| Aloft | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
Everything We Know About Aloft
Aloft Plot
As an open-world survival crafting game, Aloft prioritizes player freedom by forgoing a rigid narrative structure, enabling exploration and progression at an individualized pace. However, there is a goal in mind; to free the world of the fungal corruption and discover the mysteries of the airborne civilization.
Aloft Gameplay
Aloft offers a feel-good, low-stress survival experience by focusing on rewarding smart choices rather than penalizing mistakes. As primarily a co-op game, it emphasizes teamwork as players collaborate to turn their floating island into a functional airship. Tasks include installing new components, managing wind-powered energy systems, constructing structures, farming, tending livestock, and purging fungal corruption from other islands.
What makes Aloft unique is the ability to make your island base mobile, enabling players to travel with their headquarters. This feature opens up new possibilities for exploration, community-building, and cooperative play, presenting a fresh take on the survival crafting genre.
Aloft Release Date
Aloft was released for the PC via Steam Early Access on January 15, 2025. According to the developers, it will remain on Early Access for at least a year in order to develop the game together with the community.
Aloft Review (Early Access)
The Cure to Vertigo
While I consider myself a fan of survival games (an enjoyer, if you will), I don’t have the patience to stick with one for long—Minecraft being the exception. Usually, I play for a few days, get caught up in life, and end up dropping it to maintain my gacha games instead. That said, my willingness to keep playing Aloft past the first few hours is already quite the compliment for how engaging and novel it is.
Aloft is a survival game set high above the clouds, where you play as a nameless stranger trying to uncover the mysteries of a broken, skyfaring civilization. Imagine Raft, but replace the fear of drowning with the fear of falling, and you’re halfway there.
The setting features floating islands scattered across the skies, separated by vast expanses of clouds and wind. With sparse resources and wildlife, your goal is to survive and thrive, hopping from one island to the next.
Fear not; you won’t be crossing rickety rope bridges. Thanks to the insanely strong winds at this altitude, travel is facilitated by two main methods: gliders and… the floating islands themselves.
It's "Pimp My Ride" for Floating Islands
Let’s get straight to Aloft’s real endgame: outfitting an entire floating island as your personal recreational vehicle. Before you ask, no, I don’t just mean building a house and putting a bed on it. By "vehicle," I truly do mean turning it into your primary means of transportation.
At least it’s not hard to pull off. All you need to do is look for a decently sized island—not too large, or it’ll be impossible to move—build some key structures, and the island is as good as your cheap, third-hand Honda from Facebook Marketplace. Specifically, you need to build a home kite to claim the island, a helm for controls, sails for propulsion, rudders for steering, and floaters for elevation. With that, you’re ready to take on the world.
And yes, you can also build a house on it. Heck, you can even turn it into a farm resort.
Unfortunately, even if you prefer using your glider to travel between islands, you're still left with no choice but to refit your floating island. That’s because your glider cannot go beyond the boundaries of the game’s different "archipelagos." The reason provided is that gliders break when flying that kind of distance. But considering that they never actually break even if you stay airborne for half an hour within the island cluster you’re in, it’s more likely a built-in fail-safe mechanic to force you to claim an island.
Corrupted Islands Keep You On Your Toes
It’s not a survival game without something to survive against. In Aloft, enemies take the form of fungus-like creatures that corrupt entire islands, rendering them lifeless.
Clearing these foes is straightforward: grab a weapon, dodge attacks, and strike back. To purify the island, however, you must defeat the central corruption—a small tree resembling an overgrown stinkhorn mushroom (ironically safe to eat in real life). Only then can you use the island’s resources.
It’s Not Really a Survival Game, Is It?
Despite its crafting system and enemies, Aloft isn’t your typical survival game. Crucially, it lacks a hunger or thirst mechanic.
Instead, food provides buffs, such as increased health or combat bonuses. This absence makes the game far more lenient compared to its peers, which often demand careful resource management. Instead, Aloft leans into its open-world adventure aspect, rewarding good decisions rather than punishing bad ones.
It’s relaxing and fun, but the lack of survival mechanics means purists might argue it’s more of a crafting adventure game.
Repetitive Gameplay Loop is Repetitive
As an early access title, Aloft understandably has limited content. Its gameplay loop can be summarized as: travel to an island, clear corruption (if present), gather resources, and move to the next island.
Resource collection and unlocking new recipes add excitement, masking the repetition somewhat. But the limited variety is noticeable.
That said, what’s here is already comprehensive. For example, harnessing wind isn’t just for travel; it can generate electricity and promote agriculture. The building mechanics support massive, creative projects, too, and even the combat features simple combos. I, for one, look forward to Aloft's future.
Aloft Similar Games
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