Rusthaven, which is just about the cutest post-apocalyptic game you’ll ever see, just received a new trailer at the Insider Gaming Showcase. This post-apocalyptic management title boasts a cosy feeling, charming visuals, and a quirky character, and it’s being pieced together by Chaos Theory Games, of ‘Crab God’ and ‘Aether & Iron’ fame.
In Rusthaven, players assume control of an adorable robot, flying around a ruined planet on a solar skyship, seeking out salvage and trying to build a place within this abandoned world.
What is Rusthaven?
Rusthaven is a single-player, cosy management game that takes a concept as morbid as the end of the world and makes it something cute and comfortable. It’s all centered around a decrepit skyship, which starts as a rusty, rundown thing that evolves as the player explores the game, finding other robots, repairing them, and salvaging the retro ruins of the planet beneath them.
As the game’s tagline reads, you’ll ‘live your best robot life’ in Rusthaven, digging through a tranquil world and participating in a wide array of side missions. You’ll be able to cook meals to satiate those you’ve saved, go fishing, grow crops in a community garden, and customize your home in the sky.
There are no combat mechanics to learn and no enemies to worry about – it’s purely a peaceful experience.
Key Features
Rebuild the Planet
In Rusthaven, you’re rescuing a world left abandoned after an apocalypse and the decay of time. As you salvage the world, you’ll notice that forests come back to life, rivers flow again, and wildlife returns to make a home in the wilderness. You’re giving nature a second chance.
Intelligent Salvage
Rusthaven takes the concept of salvaging scrap and makes it more immersive than ever. In other post-apocalyptic games, salvaging rusty remnants of the past would be a point-and-click kind of process, but in Rusthaven, you need to physically examine ‘ancient human electronics’ and identify the best parts to salvage through tactical micro-games.
Your Home in the Sky
You’re the captain of a ‘solarpunk’ skyship, a great craft in the sky that flies around and acts as a home base. This is where you build your community, adding modules, new buildings, activities, and more, bringing it to life as much as you are the world beneath you. As you explore Rusthaven, you’ll evolve and upgrade your skyship immeasurably.
Rusthaven Developer Interview
Check out our interview with Chaos Theory Games:
The Studio Behind Rusthaven
Chaos Theory Games has been running since 2012 and has worked with some of the most prolific names in the tech space to bring to life for-purpose games. For instance, the team, which is based in Australia, assembled Sharmila, a training game designed for the United Nations World Food Programme, as well as other titles for the likes of eBay, Samsung, and Google.
Chaos Theory Games’ other titles, Crab God and Aether & Iron, have earned very positive reviews on Steam, and Rusthaven could be the next game down that path.
Links and More Information
- Website: https://www.chaostheorygames.com/work
- Twitter: https://x.com/chaostheory_au
- Store: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4216290/Rusthaven/
Does Rusthaven look like your kind of game? Let us know what you’re thinking on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
Comments