Smalland: Survive the Bugs
Many players were quick to compare Smalland: Survive the Wilds at its release to a game with a similar setting, Grounded. Sure, both games thrust you into a world where you are tiny, and everything small is big. Tiny insects are now giant monsters, and fields of grass are forests. However, in our time with the game, we felt that Smalland was functionally more akin to a game like Valheim.
With some clear competition among other independent titles in the survival genre, the question of whether or not Smalland is unique enough to be worth your time and money is probably in the front of your mind. Worry not; this review will cover all the major aspects of what Smalland offers now and what it has the potential for.
Story and concept
You enter the world of Smalland as a member of a race called the Smallfolk. Specifically, you are a Vanguard tasked with venturing out of the safety of your underground home in search of a cure for whatever strange illness has befallen your queen. It quickly becomes apparent that foul play is likely afoot, as the key to the alchemist’s chest that may contain a cure has gone missing from under heavy guard. At the same time, the Smallfolk queen fell ill, and the local wildlife became unnaturally aggressive.
Smalland’s story isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s enough to move the player along. The narrative itself is told mainly through second-hand accounts from a few NPCs. Quest objectives are limited, primarily on speaking to the next NPC and hunting a pestering enemy.
However, what drew our interest was the worldbuilding behind Smallfolk and their culture. There’s not much overtly stated about the Smallfolk aside from their worship of owls, but other interesting facts about how they live can be gleaned by paying attention to the style of structures, weapons, and even food created by them.
Regardless, Smalland’s overall story feels distant at the moment. The game is still in early access, so we hope we can soon get more quests, NPCs, and locations, and some feel that our character is more personally involved in the story.
Graphics
If there is one thing that Merge Games nailed when crafting Smalland, it’s the graphical style. It’s clear that they had a vision for the world and put in the work to make it happen. The environments are dynamic and will drastically change appearance with the seasons. The bug models are detailed (if a bit unnerving) and very well-animated.
There are occasional graphical bugs, of course. These bugs usually have something to do with non-ambient lighting effects from items like torches. Some tweaks could also be made to improve character models, such as having them close their hands around items they hold and adding some variation to animations. Considering how gorgeous everything else is, these quirks are expected of an early access game and are perfectly forgivable.
Sound and atmosphere
The soundtrack of Smalland is where we feel it overlaps the most with Grounded. The music is whimsical and light, feeling very in-character for a game about tiny people fighting giant bees. While somewhat dynamic, switching to a more intense, still child-like track during combat and when storms begin to roll in.
Overall, the music is fitting and fun. However, during long playthroughs, the music could become repetitive and obnoxious. Nothing made us want to stop playing, but the game could still benefit from either longer breaks between tracks or more variety added in to break up the monotony.
The sound effects are a different story. The sounds accompanying building and demolishing structures are all sufficiently crunchy and satisfying, but that’s about it. Every container opened has the same sound effect as every item created at a different workbench. This might not normally be an issue, but when you have to individually craft 50 pieces of refined wood, some sawing or grinding sound might make the process less tedious.
The impact sounds of weapons and tools feel whispy and small. Smashing an ant over the head with a huge stone hammer sounds the same as poking it with a spear. The sound of striking a rock with a pickaxe is about what you would expect if you were tapping it with a toothpick. These issues aren’t a dealbreaker, but the lack of satisfying sound makes interacting with the world and even combat much less impactful and satisfying.
Gameplay
The gameplay is an area where Smalland struggles the most. The game’s systems are functional and have plenty of promise, but some significant issues can slow the game down.
Let’s start with combat. We like the idea of enemies, each with strengths and weaknesses, as this encourages us to diversify our gear and try different weapons. However, combat can quickly become repetitive, boring, and even annoying.
Finding an enemy with more than one attack animation is a rarity, and the accuracy of their tracking makes avoiding attacks nearly a moot point. The stamina economy seems poorly balanced, with much of a fight dependent on how far you can backpedal away while you recover.
What’s more, combat occurs far too often for these issues to be ignored. Enemies are everywhere, and players will find themselves almost constantly under attack. At a certain point, this became so frustrating that we started face-tanking hits and spamming attacks because it was faster.
As fun as the world is to explore, it can be a real pain when moving ten feet in any direction, as you will undoubtedly trigger enemy interactions, all while having to babysit your mount if you have one.
The game’s survival mechanics are somewhat rudimentary, with food being pretty easy to come by since most enemies drop something edible, and you’re constantly killing things. Dealing with cold and storms is more nuanced, but it just boils down to wearing the right clothes and sitting under a hut when the third storm of the day rolls in.
Crafting and building were where we found ourselves enjoying the game the most. The interesting style of the weapons and armor made us want to try them all out, and the freeform nature of the building system kept us entertained for a while, even if it could be a pain to farm up some of the resources.
Replay value
Depending on what you are looking for in a survival game, Smalland’s replay value may be hit or miss at the moment. While the game has a vast and gorgeous map to explore, getting around takes time and can be bogged down by combat and storms.
If you enjoy building huge bases in interesting locations, you’ll likely have a lot of fun putting up intricate towers and hanging bridges on cliffsides, tree branches, and anywhere else that catches your eye.
Ultimately, Smalland’s replay value will depend greatly on what Merge adds to the game before its completion and will likely change a fair bit between now and then.
Final thoughts on Smalland
Despite our misgivings, Smalland is a fascinating game with a ton of potential. For now, it may be a bit rough around the edges, but the world is absolutely stunning, and the premise is rather unique. Given some time to grow, and a little innovation by the developers, we cannot wait to see what Smalland will become. Besides, what other game lets you ride around on the back of a humongous grasshopper?
If you want to try Smalland: Survive the Wilds, check out our 10 Tips for Getting Started.
