The Importance of World Design in Survival Games

When you think of the most important part of a survival game what comes to your mind immediately? Maybe it's the enemies you face off against or maybe it's the systems you interact with like crafting. While these are important in their own right, the world design is an underappreciated and very important part to making a survival game work. After all, you are going to be spending most of your time playing the game in this world.  

Like any other game, a survival game needs to sell its audience with that first impression and the world is a part of that impression. Whether a player just purchased the game and is trying it out or watching someone else play the game, they are going to undoubtedly see the environment in game. If the world doesn’t pop out to them, what are the chances they end up refunding the game or just not buying it all. In order for the world to stand out, it not only needs to look good graphically, but it also needs to feel unique and different from other games. Things like a recognizable art style or a unique setting for the world are going to make a strong first impression.  

Take Don’t Starve Together for example when considering first impressions. Even if you don’t know what the game is about, the art style sticks out immediately and separates itself from other games on the market.  

Another thing that makes the world design so important though is that you as a player are going to be spending a lot of time in said world. That initial charm you get from a first impression is going to wear off the longer you play the game. The world is not going to stay interesting forever, but it should still be designed with the mindset that it will be enjoyable to play in. If a world is poorly designed, people are going to start paying attention to those flaws and point them out. However, if a world is well designed, players stop actively thinking about the world’s design after a certain point and begin focusing on the other parts of the game. At the end of the day, players are looking to play a survival game in this world and if it's not enjoyable to spend time in, people aren’t going to want to play the game for very long. The world should act in service to the gameplay, not take away from it.