promise of factory building on a voxel world warrants some attention.” – PC Gamer

 

“The Eden Crafters demo shows a game with a lot of potential, and it promises at the very least to be an interesting ride to see how much of that it can live up to.” – Hardcore Gamer

 

“I don’t get freaked out in video games often but man, having a wall of water that’s like miles high coming in from the ocean… Nightmare fuel. It hits me on an emotional level. [...] I’m really loving this game.” – Kage848

 

“What the heck, this is so cool, I love it already. This is epic.” – Z1 Gaming

 

Factsheet

• Developer: Osaris Games

• Platforms: PC

• Genre: Survival Sim / Base Building

• Planned Release Date: End of 2024

• Steam page: store.steampowered.com/app/2570210/Eden_Crafters

About Osaris Games

Osaris Games, a creative indie studio based in France, is committed to developing immersive games that empower players to build new worlds. Eden Crafters is their flagship project, designed to blend survival, crafting, and automation with themes of sustainability and ecology. Previously, Osaris Games developed the city-building simulator Technicity, released in 2022.

Links

• Website: osaris.net

• Twitter/X: @OsarisGames

• YouTube: @OsarisGames

• Facebook: OsarisGames

• Discord: discord.gg/p2ngQuGkWz
  
  

Article by: Susan N.

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