Conan Exiles

The game begins with the playable character being rescued by the eponymous hero, Conan. The character has been found guilty of a crime and crucified and left to die next to an abandoned and derelict road. Conan cuts you loose and then vanishes, having played his part in your life!

The game is set in the mythical Hyborian times from the book series of the same name. Players must work their way along the evolutionary arc moving from wood to stone to iron to steel tools and equipment all in a matter of mere hours.

Instead of tutorials, the player has journals which spell out a suggested learning curve, talking you through gathering materials, finding food and water – your health metre is fairly fragile during the first few levels after your rescue and must be watched carefully until you have enough possessions that it maintains itself, more or less.

There is a truly impressive crafting skill tree to work through too, and the rare materials needed for the more exotic, high end items are sure to have you donning your armour and grabbing your sword (or weapon of choice) and heading off to distant and unexplored bits of the map in search of them.

Some of the items need an awful lot of work to produce: suits of armour, for instance, require a lot of material and three different crafting stations before you are even close to thinking about suiting up. But they are worth it: the sense of pride when you put on your armour and survive encounters with ease that would have killed you: victory!

A later upgrade introduced pets to the game, so you never need to be alone again. Raise your pet from a cub or egg, keeping it safe and fed and it will grow into a faithful and loyal companion, regularly producing poop that you can use as fertiliser.

Desert, Tundra or Mountains?

There are three types of terrain, called biomes in which your character can explore, hunt, build and survive. They are as follows:

Desert: the original Exiled Lands to which the player has been banished, with every possibility of sudden unpleasant death around every dune.

Tundra: The Frozen North offers new building materials and is a source of Star Metal, a rare substance that makes strong armour and better weapons. It also offers terrible weather and lethal storms, so make sure you’re prepared for bad weather!

The Highlands: a pleasant green and hilly region that tends to be well-populated, both with people (who may be hostile) and creatures (who will almost certainly be hostile!).

Volcano: Surprisingly well populated for a place of lethal heat, the volcano is home to creatures such as Living Magma and various Serpentmen, as well as hosting a plethora of treasure-containing ruins and fallen temples. Survive by using heat-resistant armour and taking along plenty of ice and water to keep your cool.

Ways to Play

Single player: make your way in the world: building, hunting and defending yourself. Playing this way is surprisingly reminiscent of Minecraft with its huge amount of creative freedom.

Tethered Co-op with a buddy: you and a friend can work together to explore the map, puzzle out hidden clues and journey to far off distant places. Work is a little easier with two of you and battles more intense. Having a companion along makes the game even more fun

Multiplayer – strangers can destroy all your work just for fun. When you’re offline you should be safe from attack, but other players don’t always play by the rules, especially if you join someone’s private server. Limited to forty players per server