A new sandbox craft-em up game, TUG, came out today on Steam Early Access, for $9.99. It may remind you of Everquest Next: Landmark or Minecraft, when playing this game, but it is different in a number of ways. TUG was on kickstarter last May, which $293,184 was raised. This early access alpha will allow the LA-based Team, Nerd Kingdom, to test new features, especially additional crafting items and AI creatures. Also bonus fact, TUG stands for The Untitled Game.
TUG is where survival sandbox and multiplayer RPG both meet, where you focus on exploring, finding secrets and more. There are two gameplay modes available to try on this game currently, the main Creative Mode and then there is Survival Games, which is PvP using crafted weapons. The founder of Nerd Kingdom, wanted the creative mode to be playable and interactive while also having more flexibility and freedom during gameplay, so that everyone plays the way they want to experience.
TUG brings you into a world, where you begin your journey as a race of humanoids called, Seedling. Seedlings have special crystals on their hands, which allows them to interact with the energies and secrets in the world around them. TUG brings not only single player, but also multiplayer and co-op, which allows you and your friends to explore a massive procedurally-generated world and fight the dangers that you find along the way of finding its mysteries.
Crafting in TUG is different from other crafting in any other sandbox games. You won’t see any grid system or fancy UI when you are working with recipes. Instead of the materials going straight to your inventory or knowing how one thing is created, the materials would just be dropped in a pile on the surface, and a creation button will combine the materials into an item. It’s all about discovery in this new virtual world that you are in. Players will have to forage for food during their adventures in order to keep themselves alive. Eventually, the team plans to include thirst or perhaps other survival concepts once the systems are developed. When in Survival games, and one of your friends dies, their soul is removed from their body and now they will be able to play in the form of a wisp, which can float around the map slowly collecting light. As a wisp, your light that you accumulate can help a player who is hiding or during combat, they can stun a player.
The creators Nerd Kingdom, created the game to be able to create a platform for both the players in the game and the modders outside of it, to analyze and research the experience in how players play and interact within the virtual word. TUG is an experiment in collaborative game design.