Merging a survival game with rouge-like elements, Lost in Tropics is an interestingly ambitious game from Poland based solo developer, Lukas GameLabs. Unifying two beloved genres was always going to be a tough task but here it actually works in a way that is not completely terrible.
Lost in Tropics – Gameplay
The problem with survival games is that there is very little scope for creativity. It’s the same with the majority of these titles; chop down a tree, build a fire, cook food, rinse and repeat. Sadly, Lost in Tropics inevitably follows this same tired old pattern, albeit with a companion thrown into the mix.
Starting you out without a thread of clothing and an empty inventory (just as nature intended), Lost in Tropics opens just like every other survival simulator and, like every other survival simulator your first task is to find wood for a fire, which your companion so kindly offers to build for you once you pass her the required materials. From here, it follows the same worn tracks of survival simulator tropes and clichés.
After I had made a few meals for my camp and killed more than my fair share of crabs along the way (thanks to pointy sticks), I decided I had had enough of the tutorial and “Taped Out” as the game wrote it out. While grammatical errors can be overlooked during games, there’s simply no excuse for such easy mistakes that cast the game in a tawdry light. However, to be fair, the developer is Polish but it wouldn’t have cost much to have a native eye look over these trivialities and would have gone far, in this case.
Lost in Tropics – And so Begins Scenario 2
Scenario 2, as expected, was a far more freer experience. Without the bounds and constraints of tutorial steps, I was free to explore the island unleashed. Yes, I had to go through the same steps as in the first scenario but I’m sure we can all agree that food and fire are essential to live life in the wild tropics.
With a nice touch, here Lost in Tropics offered me a starting item in the form of a field-crafted primitive axe. For some reason, the axe was as effective as a sharp stone for cutting down trees but yielded more wood, pointy sticks, bird’s nests and timber. This scenario offered a richer experience due to the freedom to think on my toes but it still felt so very familiar.
Lost in Tropics Plays Like Naked and Afraid: The Game
With the addition of another mouth to feed and another set of hands to help you around the camp (despite never moving their lazy asses), Lost in Tropics plays out very much like how you would expect a video game adaptation of the hit TV show, Naked and Afraid to play. It even mentions an “audience” within some of the character descriptions.
Lending inspiration from such a renowned show will undoubtedly draw in N&F fans as they seek to simulate the widely esteemed televized survival series, without actually risking dying a horrible death through starvation, dehydration, mutilation, venom or hypothermia; without even having to leave the comfort of their own homes.
Lost in Tropics – Summary
Lost in Tropics is a run-of-the-mill survival game that tries hard to stand out from the crowd. However, with very little in the way of the unique, it falls just short of its goal. Naked and Afraid fans will undoubtedly find familiarity on the island but there’s nothing much here that hasn’t been done time and time again.
Lost in Tropics is available now on Steam.
RATING
OUR RATING - 4
4
SCORE
Lost in Tropics is a run-of-the-mill survival game that tries hard to stand out from the crowd. However, with very little in the way of the unique, it falls just short of its goal.
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