There are big games and then there are really big games. Soulmask, an upcoming multiplayer survival sandbox, is the latter. Sending you to a mysterious magic-filled land inspired by the Mayan era, it promises to contain over three hundred hours of content from farming to combat and everything in-between. Following on from a successful Steam Next Fest demo, Soulmask is now available for everyone to try in a time-limited global playtest event.
There are a few things that mark Soulmask out as a game to watch. First is of course the sheer size of the survival game serving on offer here. The second most intriguing thing is its titular mask system, which allows you to hop between bodies to take advantage of new skills and abilities in your quest to make your mark on the world.
While it’s certainly possible to play Soulmask by yourself, lone-wolfing it up out there in this vast Mayan world, there’s something unique that comes into play when you start recruiting NPCs to work with, and for, you. As your tribe grows you can put them to work, gathering resources or setting up assembly lines to produce what you need, but what you can also do is become them. Quite literally.
The way this works is through masks. If you’ve recruited an NPC who’s got an ability you like the look at or is simply stronger, better at stealth, or has something else you want, you can toss your mask over to them and bam, you’re them. As you explore this ancient universe you’ll discover more masks, each granting different abilities and skills you can use to become stronger or let you play in a variety of ways.
This new global playtest will allow players a first look at the revamped tribal system developer CampFire Studio has been working on. Tribespeople will be far more interactive and expressive, complaining about a lack of food or dancing merrily if left idle and generally making the world feel much more alive. Soulmask’s physics-based combat also has been under the microscope, with the studio promising a better experience for players compared to the previous demo.
You can play the Soulmask global open playtest from Wednesday, May 1 through Friday, May 10. Players who dive in will receive a special mask they can redeem once the game hits early access. If you’d like to give this colossal survival sim a try, head over to the game’s Steam page to download the playtest.
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