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Game
Game2023
Above Snakes
Developer Square Glade Games
Piece by piece, create your own world in this relaxing Wild West-inspired worldbuilder. Craft, farm, hunt, build your base, and explore. From the Steam store page
205 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
64
Fresh
121 positive · 67 negative
95% range 57–71%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 121 | 67 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Lemmy * | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
618 of 813 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
65% recommend · 119 yes, 65 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 184 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (1,497 of 2,008 positive).
Players praise the unique tile-based world-building mechanic. [1][2][3] Many find the game relaxing and cozy, with slow-paced progression. [4][5][6] Some reviewers criticize the tedious grinding and clunky controls. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
It's a decent game concept-wise. But the wonky steering and aiming, long walking distances, and outright terrible interface usability make playing Above Snakes more of a chore. Long-time established QOL concepts like workbenches accessing (nearby) storage should be a no-brainer, but they're missing. When adding tiles to the map the tile selection covers almost all of the screen and you don't see anymore where which …
- [8]
Unfun grinding, or maybe I just don't know how to play it efficiently. Overheats your hardware unless you limit fps to 60. I tried to like it, but after 20 hours my conclusion is, if given the chance, I wouldn't buy it again even for the 10 euro I got it for. Grinding for feathers is just slavery. I just don't even have the will to finish it anymore.
- [4]
Honestly, I almost skipped Above Snakes because of some really negative reviews. Glad I didn’t. After actually playing, I can say it’s nothing like I feared: no bugs, no crashes, just smooth gameplay. This isn’t some stressful combat-heavy survival game—it’s a slow-paced, cozy experience. You gather, you build, you explore at your own pace. No rush, no pressure, no “die-or-restart” frustration. Just… peaceful …
- [1]
Above Snakes is a fun little open world sandbox survival game, with the unique twist being the tile-based world generation. It’s easy to figure out, and good in short bursts. The early game is great. The tile-based concept is satisfying, and the progression of exploring, crafting, and unlocking tiles feels rewarding. Mid-game, though, things start to feel a bit stale. The early food options stay the best all the way …
- [2]
Usually, I prefer a seemless world and first-person camera. So I'm surprised how much I enjoy this game mechanic with the puzzle pieces. It's something I haven't seen before. Other than that it is a very chill game (easy enemies in story mode) with a bit of creative freedom when it comes to shaping the world around oneself.
Summarised from 34 of the 201 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Above Snakes talk about unique tile-based world-building mechanic; those who didn't talk about tedious grinding and repetitive resource gathering. Which matters more to you?
Reactions
60 of 205 · most liked firstIt's a decent game concept-wise. But the wonky steering and aiming, long walking distances, and outright terrible interface usability make playing Above Snakes more of a chore. Long-time established QOL concepts like workbenches accessing (nearby) storage should be a no-brainer, but they're missing. When adding tiles to the map the tile selection covers almost all of the screen and you don't see anymore where which tile would fit. You have to quit the process and start over if you want to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Above Snakes takes the core idea of unlocking map chunks from Forager and tries to bolt a story onto it. Sadly it didn’t learn the lessons that Forager could teach and didn’t put enough effort into the story to make the game worth your time or money. Setting. The game claims this world is an alternative Wild West. Sadly, the only alternative thing about it is the fact that your main character is a woman that can do everything by herself, from logging to mining. Other than that this…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game started off strong. There are a great number of elements i find well don with the game. The story progression and map system is a nice conditional approach that will slightly alter the playthrough. I like the NPC and bits of story that are revealed as you engage with more survivors. However there are a number of QOL features that i do not ever see being added to the game. When this game dropped it had a very short update / patch cycle. There is nothing wrong with dropping a game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, I almost skipped Above Snakes because of some really negative reviews. Glad I didn’t. After actually playing, I can say it’s nothing like I feared: no bugs, no crashes, just smooth gameplay. This isn’t some stressful combat-heavy survival game—it’s a slow-paced, cozy experience. You gather, you build, you explore at your own pace. No rush, no pressure, no “die-or-restart” frustration. Just… peaceful progression. The best part? Time just melts away. One moment you’re chopping…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfun grinding, or maybe I just don't know how to play it efficiently. Overheats your hardware unless you limit fps to 60. I tried to like it, but after 20 hours my conclusion is, if given the chance, I wouldn't buy it again even for the 10 euro I got it for. Grinding for feathers is just slavery. I just don't even have the will to finish it anymore.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very cool idea about building the map and the world you explore in Above Snakes while following a nonsensical but passable very linear progression and storyline. But the game is just boring, the crafting is shallow and forced, often involving way too much repetition and gathering the same base resources over and over just to check off a box item and move to the next one. The only interesting thing on offer here is the map feature, everything else is a nothing burger.