In 2017, Frankfurt-based developer of Keen Games, in collaboration with publisher 505 Games, released the cartoony action RPG survival title Portal Knights. Portal Knights proved to be an indie success story, selling more than 3.5M copies according to a report from 2021. Despite this success, however, development on the game ended in 2021 and a pitch for a spiritual successor was not greenlit. Instead, Keen Games received $10M USD in funding from Hiro Capital, a venture capital fund from Luxembourg, and Tencent, a Chinese technological conglomerate and owner of five internal video game development studio groups, most notably TiMi Studio Group, makers of Call of Duty: Mobile, Pokémon Unite, League of Legends: Wild Rift and more.
Said funding kickstarted the development of Keen Games’ next project, Enshrouded, which is not so much a spiritual successor to Portal Knights, but rather, a title that seeks to iterate on the same mashup of survival, crafting, large-scale voxel building and action RPG combat. After being formally unveiled in 2023, Enshrouded released in Steam Early Access in January 2024 and has since exploded in popularity, with more than five million copies confirmed sold by January 2026.
Now, after eight major content updates, which have wrapped up the story, filled in the map and added dynamic water to the game, Enshrouded is finally ready for its time in the spotlight with the 1.0 release, which is also coming to PlayStation 5 (the XBOX version has been delayed until Spring 2027) besides Steam. This being said, as Enshrouded creative director Antony Christoulakis told me when I interviewed him during gamescom 2026, the team over at Keen Games are treating 1.0 as just another milestone in what will hopefully be an experience here to stay for years to come.
As for my own experience with Enshrouded, I’ve been aware of it for a while, especially as I love other games in the survival genre such as Minecraft, No Man’s Sky and Subnautica, but I had only put about 10 hours into it during Early Access, liking it enough to want to wait for the full release. Well, now that the full release is just around the corner, I can reveal that I’ve had the privilege of putting many more hours into the most recent build and that I’ve been largely loving it.
I’ve spent the vast majority of this time carrying on with my save file created during the Early Access period, but I’ve also taken the time to explore the newest biome through an endgame save file which was provided to me. As mentioned earlier, the story has indeed come to a close in the full release, but as the team behind Enshrouded expects a playthrough (including important side quests) to set players back 100 hours, I am still a ways off from reaching the credits. Much like how Keen Games expects to support the game long after launch, I’m expecting to still be playing Enshrouded for a while after this review.
With regard to Enshrouded’s story, players can expect to take on the role of “Flameborn”: a being created by humans and an older race referred to as “Ancients” in order to withstand a corrupting plague referred to as the “Shroud”. As a Flameborn, then, the goal involves pushing back the Shroud and rebuilding the continent of Embervale. Given that the world has been entirely ravaged, the story is largely delivered through character diaries and expedition notes, which do a fine job of enriching the world. Nevertheless, what’s here is rather barebones, which is acceptable for a survival game in which the gameplay systems take precedence.
The gameplay at the heart of Enshrouded is made up of four main pillars: surviving, exploring, fighting and crafting. To begin with the survival aspect, whereas gathering resources and building shelter is elaborate and an absolute necessity, there is no urgent need to drink water and/or eat food. Very much like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is a clear inspiration, consumables are used to either regenerate health or stamina or to grant a temporary stat bonus.
“…nothing in Enshrouded is truly innovative from an exploration perspective, but it comes together very well.”
In this sense, the most challenging meter to extend is the Shroud meter, which determines the amount of time a given player character can tolerate being inside the Shroud. As such, surviving in Enshrouded is not always particularly difficult, but when it is, it comes hand-in-hand, as it should, with the enticing possibility of stumbling upon some highly valuable items.
