Enshrouded defies its own naming convention. The word implies secrecy, an attempt to obscure the truth.

Over the last two years, Keen Games has done anything but keep its game under wraps. A generous Early Access cycle has allowed players to help shape Enshrouded into the game it is today. Numerous updates have added bountiful features, allowing the game to blossom into the behemoth that is the 1.0 version.

Yet Enshrouded also lays itself bare. When players step out from their mystical crypt and into the sunlight of Embervale, the alluring call begins. Across the vast distance of digital space, the player can see possibility, their future. Temptation beckons from the misty valleys that, unbeknownst to the player, are teeming with the corrupted infestation of the Shroud; from the verdant plains of greenery rife with foliage to harvest; from the burning red gorges thick with a substance as consuming as magma; from the blackened tower so monolithic it pierces the sky; from the far distant rocks defying gravity as they listlessly float in the air.

Should you so wish, pluck any desire–whether it be curiosity, bravery, stupidity, or purpose–and see which fruit holds the most promise.

Enshrouded is by far one of the most all-encompassing games I’ve ever witnessed, terrifying in its ability to pull you in and have you become lost in that clutch. On my second night playing it, I spent over eight unbridled hours poring over Embervale, tugging at threads of possibility and checking off the countless boxes on my to-do list. Finally, around 5 a.m. I forced myself to sleep, knowing I had a plane to catch in a few hours.

Do you know how long it has been since a game has done that? While I regularly keep late nights playing games, absorbing myself in worlds, and writing, I’m also prone to long hours of raids and daily quests that do have a kind of primal allure to them. Those “one more run” inclinations are easier to do when the content being consumed has a familiar, repetitive feeling to it.

That night I became deeply involved with Enshrouded. And that was after an initial three- or four-hour session had already sunk hooks into me a couple days before, making me lament having to go to work the next day and not work on expanding my foothold on the land. With that long night of Enshrouded I fought enemies, leveled up, cast out on a hang glider to places I had no business being, completed quests while a friend tinkered with our burgeoning settlement, and got overwhelmed with what I should do next and where I should go.

Keen Games has given players one of the biggest open worlds I’ve ever encountered and one I’ve honestly not seen the edges of. Enshrouded is not the kind of game players mine away at for a few weeks and put down. No, it is one they can file away for weeks at a time, come back to, and become lost in once again.

To me, Enshrouded is an easy sell to any player who has an inclination towards the survival and crafting genre. It’s equally easy to pitch it as a game one doesn’t need a particular purpose or drive to play. If the prospect of a world that sort of molds itself to your will after a few hours feels captivating, then here is your next obsession.

In this moment I think of the recently released Order of the Sinking Star, a puzzle game that purports to have over a thousand of them. Though inching deeper and deeper into the game with every new solution, I never had any hope that I would beat all of its challenges in a short amount of time. But much like The Witness, it is a game I know I can come back to when I so please and pick away at it with whatever pace I deem valuable to me and my entertainment.

Enshrouded holds a similar value. What do I wish to do today? Do I want to create a new wing to my home? Do I want to soar from one of the tallest points in Embervale, land in an area I’ve only cut through for quests, and establish a new settlement? Do I want to recreate a castle or a cozy nook from a film? Or do I want to visit other lands created by groups of players? How about instead of all that crafting, I just want to seek out danger and loot? There is no wrong answer.

Many are shocked to learn that in all my years of gaming experience, I’ve spent virtually no time in Minecraft. Seemingly the progenitor of the modern survival-crafting craze, it feels like an almost necessary step in my gaming journey. Yet I always knew myself well enough. The kind of “purposelessness” of Minecraft is one of the reasons I never truly want to commit to it. The goals I would want to accomplish outside the deep cycle of mining better and better materials to make better and better things are whimsical and nebulous–things I simply don’t have much time for.