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →western-themed solo valheim for stoners. literally, playing this game feels like being stoned. playing it stoned is like going to another dimension. i saw a negative review that said it's basically a mobile game for pc, which is exactly what it is, and that is a lot of what i love about it. the pacing has that mobile game smoothness to it, without any paywalls in the way. so, we can gather 2 wood to make something simple, instead of 200 wood, with an option to buy 20,000 wood for $10 in a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game grabbed my attention for it's unique way you create your world by generating the piece. I find the idea to be very cool. Unfortunately, that is the only thing the game offers. The story was not interesting, combat is clunky, gathering, crafting and inventory manage is also very tedious. Still I gave it my best shot, finished the game and even the achievements.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good heavens, what a massive disappointment of a game. "Above Snakes" is an open exploration game with a story about a zombie apocalypse in the mid 1800s American west setting. The music is nice and game achievements are tied to game progress instead of arbitrarily large numbers (ie chop down 10,000 trees). Kudos is deserved for both of those points. The first half of the game is also well developed and incredibly addicting to play. The primary gimmick is an exploration meter that allows you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish there were more games with a similar setting. The importance of roots, an alternative view of life presented in the form of a separate story, amazingly embodying reality and fantasy, an unusual combination of elements of regularity and integrity - and this integrity is still assembled by the player piece by piece. In this "composing of the puzzle" there is a right to make a mistake, you can disassemble most of the compiled universe and assemble it again. And no rough edges spoil the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →GPU was reving hard in the starting area, even though I am well beyond the recommended system requirements. Also the initial game play was not functioning properly, items were not being picked up when clicked on even though I verified I was using the correct keys. Restarted multiple times, but the problems persisted. Not playable, sadly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →starts out great and then falls flat. the main character has the personality of a clueless seagull and the ending leaves you with a "dafuq just happened?!" feeling after all that's been done. tedious grind, clunky crafting menus and lots of annoying bug along the way.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The theme and idea of this game are solid. Zombies and the wild west mixed with wilderness is great. The game plays kinda like project zomboid-ish with a cozy vibe and less intense survival. I feel the developers were either creating a simple game to try their hand at creating games or had an idea, started the game and burnt out very quickly. The story and characters feel AI generated, especially the character portraits, the script is boring and I just clicked through it because there was no…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game but more buggy overtime with no recent updates. Beware if you buy I had to restart my save three times thats why I cannot recommend
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not that fun... i liked the Open World Puzzle Mini game while you collect, farm and craft. But this game is so hollow, all the action are just Holding Down Left Mouse Button or Holding F. The Resources gathering are just simple and bare minimum, Pretty sure there's other better game than this. I give it a pass, I brought this to try it out... but it wasn't my cup of tea.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is really not enough variation in the gameplay and building mechanic to make this game interesting for long enough. I play 90 min and then i uninstall it and then when i forget how boring it was months later the cyckle repeats.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked the game. Always had been fascinated by the wild west and native americans, I was intrigued. Yes, it's obv a made up story. But it doesn't really matter. The setting is there. Plus it's not overly stressful. At least after the first encounter with the creatures that can kill you. And being knocked out by them - may or may not have been accidently on my part - and realizing: Eh, that could have had worse consequences. A couple of (voluntary not) deaths, insanity (inagame, not outgame!),…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Above Snakes is a fun little open world sandbox survival game, with the unique twist being the tile-based world generation. It’s easy to figure out, and good in short bursts. The early game is great. The tile-based concept is satisfying, and the progression of exploring, crafting, and unlocking tiles feels rewarding. Mid-game, though, things start to feel a bit stale. The early food options stay the best all the way through. Resource gathering becomes a chore, having to run to other sides of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've started playing Above Snakes and I really like the mechanic where you build the world instead of just exploring what's already there.. I've started playing Above Snakes and I really like the mechanic where you build the world instead of just exploring what's already there. [\#gaming](https://mastodon.world/tags/gaming) [#games](https://mastodon.world/tags/games) [#above\_snakes](https://mastodon.world/tags/above_snakes) [@games](https://lemmy.world/c/games)