Exploring is likewise inspired by Breath of the Wild, as Enshrouded twists the idea of Zelda’s Shrines and turns them into so-called Sanctums — mini-dungeons which require players to solve puzzles or parkour their way past devious traps and machinations. Furthermore, players can also activate Spires, which are imposing towers that reveal parts of the map and that they can fast travel to. If this all sounds familiar, it’s because it is: nothing in Enshrouded is truly innovative from an exploration perspective, but it comes together very well. Whether I was gliding around or using a grappling hook to traverse a deep ravine, exploring the continent of Embervale has only been a good time.
Moving on to the fighting, it is arguably the most enjoyable part of Enshrouded, despite perhaps following the “Soulslike” formula too closely. The wide variety of playstyles, made possible by a very flexible skill tree, is greatly appreciated, as players can effectively choose to be a Warrior, Rogue or Mage or make it so that they’re a unique combination of all or any of these classes.
My only criticism in this regard is that, since Enshrouded has both a character and equipment level, exploration can be significantly impeded by encountering enemies which are ridiculously strong, even when they are just two or three levels above the player’s. What’s more, since the enemies spawn in crowds, traversing the world can often be a frustrating time. Far too often, I would get chased and subsequently downed in two hits by a pack of wolves.
If survival, exploring, and fighting are all reminiscent of other games, the crafting in Enshrouded is slightly more novel. To give just one example, in order to unlock some crafting recipes, especially some of the more important ones, players must rescue a handful of rare survivors, all of which will thereafter rendezvous at the player’s base. Once there, they bring life to the camp by taking on roles such as alchemist, carpenter, blacksmith and more and becoming quest givers. Seeing a humble hut blossom into a fully fledged settlement, complete with various citizens, is one of the best joys you could have with Enshrouded.
On the other hand, the crafting itself can be equal parts tedious and laborious. For instance, the starting inventory space is quite small, so I often found myself needing to craft chests in order to keep hold of all the items I was lugging around. Making matters worse is the fact that players are not able to drop items and then pick them up later; the only option available is to delete them entirely. It shouldn’t be the case that, on so many occasions, I opted to simply destroy items, sometimes valuable ones, just so I didn’t have to go through the hassle of crafting a chest.
In any case, if Enshrouded is a great game when played solo, and it very much is, it’s an even better one when experienced together with friends on a shared world. On PC, there is support for up to 16 players at once, while the PlayStation 5 version allows for up to eight at the same time. Sadly, at the time of writing, cross-play is not available, but maybe that’s something that’s going to be implemented in the future.
In addition, an important multiplayer feature is Adventure Sharing, which allows players to create, download and share worlds at will. With the help of Sparkworks, which is what Keen Games are calling their suite of interactive functions and tools, it is possible and encouraged for players to create their own mini-games and creative experiences and share them with others. From what I’ve seen so far, the possibilities seem really endless, and I fully expect this to be a fan favourite game mode.
“If survival, exploring, and fighting are all reminiscent of other games, the crafting in Enshrouded is slightly more novel.”
The presentation in Enshrouded is a standout, too, as this game is very much a looker. From lush forests to sun-scorched dunes and snow-capped peaks, the art style really makes these biomes shine. In fact, even on my Steam Deck, the visuals remain surprisingly good even on low settings and performance across it and my gaming PC is impressive, especially given the performance improvements prepared for the 1.0 build. By contrast, the soundtrack and sound design are less of a highlight, but neither is by all means bad, just serviceable.
At face value, considering how much of Enshrouded calls to mind numerous other titles, it is perhaps easy to call it a derivative work. And yet, in putting together all of these admittedly familiar game design ideas in Enshrouded, Keen Games have come up with something truly fresh, and that stands toe to toe with other stalwarts of the survival genre. Besides, in adding everything but the kitchen sink over the last eight updates, it absolutely shines through that Enshrouded is a labour of love and developed by a team that is undoubtedly dedicated to their fanbase.
It’s definitely not without its faults, and it is far from the most original game you can pick up in 2026, but even then, Enshrouded is one of the year’s best. And, through future updates, it’s likely to only get better.
