Dive into the world of Wildmender, a now barren desert you need to bring back to life.
From Kawlee and Muse Games, Wildmender is a new survival simulator where you have to work in harmony with nature and the spirits, to revive this once plentiful land. Play as a solo adventure or co-operatively with friends, as you uncover the past to protect the future. At Overclockers UK, we were lucky enough to have the chance to play this game ahead of release. So, here’s a breakdown of the gameplay, what we thought, and some great PCs to play Wildmender on.
What Did We Play On?
Wildmender was played on a gaming laptop with an Intel Core i7 CPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU.
| Component | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-10750H CPU |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 RAM |
| Storage | SSD and HDD |
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Wildmender Gameplay
At its core, Wildmender is a survival game. You need to gather resources, develop your base camp, and stave off the hunger. The beauty and spirituality of this game make it so much more. You play as a surviving member of a lost society, with no memories of who you are or where you come from. A gentle voice guides as you awaken in a small oasis. This is the spirit Vidyas, who will teach you of your surroundings as they, too, remember more of what was lost.
There is plenty to be done. Wildmender balances a quest-driven narrative with the freedom to collect, craft, and design your oasis garden. Plus, with a procedurally generated map, each playthrough will feel fresh.
A vast, unexplored map waits for you, filled with seeds from new plants, ghosts, and friendly critters. But a corruption lurks out there, too. The life-draining wraiths that destroyed the land still haunt it, threatening combat whenever your paths cross.
A Closer Look
Of course, as a survival game, there are other factors to consider. Whilst you are out exploring and questing, you have to keep an eye on your thirst and hunger levels. From the get-go, you are equipped with a water bottle and early missions include finding food. These are vital on your travels, as the hot sun makes you thirsty quicker and if one of your bars drops to zero, you run the risk of losing health or even dying. There’s also your health to monitor. This usually only deteriorates in combat or poisoned environments. (Or if you’re super skilled like me, when you leap off cliffs.) Should you fatally fall (cliff or otherwise), you drop all your gathered items and return to the oasis. But your final resting place is marked on the map, allowing you to retrieve your lost items.
Quests range from finding missing pieces of Vidyas to building items to boost your survival. Each mission adds a little more detail to the world, whether you are discovering the past or building up your oasis garden. Plus, there are plenty of side quests and things to discover, including wandering spirits who help you with your own memories. These are used in your skill tree and can be spent to unlock new abilities across a variety of categories. It’s a familiar system of spending points to earn new feats, conceptualised in on-brand dressing.
Wildmender does this well, balancing familiar mechanics and features with its own unique styling and world-building. Things like fast travel are slowly introduced as you expand your horizons. Fast travel is a godsend, and is achieved by surfing down sand dunes or using teleport platforms. (The surfing is visually reminiscent of 2000s-era Tarzen tree surfing, iykyk.)
Our Thoughts
Wildmender is a truly beautiful journey. From the stunning graphics to the orchestral soundtrack, it is easy to lose hours at a time to this game. While the quests flow nicely from one to the next, the fact there are no time limits on them allows you to fully just lose yourself in the small details. I could happily sink a couple of in-game days to just exploring and gathering or developing my oasis, and not feel like I was wasting any of my time. What’s more, the map is simply littered with discoverable items and treasure troves, which really appeals to my inner “must collect all the things” goblin.
Thematically, Wildmender ticks all my boxes. I am all for environmental and sustainability overtones. Plus, it brings game mechanics I am familiar with from farming sims (the crafting, forward planning, caring for plants) and adds a layer of complexity with new metrics to manage, like hunger and thirst. This made it accessible whilst providing a satisfying challenge, all in an enjoyable package with a poignant message.
There is so much to do, see, and develop in Wildmender. It would also be interesting to see how the online four-player co-op changes gameplay – do you divide and conquer, or stick together? My oasis is very much a WIP, but I am excited to continue this stunning game and uncover all its secrets.
If you like to set your own pace, explore beautifully crafted locales, and lose yourself in rich world building, then Wildmender is for you!
In Partnership with the Rainforest Alliance
With its environmental and restorative themes, it is no surprise that Wildmender has teamed up with the Rainforest Alliance. The goal? To empower gamers to be more aware of the environment, encourage them to reduce their impact, and be more proactive in nurturing nature.
Who exactly is the Rainforest Alliance? Time to get my eco-geek on! It is likely you have seen their froggy logo at some point, they are a well-established non-profit organisation that has more than thirty-five years of experience in sustainability. This alliance spans fifty-eight countries, bringing together farmers, communities, companies, governments, and millions of individuals. All with the mission to protect biodiversity and forests, take action on climate change, and promote the rights of rural people to help improve their livelihoods.
