Unturned is the latest addition to the sandbox survival genre of gaming, which seems to have taken the PC platform by storm. Unturned is a free to play early access indie game, which has been released in the middle of this summer lull of gaming and is gathering serious attention. It is currently featured on the homepage of Steam and sits among the most played charts along with PC mainstays CounterStrike:GO, Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2.

Perhaps, the most astonishing feat for this indie game is that it was created by one developer, Nelson Sexton, who at 17 years old has signalled himself as one to watch.

The game itself can draw comparisons to other open world, first person perspective survival games popular right now, such as 7 Days to Die and Day Z; in that the main enemy is the archetypal slow moving zombies and the permadeath element adds to the tension of survival. What sets this game apart from the rest of in its genre is its fun artstyle which reminds me of a cartoonish Minecraft. The character designs are entertaining to look at with their dotted eyes and simple line for a mouth, as well as stickman like bodies.

Starting the game up the player spawns at a random location on the map with no way of navigation, no food, no weapon or even any clothing. It is then up to the player to discover the world that lays before them, fight zombies and eat berries. In order to survive the zombie apocalypse, the player must manage the five meters displayed on the HUD: Blood (health), Hunger, Thirst, Sickness and Stamina.

The early stages of the game (or each life) can be rather slow, like Day Z, you tend to spawn on the beach away from towns or farms meaning worthwhile loot is a long walk away. Inventory management is vital to success in this apocalyptic wasteland, until you stumble upon a backpack or rucksack, player inventory is limited to four slots and the challenge is to strike a balance between weapons, food, drinks and medical supplies.  As you progress further into the game and the pace picks up, the focus switches to exploring the rest of the map. By servicing and repairing the cars left abandoned on the roadside traversing the land becomes much easier. The map is surprisingly expansive and varied enough that travelling to other areas is worthwhile beyond searching for better loot; these areas include military bases, towns, farms and other islands.

The depth of this game is really what makes it so enjoyable; experience is given for defeating zombies and can be spent on a wide range of skills to improve your character and boost the odds of survival. Crafting is a welcome feature of the game and is extremely robust; ranging from making extra arrows for a scavenged longbow to crafting materials in order to fortify buildings or even create your own.

Since Unturned has no real storyline to it, connecting with friends on multiplayer was most enjoyable. By working with others the game’s pace is faster and the added tension of other players within the world creates a new dynamic of forging alliances or, more often in my case, making deadly enemies. However, on the whole I found the community that plays Unturned to be more forgiving and certainly friendlier than the comparable, Day Z, which I assume is due to its goofier, less serious art style and graphics. There is the option of joining PvE servers if you’d rather team up without the threat of being betrayed by friends.

My only complaint is that currently there are no official servers at the free to play level, which led to quite a few connection issues. I was also frustrated playing these external third party servers with a high volume of other players, as loot doesn’t seem to re-spawn; In one instance I was left to search the wasteland fighting zombies with bolts and a mouldy cabbage for far too long.

For a free to play game Unturned is definitely a game worth giving a try. If you find it enjoyable enough a paid gold account upgrade is available to purchase in game for extra aesthetic perks. These sales helps support young Nelson Sexton, who is dedicated to supporting his game with constant fixes.

Unturned is available on Steam now.