positive · AI labelView post →I can't believe that clunky gameplay is ok for someone... For example you need transfer build blocks between inventory and quick slots. All movement slow as f. I mean you need waste time to see change what's in you'r hands EVERY time you do ANYTHING. Who da hell think its a great idea? Who tested that game? Style maybe fine, idea cool... But in begining of the game you need find bird feather. Where? No hints. I build 12 world map chunks befor find 2 of it. Its not ok.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I give up. On the surface, it is an easy mix of Carto and Don't Starve. Sadly on the surface only. It is missing the charm of the first and the aesthetics of the second. You constantly lack resources, so you have to run back and forth to find them in different biomes and between your crafting stations. So the main game is world-building but doing the same repetitive task again and again. After a while, I just put stations in every biome and cut half the backtracking. But some resources are…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was originally going to recommend it since it's a pretty fun game with a spin on the survival genre (you create the areas you explore) but I really cannot. The mineral spawn points get bugged too often, specifically iron ones, which makes getting certain maps a chore and then there's the biggest bug of them all, the game will start on a white screen showing game tips and load you into a day 1, fully desolate world. Reinstalling does not fix it, sometimes, after many restarts it'll work…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Usually, I prefer a seemless world and first-person camera. So I'm surprised how much I enjoy this game mechanic with the puzzle pieces. It's something I haven't seen before. Other than that it is a very chill game (easy enemies in story mode) with a bit of creative freedom when it comes to shaping the world around oneself.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted this game to be a good one, so bear with me when I write my thoughts down. - If you expect any kind of help in terms of how to finish a quest or get there. There will be near none. You will be stuck at points, confused why you can't get further. Just to find out online you need certain material to upgrade weapons/tools to get further. - Fishing is hard -> mostly because it takes multiple days till you can fish at the same spot again. At least ten days waiting, if you don't safe and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed my time in the game, I really liked the aspect of you placing pieces of biomes and creating your own map. I kinda struggled with camera as it only had fixed views and it annoyed me quite a bit. The game is overall good, a pretty simple survival crafting game with a linear story line. Some aspects felt a bit tedious, always having to hold to do any action, I really would have wanted some accessibility options to change that. The limit of gathering at most 3 pieces was annoying when…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is somewhat fun, but lacks any deeper content. There is zero reason to start a new game after you finish it once. Also the story is not bad, but the ending is just meh.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Although the initial idea of placing map tiles as you go and improve is rather unique and brilliant for this genre of games, the UI and the overall clunk of the game gets a borderline fail from me. The interaction interface gets bugged quite often especially when you're trying to craft items in your base. In the year 2025 the crafting stations requiring you to have the materials in your own inventory and not a nearby chest is criminal considering this isn't a heavy crafting survival game but a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I gave Above Snakes a shot because of its cool visuals and the neat idea of building the world by adding tiles. At first, it was pretty engaging. But, after a couple of hours, the grind started to wear me down. It felt like I was doing the same tasks over and over without much purpose. The story didn't help much either; it just didn't grab me. I pushed through to around four hours, hoping for something new, but it was more of the same. In the end, despite its good looks and creative mechanics,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's very hard to decide whether to recommend the game or not. I really, really want to congratulate it on it's unique ideas, but the rest of the game just drags it all down. The main premise of the game is very good and uniquely fun, creating the world from pieces is truly fun and basically caries the game on it's shoulders. Everything else about the game ranges from meh to offensively bad. - Character portraits have that aftertaste of generated slop, and even though I can't tell if it is,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game at the start. As you add more world pieces the game drops fps until it crashes. Then you try and open the game and it won’t load into to menu. It is a real shame as I like the game a lot, but it feels like the devs have moved on to that big camping game and left this behind. (I played on steam deck) might be ok on PC
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mid. I don’t hate this, and I am not regretting buying this (on sale) and mostly enjoying the play time. However as an overall game experience it isn’t “Good”. So, backstory. I discovered this back in the demo period where the balance was dodgy. I then got the ‘prequel’ and played that and when the game fully dropped I... wasn’t THAT interested. I have now picked it up and enjoyed my time, with a lot of ‘buts’. First up I really like the tile system. You start on a single square tile and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Graphics: C+ Difficulty: C+ Mechanics: C+ Controls: B Story: C Characters: C Dialogue & Voice Acting: C+ Worldbuilding: B+ Level Design: B Exploration: B+ Interactivity: B Atmosphere: A- Originality: B Balance: B Stability: A+ How long to beat: C+ DLC/Expansions: F (no DLC or expansions) Replayability: C Sound: C+ Music: C Price: B+ System Requirements: A Overall Value: B+ A solid budget title in the Open World Survival Craft genre. One of the more interesting aspects of this game is that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty standard survival game, It doesn't do anything particularly well but it doesn't have any major flaws. The building your own world mechanic is cool but the building and crafting is pretty standard. The game is alright but it's nothing to write home about.