Bitcraft: Age of Automata is the latest survival-focused MMORPG that has presented a large-scale image of players building their own world and towns without conflict. The game's developers, Clockwork Labs, released the Alpha on April 2 for a month, giving many players their first chance to start testing the game out and to see how it holds up. Will this game be a fun alternative to games like Ark: Survival Evolved and Palia, or will it be declared a clone? Here’s our take after playing in the alpha.
Bitcraft starts by having you (an androgynous robot) wake up in the middle of a field without any memory of who you are or where you are. A little robot will appear and start running the player through a tutorial on how to gather supplies, build things, and stay alive.
The game draws inspiration from other survival games like Raft or Ark, where the player works hard to gather the most essential components to advance the list of possible construction options. The more skills they learn, the better they get.
The aesthetics are lovely, however. The simple design of the world and the appearance of the robots are a delight to look at and make me curious about what sort of world surrounds us. The music that follows the player around is serene and relaxing, something I could have on repeat in the background while working.
Bitcraft's unique premise is the "single world" design. While most MMORPGs will use different servers or private servers to separate the player base up, Bitcraft's standout feature is its single-world design. All players will live and play on a singular server. This design feature is supposed to offer "unparalleled freedom and long-term character progression" that "enables players to create their own stories and write the new history of this world," the company said in a press release. What it also does is create limited player space. I found it hard to get on several times in the first few days of the alpha, with long queues requiring me to wait 30-45 minutes to get into the game.
The game also had a few sudden restarts that kicked me out and forced me back into the queue. Many of these issues could be attributable to the game's existence as an alpha, but they also make it hard to start digging deep into its ecosystem. If Bitcraft wishes to ensure that players are having a good time, they'll need to do a significant amount of work to ensure the server can survive under duress or cyberattack.
Leaving a (temporary) mark
One of the most notable barriers to investment in the game is what progression resembles. In games like Ark, progression often resembles a complete base construction. A player could spend dozens of hours building a fancy facility. Bitcraft seems to abandon this sense of stickiness in exchange for forcing players to collect "supplies," a form of currency that allows them to upgrade and empower their "claims," markers in the field that identify a space owned and operated by a player. Any tables or construction posts built by a player in their claim will last much longer than if built in the wild. The key is to keep paying supply to keep this up.
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Supply isn't a hard currency to acquire since it can be made with the crudest tools out of base components. But it requires players to pay it or risk losing their construction stations. I find this implementation frustrating, as it can bite players in the rear if they experience technical difficulties or are unable to return to the game consistently and timely.
The game offers tools for players to either build their claim or work with others to enhance it. A player could design their character to excel at fishing and wish to bring that skill to a community of 10 other friends as they expand their base. Or you could work with a friend to maintain a base. There are a lot of options for cooperation. However, I found it hard to connect with my friend upon their joining. Claims offered a tool for inviting them to join you, but I struggled to make them work with other friends.
Where do we go from here?
The one aspect I will admit I struggled with is progression in the game. The developers emphasized the construction of societies and communities in this world and on "commerce-based conflict." This premise for conflict sounds interesting on paper. Still, it's difficult to determine how attainable that will be until players are given more time to play around with Bitcraft's systems and build the cities and towns that it is hyping up.
The other element I could not find was anything related to the exploration. The game claims to have a series of ruins around the world that players can discover and explore. During several hours of play, I struggled to find any that were explorable. Other players reported finding ruins with merchants who could sell items, but that was the extent.
Clockwork Studios paints Bitcraft as this setting for telling big stories and engaging other players, but the current alpha needs more clarity about how to do that. PvP is nonexistent despite the game having bows and other tools for hunting animals. Players could build up cities and have them compete through trade and construction, but how does that play out? What will make the towns different from one another? It's far too early to tell.
Bitcraft has a big vision for how its game is supposed to operate. In its ideal world, players will be explorers, builders, and community organizers. The alpha struggled to show that vision, however. The game had a number of server issues, unclear objectives, and very little to do post-building. Hopefully, the company’s alpha will give the company significant feedback and a chance to find ways to build upon what is established and use it to construct something greater in the final release.
