BitCraft: Age of Automata Preview: A Social, Sandbox MMO With Some Big Ideas
BitCraft: Age of Automata’s announcement way back in 2021 caused quite the commotion in the gaming community. Though this survival-crafting sandbox MMO looked absolutely beautiful, many were sceptical. I was excited to finally go hands-on; I played the beginning stages of BitCraft on PC, learning the basics of crafting and staking my claim in the world, before going on a fun little adventure across the sea.
I can say that BitCraft has come a long way since that initial announcement. What I played was memorable and – more importantly – fun. But it also has a long way to go. With the amount of ambition the developers are feeding into this game, it still remains to be seen whether BitCraft will fulfil its lofty vision.
Building up
Upon waking up in the world with nary a hint of my automaton’s background, I quickly found myself perusing a Pokedex-like menu of crafting recipes to discover, find, and learn. It’s from here that you can select what to build, and start your construction site.
This is where the fun really begins: Scrappy, early-game structures can be built by just piling a bunch of sticks onto that construction site. But you likely won’t get far as you learn more complex schematics, and this is where the collaborative community aspect kicks in – other players can drop by your site to contribute building materials or even resources specific to their own specialisations.
In later stages of BitCraft, projects may take days or even weeks to complete – or, as the developers suggest, you can think of it in terms of people, with some projects needing tens or hundreds of people to reach completion.
Praise the (land)lord
Finally, I got to embark upon my first adventure. First stop: a small settlement, built from the ground up. It was set up with some player-made shopping stalls, campfires for cooking, and even little houses available for rent. That’s right: BitCraft has a landlord system.
You can build and own a home, and then rent it out (furnished or unfurnished) to other players. It’s a good way to establish a “home base” in a town, make some local friends, and even put your goods up for sale in the market. As you get higher-levelled, you may want to join a more established town that has the high-level resources you need.
Alternatively, you can bring in some income with your investment property and, well, lord over the place. The tools are there for you to organise a town how you want, whether that’s a quaint commune or a city under the rigorous rule of an iron fist – though the developers are quick to assure me that they are constantly balancing BitCraft’s mechanics, so that griefers won’t go about making everyone’s life a pain.
Team
Clockwork Labs is a really small team; developing an MMORPG typically takes more than two dozen people, and they’re talking about a game that will house tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of players and beyond.
In that same vein, my short time in-game only scratched the surface of the final vision, including features I didn’t get to experience: PVP combat, or specialisations like tailoring, fishing, and even scholarly pursuits. BitCraft is one of the most ambitious projects I’ve ever come across, though I am cautiously optimistic that the things I experienced will remain in the game at launch (with even more to do).
Perhaps the strongest thing BitCraft has going for it is its thoughtful consideration of social dynamics, and I’m super excited to watch BitCraft’s development as it nears release. The first closed alpha test begins April 2 on PC.
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