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You know, there are a million ways to die in the west. There's famine, disease, gunfights... and wild animals. You know, like snakes. And the fair, because people die at the fair. Oh, and Zombies.. yeah, zombies. But hey, at least you can enjoy some fishing, exploration, cholera, living off the land, hunting, dysentery, zombies.. ahh, the old West, how I miss those days. Title: Above Snakes Publisher: Crytivo Released: 2023 Amount of time played thus far: 22 hours Estimated time to finish:…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →C TIER I enjoyed this game initially, but there are some bottlenecks for spawns that make the game pretty unplayable. It is pretty formulaic as far as gameplay goes - gather stuff, upgrade stuff, unlock new stuff (lather, rinse, repeat). This is a game that had a LOT of potential, but kinda whimpers along instead of living up to its promise.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is unique. The tile system is pretty cool. The stupid wolf pet is quite annoying, though. That being said, I found a game breaking bug and cannot find a solution. When given Basil's boots to call the cows, my inventory was full. I did not get the boots. Now, I can't progress in the game. Too bad, its not a bad game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not particularly bad, just not particularly good, either. For a survival-style game it is pretty tame and lacks challenge. For a crafting-style game it is pretty slow and limited on options. It plays like a much older game with its rudimentary dialogue, occasional lag, and somewhat awkward controls. If purchased I would recommend getting it on sale and only if the buyer is looking for a meandering, casual gaming experience.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Funded this early access on one of those funding sites (cant recall which one)... Pretty sure this is some sort of asset flip as I've seen a game advertise with almost exact same mechanics and graphics. Game just flat and doesn't live up to expectations.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very interesting idea of building your own open world, piece by piece. However, the progression is extremely randomized, and sometimes you will hit a block so hard, that you will have to spend multiple days of doing nothing but doing same mundane activity and just hoping you will get the thing you need. I personally quit after I had to fish for scrap (yes, really), and after fishing for more than an hour, I only got one out the two scraps I needed to progress further. Not to mention,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It feels like a mobile game made for PC. Movement is annoying, crafting is clunky, and most of the time you're stuck grinding. Definitely not worth the price.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It feels like there were some solid ideas in this project and there's plenty of technical work that was done well, but there were so many bugs with controller settings, and the game fully crashed my PC (3080 Ti prebuilt) for the first time. I felt like the design parts were pretty bad and it felt like some engineers tried to use AI to do everything. The script has so many plotholes.. every character is completely hollow, and their speech patterns resemble Siri. Besides this, much of the art is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a unique, relaxing game to play if you don't feel like playing anything difficult or serious. as this game lacks any challenge. Good to play if you just want to relax. You gather, craft and make map pieces and there is not much else to it as story and quests are very basic and forgettable and combat is terrible. I dislike the q and e buttons being used to turn the camera. Using the mouse to move the camera would be much better. Movement overall is not good. It fulfills my need of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the better indie games I have played lately. Fun concept in terms of being able to 'world build' your own map as the game unfolds. I personally found the ‘Wild West’ theme to be slightly watered down from what I was expecting but it did not subtract from the game itself. The game also has zombies which is easy to miss if you only look at the screenshots provided in the steam store and not the trailer/gameplay videos in full -as the game description has no mention of anything zombie or…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The crafting system is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Above snakes is almost good, but 2 things make it needlessly frustrating. The best part of the game, the part that sets it apart from other similar games, is the ability to shape the world-map yourself. Unfortunate mechanics make this part a boring slog. Either no longer make the player place parts of the world before they can even begin to research the parts they actually want, OR make it much much easier to erase parts they don't want. Yes, you can play on free-play instead, but that unveils…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →nice idea but unfortunally it's super slow, the dialogs are shallow and the inventory management and fights feels like they are made for mobile. Everything have to be crafted by using F, and not even the crafting or what ever you do is instant, no you have to wait 2 to 3 seconds for the action to take action. i can not recommend the game with its lags, its QoL state and the limited ressources (random) like feathers. The Idea itself is quite nice, also the visual stuff, but the character feels…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →..apart from the other issues mentioned, the day/night cycle is too fast....I assume you'll unlock something for the night but still..