Now imagine Minecraft with a more distinct purpose. Imagine a world with a bridge outside of the starting area that helps you avoid the dangerous Shroud. Imagine a quest that tasks you with finding a hidden treasure chest inside part of that bridge. Imagine not being able to find it after a half an hour of hitting different parts of it with a pickaxe so you take some bombs and just start blowing up chunks of this bridge. If you’re a madman, every bit of that bridge could fall to your will. Imagine wanting to scale a mountain but your double jump just isn’t high enough so you take that pickaxe or those bombs and make your own path up.

And while destruction and change in Enshrouded is one of the numerous benefits of the engine Keen Games has used, it’s such a small part of the entire experience provided.

As the Flameborn, players emerge into Embervale well past its point of ruin. The Shroud has crept into this world, corrupted its people, and unleashed monsters everywhere. Your purpose is to more or less ignite the spark of humanity back into this damaged existence. Therein lies one of Enshrouded‘s hooks: to literally bring life back into world.

But what I love most about this prospect is that so much about this game and its world is lively and colorful. Keen Games’ engine is meant for players to build with and despite that, it never looks undercooked or blocky. So much of Enshrouded feels like a moderately peaceful world of fantasy. Sure, when heading into the Shroud the colors become more sinister and moody and the music shifts towards the apparent danger. Other parts of the map have that sense of danger as well due to roaming bands of monsters and bandits of all shapes and sizes. But overall, there is meant to be a sense of calm that blankets the experience.

I would often note that when doing a simple task like harvesting plants and trees or gliding to and from points on the map, the game’s instrumental soundtrack would effortlessly begin to swell. Plucks of strings would play almost listlessly to accompany the minimal amount of action, providing ambiance and comfort but never aggressively so. The most busy fights wouldn’t even threaten to bombard my team with vigorous bass or chanting.

Keen Games sets a scene and the player lives it. That feels like the mission statement of Enshrouded. The world is both sandbox, toy chest, and tool kit and the player gets to decide what to do.

Because Enshrouded is often reliant on the player’s proclivity to set forth, its deeper narrative is likely to become lost in the weeds without disciplined investment. Across the map players can pick up notes, speak to townspeople, and hear quality voice acting and read tons of lore. It all builds up Embervale into this place worthy of saving. But the numerous avenues for distraction means that broad strokes are more memorable than subtle touches.

The game front-loads with the concept that the Flameborn is trying to revive civilization. Players are tasked with finding craftspeople that will help unlock the necessary systems to play the game. A blacksmith, a farmer, an apothecary, a ranger, and more. All these people will be placed at the player’s camp and provide quests and things to make to become stronger and allow life to flourish. There may be some interesting subtext about religious zealotry and idol worship here and there but it won’t be too serious if the player doesn’t wish it to be. I for one loved that the mystery Flame that fueled my ability to expand the space I could build in said outright it needed more people gathered near it as the increased worship would allow it to flourish more.

Enshrouded‘s real joy comes from its crafting and survival mechanics and, for me, that feels quite shocking to say. Keen Games seemed to avoid a firm gameplay loop where players delve dungeons, earn stuff, and use that stuff to get stronger. Of course, that loop exists and it’s a guaranteed path to success. But the fact that I spent so much time in Enshrouded without really fighting anything and just exploring the world is a testament to how easy it can be for anyone to find a degree of success with it.

Once players do the necessary work of fending off the Fell who occupy nearby Elixir Wells found within the Shroud and gathering up the initial artisans that unlock recipes, significant portions of time can be spent just building and seeking out resources. One of the first tasks players are required to do is build a shelter that can house the blacksmith. Proper shelters need four walls, a roof, and a bed and once the blacksmith has been assigned a bed, he’ll be happy enough to open up new possibilities for the player.

Yet even at the most basic stages of Enshrouded, the building blocks for homes are cheap. Players craft massive bundles of wood and stone blocks that can be used to place decorations and structures and what becomes an empire of items that are responsible for building a budding civilization. A player like myself not inclined towards making pretty things delighted at the ease of crafting and building. Despite how intimidatingly complex it all can look, Keen Games has done heavy lifting to ensure that players aren’t bogged down by Enshrouded‘s tools.

