Don't Starve

Don't Starve

Systems:

• Windows PC
• Mac OSX
• Linux
• Playstation 4
• Releases:
  • Original Release: 2013

Publisher:

• Klei Entertainment

Developer:

• Klei Entertainment

ESRB Rating:

• Teen (T)
• Reasoning:
  • Fantasy
  • Violence
  • Crude Humor

Don't Starve is a top-down survival fantasy/horror game. The goal of the game is, as the title implies, to not starve, while evading vicious creatures and also trying to maintain sanity. The player is dropped in a randomly generated world, and must collect resources to craft objects and attempt to either escape the island or survive as long as possible. There are many total conversion mods that add more horror elements, but only the main game is covered here.

Incomplete Tags for this Game

Avians

Dolls

Felines

Verbal Abuse

General Comments

This review includes the Reign of Giants DLC.

Animal Abuse

In the PS4 version, the opening movie shows a scientist character tying two rats together tightly, to their obvious discomfort. It's not shown what happened to them afterward.

Animal Death

There are certain creatures that can be befriended. They protect and help the player, but can also be attacked and killed by enemies.

Blood

While combat is bloodless, the mosquito enemies drink the player's blood, and when killed may drop a "mosquito sack", full of blood, which can be used to heal the player. In the PS4 version, a character drips his own blood into a beaker in the opening, and the knife he used to make the cut is seen.

Bones

In certain parts of the randomly generated worlds, piles of bones can be seen. The player may also come across human skeletons. In the Reign of Giants DLC, a character is unlocked by burying their skull. The sprites for many edible meat items include bone(s).

Canines

There are wolf enemies in the game that will attack the Player Character.

Cannibalism

There are multiple sapient creatures whose meat can be eaten by the player character. Most prevalent are the pigs, which live in small houses and may be found in farming communities. Eating them is not required, and they may be befriended.

Darkness

Darkness is a one of the main game mechanics, as the player must construct a campfire or other light source every night. The darkness has the adverse effect of decreasing the Sanity statistic, and unseen creatures attack the player if they do not have a light source.

Dead Bodies

Although they are reduced to skeletons, the human bodies that can be found are whole and in lifelike poses.

Death of Family/Friends

One character's sister died previous to the events of the game, but the character can communicate with her ghost.

Electrocution

There is a small chance other creatures may be struck by lightning during thunderstorms. Lightning can also cause wildfires.

In the Reign of Giants DLC, lightning may strike the player character directly.

In the vanilla game, WX-78 can be struck by lightning, but this is a good thing, as it charges him.

Lightning will strike the player when they are resurrected by use of a Touch Stone.

Existential Despair

The game has a dark, hopeless tone, and one player character (Wendy) often ponders the meaninglessness of life.

Explosions

In the PS4 version, the opening movie features two small explosions as a result of mixing chemicals. They are basically just clouds of smoke, and they do not cause loud noises.

In-game, the gunpowder item can cause a large explosion when lit on fire which causes massive damage to any surrounding creatures and the player if they do not get away fast enough. The player can choose not to craft or use it.

Another item called Slurtle Slime is explosive, and can cause earthquakes when ignited. As this is a natural drop and not a crafting item, there is a very small chance it may ignite on its own. This item spawns only in caves, so if the player wants to avoid it, they can choose not to explore underground.

Eye Horror/Eye Trauma

One enemy called the Lureplant is surrounded by small plants that resemble eyes in the ground. These can be attacked, but they merely retreat underground, and no blood is shown.

Fire

On the character select screen, the potential characters are presented against a background of fire.

Campfires may go out of control and cause forest fires, which can hurt the player character and any other nearby creatures. Forest fires may also be caused by lightning strikes.

The player can also use a lit torch as a weapon.

One playable character (Willow) is a pyromaniac, and most of her lines revolve around fire (wanting to see things burn, noting that something red is the color of fire). Playing as this character is optional.

Ghosts

The player can dig up graves, sometimes revealing a ghost, which is aggressive. This is easily avoided.

One character can summon the ghost of her sister. This scenario is easily avoided.

However, in the Reign of Giants DLC, ghosts may appear on nights with a full moon. The ghosts are portrayed cartoonishly, as white sheets with eyes.

Insects

Bees and killer bees are enemies.

Butterflies are present as non-aggressive creatures.

Mosquitoes are enemies.

Jump Scares

Although there is usually some sort of warning in audio form, monsters may appear and attack the player suddenly.

Psychological Trauma

Sanity is a game mechanic. Losing sanity causes the player character's idle animations to change from casual (head-scratching, kicking at the ground) to paranoid (holding temples, looking back and forth in a panicked manner), and they may say things like "Did you hear that?". Loss of sanity also causes the player to "see things" (like eyes in the dark or silhouettes of monsters), and, if sanity is low enough, be attacked by these things. The game becomes more unsettling at low sanity, as ambient sounds change to indecipherable whispers, and the colors become muted.

Rats/Rodents

In the PS4 version, two white rats are seen in the opening movie.

Reptiles

Frogs are an enemy, but they do not attack unless approached. However, in certain situations there may be large amounts of them, in which case avoiding them is very difficult. If attacked, the player must either run away (and possibly run into more in the process), or attack (which causes the other frogs in the area to attack the player).

In Adventure Mode, it is possible to spawn in a world that rains frogs. It is nearly impossible to get away from them when this happens, and as such an attack in inevitable.

Self Harm

In the opening of the PS4 version, a character cuts his own hand and drips his blood into a beaker. The initial cut is not seen.

Spiders

Spiders are a common enemy, portrayed with large eyes, teeth, hissing and clicking noises. They may attack in groups.

One unlockable character in the Reign of Giants DLC has a spider for a head.

Supernatural Evil

The creator of the game's world is implied to be some sort of demon.

Unreality

It's unclear how much of the in-game world is an illusion or how it relates to the real world.

Sanity is a game mechanic. Loss of sanity causes the player to "see things" (like eyes in the dark or silhouettes of monsters), and, if sanity is low enough, be attacked by these things. The game becomes more unsettling at low sanity, as ambient sounds change to indecipherable whispers, and the colors become muted.

Violence Against Children

Some player characters appear to be children, and can be hurt the same way as the other characters.

Weapons

The game contains blowdarts, axes, gunpowder, spears, and other objects that can be used as weapons.

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