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very nice birthday gift from my brother. I enjoyed it very much. A chill survival game with pleasant art style. Not challenging at all, but perfect to relax after work.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is honestly pretty good. Not genre-defining or GOTY-worthy, but good. While I initially bought this title expecting something more western-oriented, which the game can be at times, I'm still happy with what I got, and wholeheartedly believe anyone will stay entertained for a couple of hours playing it. My one caveat is that I'd personally wait for the game to go on sale, but if you like moderately grindy RPGs where you get to design your own world, 'Above Snakes' is worth playing. Just…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is (just as promised) a slow experience - in my opinion perfect to realx and unwind.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this game on the prologue however on the games release the reviews were so terrible i didnt buy it untill now. I completely disagree with many of the bad reviews. The game is engaging while challenging you constantly to research new biomes to progress which cost resources from more biomes in a feat that becomes quite fast pace with little to no grinding but not so fast that the progress is still quite satisfying. You can forge your path exploring the game as you like or through the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Almost good. Fairly interesting story but I expect more personality from our player character if we cannot customise them in anyway. I like the artstyle and the character portraits. The game has a lot of small annoying things which by themselves would fine but together make the experience grind-y and not fun. The limited carry weight adds nothing but tedious resource mangement. If workstations were close together you could access one from the other but this range is rather small, I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Btw, that the isometric game *Above Snakes* runs worse than any hobby Unity game from itch, is this a wine (linux) thing or is the game just shit?
negative · AI labelView post →It feels like - half game done with heart and second part is done fast. Relative short - 10-15 hours(most hours is grind) if interested only in story, more if you want play "sandbox" - have no idea why would you play sandbox in this game -- Has bugs, not critical but annoying. Annoying angled for camera. Unbalanced resources/economy. Unbalanced cooking (many recipes, but only few are used/useful). Story is lacking ... Enemy is dump - in 99% cases -> press button and shoot from distance, they…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Above Snakes, developed by Square Glade Games and published by Crytivo, is a captivating isometric survival RPG that sets itself apart through a refreshing blend of frontier exploration, modular world-building, and supernatural mystery. Set in an alternate version of the American Wild West, the game draws players into a handcrafted, narrative-rich world where not only must one survive the rugged wilderness, but also uncover the dark secrets behind a mysterious meteorite that’s awakened the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gave it a shot at half price sale because the tile based world building looked interesting. I should have refunded when I got the first urge after discovering the clunkyness of the controls and just having other USB devices plugged into my PC messed with the keybindings. I honestly pushed myself to try as this game style is right up my ally but there are too many negatives to outweigh the positives. The movement is terrible; a basic Diablo style point and click would be better, The combat…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i i strongly dislike the q and e turning, game would be much improved with mouse turn otherwise an excellent little game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I kind of regret buying this game after playing the Demo. Just nothing worth continuing. Bad gameplay loop.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →6/10 A sufficiently unique sandbox survival game with a Wild West theme. The game offers great replay value since you create the map yourself. The crafting system is developed and complex enough to remain interesting after extended gameplay. What the game lacks are better and more complex dialogues, as well as the feeling that you are part of a larger story. The game is not well balanced, and the FPS drop is constant. Be prepared for a lot of grinding that isn’t eased much by progression in the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A neat and interesting idea to add onto an already existing, and well used, premise in order to spice things up. Above Snakes is interesting in that, as you gather food, water, and other supplies to survive, you also grow and expand the world in the way that you desire. Do you need more cotton to upgrade your clothing? Create some more prairie map blocks to spawn more in. More building materials for your home? Spawn some more plains or pine forests. Need more water, or want some fish for food…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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