Discover the Astroneer

Do you like exploring planets? Crafting things? Finding your own way in a game? If discovery and crafting is your bread and butter, then you may want to check out Astroneer for Nintendo Switch! Here is our review!

Astroneer is a game where you play as an astronaut who goes to a planet to see what can be discovered. The game wants to be No Man’s Sky but unlike that game, it has no clear narrative that holds it together. Astroneer just throws the player into an open world sandbox and lets them either finish missions or turn on creative mode and do anything.

Its not clear what your ultimate goal in Astroneer is. There are little missions to finish, although they are made a lot harder by mission mode restrictions such as a limited air supply. In create mode, you can turn the limited air off and have unlimited air. Though, unfortunately in create mode there are no missions. So either you can have a purpose in Astroneer or no purpose, there’s no middle ground.

The basic gameplay is interesting though. It feels like Minecraft meets No Man’s Sky. Discovering the planet, getting crafting material, making things, etc. Its a very neat game. Astroneer is a good game but its lack of focus and any real story will turn off some players.

Astroneer has a really neat graphical style. Its a little bit Minecraft and a little bit No Man’s Sky just like the gameplay. There is a ton of pop-in especially at the start with this game and some rough edges as far as items going through the ground and such.

Overall, Astroneer is a good game. Fans of Minecraft and No Man’s Sky will find this one interesting. If you like exploring and not having your hand held at all, then this definitely your game. You have to be willing to really embrace the game’s missions or its creative side (or both) to enjoy the game. If Astroneer had a more clear cut story, it would’ve been even better. Still Astroneer is a good addition to the Switch’s library and will, without a doubt, find an audience.

Astroneer gets a 7.5 out of 10.

Thank you to Sandbox Strat for providing a digital code for this review. Astroneer is available on the Nintendo Switch eshop right now!