Out of the gate, inventory management can feel explicitly unwieldy. Considering that almost everything in the world can be broken down for parts, players will spend a lot of resources and time building storage boxes that they may need to micro-manage if they want to keep sane. As the game continues on, recipes will be unlocked to help with organization and pulling from storage without having to hold items on your person. Further along, players may need to keep themselves in check with the plethora of menus and the amount of things that need to be sorted through to find that specific plan or item you want.

However, that all grows into a feeling of second nature with time. And, most importantly, players will begin to feel increasingly competent to the point where their imaginations are less inhibited and more hopeful and experimental.

All this is made more enjoyable because players can share the experience with friends and strangers online. Those opening hours of Enshrouded and my marathon session all felt more satisfying because I had others in my group buzzing around Embervale helping each other or doing their own tasks. One who had a fondness for building took it upon themselves to master our first structure and home, decorating it with the necessary production stations and adding a few personal touches. By around hour 20 that home had transformed into a multi-floor settlement with tables and chairs, plates and silverware, and a massive bonfire on the top floor that lit up the room like an inferno.

Friends can also assist in combat, making Elixir Wells and the bosses inside less harrowing. Combat initially in Enshrouded is a matter of finding a weapon type you may be comfortable with or has the strongest stats. Basic light and heavy attack combos keep combat moving but don’t have much flavor. Blocking and parrying have their place but players are mostly going to mash through enemies as fast as they can. Magic with limited use must be fixed onto wands or players can find infinite-use spells. Gem can be crafted and slotted into to equipment to make them stronger. The Shroud’s interesting mechanic of having a timer that ticks away to players’ deaths can feel intimidating on deeper delves. Consuming items or finding clocks that add more time in the Shroud grow vital, especially when enemies grow in number and strength.

Combat gets significantly better but not entirely deeper when players stretch their legs into the unexpectedly expansive skill tree. Keen Games identifies its branching nodes with the typical combat roles like Healer, Ranger, Barbarian, and more. Spending points earned from leveling up or completing Elixir Wells are invested into flat stat boosts or actual new moves and abilities that give player roles more purpose and edge. But don’t have any fear of being boxed into a certain playstyle or role as points can be refunded and the game is entirely flexible.

Of course the investment into survival elements becomes increasingly necessary not only for exploration but for staying alive. The various foods players eat, the water they drink, the shelter they sleep under, the animals they house as pets, the crops they grow, the armor they craft… it all feeds into the cycle of growth. While better armor and weapons may sound like the best avenue, players will find equal amounts of viability in a berry that adds minutes to the Shroud timer. A boon for petting a cat feels just as important and wholesome as an enchanted bow with better arrows. The obvious elements of using fire to reduce something like being too wet during rain borrow from established things like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild–and players will find a lot of that DNA in here, especially when using a glider to launch off a high tower into unseen lands.

It all culminates into Enshrouded‘s vision. At its most basic, Keen Games has made a game where players survive a potentially dangerous world by mining it for materials. But combat is such a small element of the magic. Watching the foundation of the world be molded by the player into their own homes is a sight to behold. Right now, players can boot up the game and head into servers where one player spent months making his own intricate fantasy village with hidden secrets and cozy hearths. Others have sought to recreate locales from The Lord of the Rings. Another made Hogwarts. Someone else a gothic castle that would gladly house Dracula. This is a world of possibilities. And while many games offer up similar experiences, so few accomplish it in a memorable way like Enshrouded.

Enshrouded is a sprawling, massive undertaking that has easily become a contender for one of the the most intricate and fantastical games in the survival crafting genre. Its vast, malleable world is boundless in possibility should a creative player wish to build out their dream world with unbridled and effortless tools. Though some aspects of Enshrouded can at times feel inches deep, its miles wide approach ultimately grants the player almost infinite possibility to engage and enjoy for months and years to come.