$14.99Aground From wooden hut to starship
Mine, craft and build across a colorful island world with a story that keeps unfolding, alone or with friends.
Is Aground worth it?
Aground is worth it if…
- you want a crafting game with an actual story pulling you forward
- you like progress that changes how you play, not just bigger numbers
- you enjoy choosing between a science run and a magic run
- you want survival without hunger pressure or losing your save when you die
- you like building a base with friends in a relaxed online co-op
Screenshots
A survival story that keeps going further than you expect
You start as one of the last humans, stranded on an uninhabited island with a handful of fellow survivors. Gather berries, chop wood, raise a few huts. Then the story opens up: there is a reason humanity has to recover what was lost, and it points straight up, back to the stars.
The game grows with you. New NPCs join your settlement, quests pull you to other islands and eventually other planets, and the scope keeps escalating long after you think you have seen it all. It is a crafting game with an actual plot underneath, and the story is a real reason to keep pushing forward.
Technology or magic, your pick
As you advance, you unlock new technology, and maybe magic too. The two paths feel genuinely different: a science run and a magic run play like two separate games, and combining both late in a playthrough opens up yet another way to build.
That choice is a big part of why Aground rewards a second run. One playthrough you might automate mines and wire up power grids, the next you chase ancient magic and raise dragons.
Craft, farm and build at your own pace
The survival crafting here is forgiving rather than punishing. Food restores health and energy or feeds your pets, so there is no hunger bar breathing down your neck, and dying just means loading an earlier save instead of losing everything.
What you do with that freedom is the fun part: mine ores and gems, craft tools, farm crops, cook meals, go fishing, and build structures, sometimes an entire building in a single click. Your settlement grows from a camp of crash victims into a real town, and there is always another resource to chase or another project to start.
Better with company
Aground has online co-op, so you can build your settlement together instead of alone. Splitting the work makes the grind lighter: one of you mines while another farms, cooks or explores, and the base comes together faster when there are two pairs of hands on it.
It also makes the strange moments better. Showing a friend the first dragon, or watching them react when the story takes its bigger turns, is half the fun of a game built on surprises. Sessions stay casual: join up, work on the shared base, see what the island hands you next.
Questions you might have?
Can you play it solo?
Yes, and the full game is built for it. The story, quests, base building and exploration all work on your own, and plenty of people put hundreds of hours into single-player runs. Online co-op is there if you want company, not a requirement.
How does it compare to Terraria or Starbound?
It shares the 2D pixel look and the mining-and-crafting loop, but Aground leans more toward RPG and adventure: there is a fixed overarching story, quests and NPCs, and a clear endpoint in space. Survival is gentler too, with no constant hunger pressure and no permadeath.
What can you actually do besides mining and building?
Quite a lot: complete quests, fight enemies and bosses, farm crops, cook, fish, befriend or snub NPCs, ride vehicles and mounts, capture enemies, level up skills, raise dragons, and travel to other islands and planets. The list grows as the game does.
Does the story have real choices?
Yes. Choices matter, and the tech-versus-magic split is the biggest one: it shapes how you play and gives the game strong replay value, since a magic playthrough feels distinct from a science one. Even small decisions, like how you treat the NPCs you meet, are yours to make.
