Stranded: Alien Dawn for Xbox Series X|S

Survival challenge in an alien planet

Stranded: Alien Dawn is a premium strategy game from Haemimont Games and Frontier Foundry. This simulates the conditions of an alien planet, tasking the players to thrive in a mix of survival and base-building elements. You are in charge of a handful of survivors who will gather materials and create a human stronghold.

Beyond its breathtaking 3D visuals, Stranded: Alien Dawn presents different challenges for the player. Find the optimal base layout, gather and manage resources, and keep your survivors happy and healthy It feels like a cross between Park Beyond: Beyond eXtreme and Aliens: Dark Descent.

Build the first human stronghold

Stranded: Alien Dawn offers a compelling premise. A group of survivors lands on an alien, hostile planet. Aside from the challenges of the local flora and fauna, you will have to protect these people from the elements themselves. Starvation and disease are some of the problems you’ll have to navigate. On the other hand, the game offers a full base-building experience with farming, building, researching, and more.

To make the massive undertaking even more immersive, the entire game is rendered in full 3D. This gives you access to breathtaking landscapes and animation as you build your base. The use of a wide range of sound effects also adds to the experience. Aside from the relaxing feel it offers, these audiovisual choices also make for some impressive combat scenarios as you defend your base from roaming aliens.

Stranded can be classified among the more difficult games in the genre. It would take a couple of tries before understanding how the game works. There are a lot of ways that your base-building will go wrong, from fluctuating weather patterns to roaming alien groups. Conversely, there are also a lot of things you will manage as the game goes on: survivor conditions, crops, research trees, and more.

A challenge for veteran players

If you’re looking for an immersive base builder with impressive audio and visual quality, Stranded: Alien Dawn is a great place to start. It has all the elements you would expect from survival and base-building games, making it enjoyable to the right audience. However, the sheer volume of things to do and manage can easily overwhelm new or inexperienced players.