Many games try to stand out by combining ideas from one genre with systemsfrom another, leading to a lot of games on Steam having descriptions that follow the formula "A + B with C elements". Upcoming survival game Autonomica represents the logical extreme of this approach, with a list of features so long it risks using up the entire alphabet.
Announced way back in 2021 under the initial title Farm Folks, Autonomica is an open world survival game playable solo or in co-op. The basic premise puts you in the role of a logistics engineer involved in a plane crash, awakening to find themselves stuck in a world where time is broken.
At a quick glance, Autonomica looks like a billion other survival games, with a pleasant if rather unremarkable Fortnite-y aesthetic. But it recently took to Kickstarter to fund its ongoing development, and the campaign video demonstrates why it's taken so long to develop.
For starters, Autonomica features both farming and factory automation. Many survival games have farming, while automation is usually the foundation of a game in itself. But Autonomica shamelessly helps itself to both, letting you raise animals and grow over 100 variations of crops while also automating farms and factories using Factorio-style conveyor belts.
Such a combination would normally have any game reclining at the dining table patting its distended belly, but Autonomica waddles right back to the virtual buffet to stuff itself with more features. There are numerous vehicles you can pilot, including hoverboards, an offroad buggy and a big stompy mech. There are NPCs who will apparently respond to your actions, and who you can befriend, romance and even marry.
And we haven't even got to the weird stuff yet. Nightfall in Autonomica heralds the arrival of eerie phantoms across the land, which you can hunt and capture to "unlock powerful new technology." Finally, the time travel element is more than just narrative wrapping. Players can navigate different timelines and alternate worlds, providing access to new plants and animals while also letting you influence the trajectory of the game's story.
It would be hard to believe, were not most of these features visible in action. Even after watching the video, I can't help but be a little sceptical. Nonetheless, that hasn't stopped Autonomica blasting through its initial Kickstarter goal of $170,000. Indeed, it doubled that figure in less than 24 hours, currently sitting at almost 400,000 simoleons.
Consequently, Autonomica has also smashed through numerous stretch goals, meaning yes, even more features are coming to the game. Unlocked stretched goals include modular aquariums, aquaponic farming, and character heights. At 400k, which Autonomica will almost certainly hit, the game will get pools and ponds, while half a mil of funding will bring underwater exploration.
How well all this will fit together remains to be seen, although we won't have that long to wait to find out. Developer Crytivo plans to release Autonomica into early access in September this year, with a full release pencilled in for October 2026.
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