I’m the type of person who doesn’t need a game to have the most photorealistic graphics for it to make an immediate impact. Some of my favorite games are generations old at this point. But their strong art direction makes them something that I can revisit without wondering why the main character looks like a Play-Doh version of their actor. Under a Rock immediately caught my eye due to its DreamWorks-esque visuals. Seemingly pulling from classics like The Croods and maybe even a little Shrek for good measure. Exaggerated features, silly enemy design, and an overall cartoony look have me immediately much more interested in this survival crafting game than I may have been if it were another Unreal Engine 5-powered game.

I Think I’m More Excited About the Fast-Paced Combat in ‘Under a Rock’ Than the Survival Aspects

One of my biggest complaints with a lot of survival crafting games is that combat can be extremely basic. Rather than just waggling a stick in front of our faces and hoping that we can smack down an enemy? We’re going to be getting up close and personal with these creatures in Under a Rock. Combat looks more like Enshrouded or RuneScape: Dragonwilds than ARK. I’m already incredibly thankful for that fact, as it’s looking quite fantastic. Wait… is that a giant enemy crab? I hope we can attack its weak point for massive damage.

Every part of the world in Under a Rock is procedurally generated. Meaning that we’ll never know exactly what type of world we’re going to be exploring. But most importantly, it’s got a massive multiplayer aspect. While I already know that my wife and I are diving face-first into this, each world can house up to 10 players. While there is no release window for Under a Rock just yet, I’m hoping that we’ll be learning more about this as soon as possible. I can’t see a game that looks this good and not know when I’ll be able to dive in. Hopefully, Gamescom or another festival will give us an even closer look at what is likely going to be one of my new favorite games.