The Kindred Preview

If you have it in your mind that The Kindred is just a Minecraft ripoff for Steam, you are only 50% correct. While rendered in voxel form, Persistent Studios' upcoming new title, currently in Early Access, may not have as much in common with Markus Persson's billion-dollar empire as you might think.

While taking on the voxel aesthetic from the aforementioned game, The Kindred looks to be more of a kindred spirit with SimCity. The camera is placed in the sky, which will make you a Godlike figure in your characters' (known as Kin) lives. Essentially, this game will give you a randomised landscape replete with raw resources that you can use to build whatever you want for your Kin. By using your Kin as workers, you'll be able to build them a home, grow carrots and potatoes for them, and mould the landscape into your ideal homestead for your Kin family. There's an intriguing formula here: The Kindred looks to combine an addictive world building aspect with the greatest draw of Minecraft: the ability to do and make whatever you want, which is an appealing concept that has, at this stage of development, been very well done.

The Kindred, at this stage, looks like it will dazzle on a presentational level. The game will employ the same kind of gentle ambient music that Minecraft did, which doesn't exactly stop the invite of comparisons, but creates a nice, calming atmosphere as you attempt to create a world. This is supported with the graphics: partially nicked from the aforementioned game, the game world is rendered in voxels but looks a bit sharper, cleaner and less pixelated. Avoiding a lawsuit from Notch's legal team, the devs have sought to give the Kin a bit more in the way of uniqueness than that of the characters of Minecraft, being rendered with huge black eyes and blushing cheeks; an overwhelming sense of sweetness looks to permeate this game. Right now, The Kindred is very, very cute, which has, to me, made the game a lot more endearing.

However, there were a few kinks in the formula that will need to be ironed out ahead of full release. Take this with a pinch of salt as the game is in Early Access, but the loading times in this game are monstrous; I was able to fit in a game of Candy Crush while I was waiting for the game to start. Also, the AI is competent right now but not 100% complete. For instance, when I was planting carrot seeds to start feeding my Kin, they all started digging them up, the cheeky buggers. This is a small issue in an otherwise tidily-presented game, and aside from that, The Kindred makes a good account of itself well before release.

The world-building action is scarily addictive and the world is presented so adorably that there's no way I can imagine this game not being a future hit. Keep your eyes peeled for The Kindred.