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Enshrouded adds deadly dungeons and potted plants today in "first big update"

Sprucing up the early access survival sandbox

A house covered in pretty potted plants in Enshrouded.
Image credit: Keen Games

Fantasy craft-o-building survival sandbox game Enshrouded today launched its first big content update, two months after entering early access. You can now enter the Hollow Halls, a series of challenging dungeons scattered around the world with new enemies and rewards. Or at the opposite end of the intensity spectrum, you can now decorate your home with loads of lovely potted plants then sit down on a chair to admire them. Come watch this video showing off these changes and many more.

The devs show off the newnessWatch on YouTube

While you should go read the Enshrouded v0.7.1.0 patch notes for the full rundown on Update #1, all the performance improvements and quality-of-life changes and bug fixes and so on, here's what the devs flag as highlights:

  • Each biome has a new playable area called the "Hollow Halls", with enemies and challenges corresponding to the level of the biome. These daunting new dungeons come with a multitude of new challenges and exciting rewards.
  • New quests leading through the new content. Talk to the Alchemist to get started.
  • New enemies await you in the depths.
  • A new survivor can be discovered in the Hollow Halls.
  • Unlock a new crafting station with new recipes.
  • New weapons, building blocks, furniture, decorative props and more can be found.
  • The 60hz issue has been solved, providing a smooth experience on higher framerates.
  • Emily the farmer now offers potted plants to everyone who wants to add that little extra bit of color to the porch. Make sure that the base has access to a kiln to craft those pots!
  • Dilit the Carpenter now offers a new set of round doors and windows.
  • The seedbed workstation now allows growing additional tree seedlings. Many trees received new growing stages.
  • Player characters can now sit on furniture such as chairs, benches, thrones, toilets.
  • The town of Willow Crush in the Revelwoods has been completely reworked. and some other areas have been improved.

Our Ollie was quite taken with Enshrouded when it first entered early access, despite some faffy bits and technical frustrations, partially because he adored the building functionality.

"If you can get on with Enshrouded despite its early access quirks and underwhelming premise, you'll find a rock solid foundation for what I really believe could one day be one of the most popular and well-thought-of survival crafting games out there," he said in our Enshrouded early access review. "The building is absolutely exquisite, and the main reason I'll continue playing. The combat is sound, the world is evocative, beautiful, and thick with surprises. It is, as I say, the closest anything has got to recapturing the feeling of playing Valheim for the first time, and while my 40-odd hours with Enshrouded has left me more than anything wistfully wanting to go back to Valheim itself, I'm sure there will be times when I say to myself, 'I wish it did this thing like Enshrouded does it."

Enshrouded is available on Steam Early Access for £25/€30/$30. The developers, Keen Games planned to release the full version "within a year", though of course that could change depending on feedback and scope. They recently laid out their rough roadmap for additions and improvements across the rest of the year.

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