Muse Games and Kawlee will be fundraising on behalf of the Rainforest Alliance, as well as raising general awareness for these issues within their audience. This will include a unique DLC Rainforest Alliance Frog Hat for Wildmender. My gosh does this little hat fill me with aggressive joy. Look at it!
What Platform Can I Play Wildmender On?
Wildmender will be available to play on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S from September 28th. There is support for up to four-player co-op gameplay, with crossplay compatibility across all platforms.
What are the Official Specifications for Wildmender?
What does it take to revive a dying land? Here are the official specifications for Wildmender:
| Component | Minimum Specs | Recommended Specs |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows 11 / 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 64-bit | Windows 11 / 10 64-bit |
| Processor | 2.5GHz Quad Core or Similar | Intel i5 9600K @ 3.7GHz |
| Memory | 8GB RAM | 16GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti | NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti 6GB |
| DirectX | Version 11 | Version 11 |
| Network | Broadband Internet connection | Broadband Internet connection |
| Storage | 8GB available space | 8GB available space |
Best PCs to Play Wildmender
Is your gaming PC in need of a little reviving too? We have a wide selection of gaming PCs and laptops that are just perfect for playing Wildmender and all your favourite survival games. We’ve picked out three today but have an extensive range just waiting to be perused should none of these make your meadow bloom.
Refract Gaming Jade Pre-Built PC
Bring your oasis to life with the Refract Gaming Jade. This pre-built PC has been crafted for 1080p and 1440p gaming by our team of tech experts. Equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 7700 CPU, the Jade will expertly manage your gaming thanks to Zen 4 architecture, leaving you free to concentrate on developing your skill tree. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GPU will render Wildmender and your garden in beautiful detail thanks to AI-enhanced capabilities. What’s more, the high-speed 32GB DDR5 RAM and ultra-fast 1TB SSD will keep latency low and loading times fast.
The Refract Jade is part of our pre-built gaming PC range. It is fully assembled, pre-tested, and ready to plug in and play. Even better, it comes with a three years parts and labour warranty for that extra peace of mind.
MSI Katana 15 Gaming Laptop
Tend to your garden wherever you are, with the MSI Katana 15. This gaming laptop utilises an Intel Core i7-13620H CPU with advanced hybrid architecture to make all your workflows a breeze. Enjoy enhanced efficiency in gaming, content creation, and streaming. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 will beautifully render all your favourite games in stunning quality, thanks to Ada Lovelace architecture and the latest NVIDIA innovations. Plus, the 15.6” FHD screen with a 144Hz refresh rate will display Wildmender with smooth frame rates and crystal-clear detail.
To keep cool in the desert heat, this gaming laptop has Cooler Boost 5 technology. This is a dedicated thermal solution for both the CPU and GPU, designed to efficiently draw heat away from these vital components with six heat pipes and up to two fans.
OcUK Gaming Radiance Ember Powered by ASUS PC
Get a gaming PC that glows like a spirit. With the OcUK Gaming Radiance Ember, you can game with high-performance hardware powered by ASUS innovations. The Intel Core i5-13600 CPU boasts fourteen cores, twenty threads, and boost speeds up to 5.1GHz. Enjoy smooth and efficient gaming whilst you take on wraiths and nurture your garden. With Ada Lovelace architecture, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti graphics card will render Wildmender in phenomenal detail, smooth frame rates, and photo-realistic quality. Just what you need to restore harmony.
What’s more, the OcUK Gaming Radiance Ember is one of our configurable gaming PCs. This means you can choose from a selection of hardware to adjust the base spec and better meet your needs. Customise the cables, graphics card, operating system, and pick up to three ultra-fast SSDs. Please note that any changes may affect the pricing.
Play in Peace
Will you be picking up Wildmender? Let us know in the comments below, and we’d love to see what you do with your oases!
PC specs are subject to change.
- 9 min read
Emily Haylock
Author
Emily is a board and cosy gamer, keyboard obsessive, and content copywriter for Overclockers UK. She has been with Overclockers UK for two years, writing about everything from noblechairs to 8Pack PCs. She writes from within her desk nest with a foster pup at her feet. (What, a desk duvet is a totally normal thing!) In her downtime, she likes to play board games, farming sims, and old-school Final Fantasy. IX to be specific. It is the best, and that is a hill she will die on.
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