Outpath Review

Outpath is best described as an amalgamation of games. Developed by David Moralejo Sánchez, it combines clicker/idle mechanics with base-building and resource management, all while throwing in some survival and platformer features, too. But in my mind, I’ve simply labelled it: a podcast game. This is a category I set aside for titles that are a touch mindless, but not so much that they’re boring. They offer low-key, relaxing gameplay where I can get lost in the rhythm of gathering resources and crafting tools, making it extremely easy to have a podcast going in the background. Nova Lands evoked the same feeling for me, and their similarities make sense, considering they both take inspiration from Forager, which offers the same, almost hypnotic loop of gathering, collecting, and managing resources.

The world of Outpath consists of multiple island biomes, from cosy areas steeped in eternal autumn to a tropical land with palm trees and sand, kindling the feeling of a never-ending summer. At the start, you land in a place teeming with all the basic things you need, such as trees, rocks, copper nodes, flowers, and more. And, of course, you need to begin harvesting before you can start building anything. To do so, you’ll left-click with your mouse multiple times, breaking down the resource with each click/hit. This simple process quickly drew me in. It’s extremely fun to run around clicking and gathering as much as possible. The flow is never interrupted as items are automatically pulled into your inventory, and respawn times are quick. I guarantee time will pass by in a blink.

However, if you’re here more for the exploration and automation side of things and less for the clicking, there are alternatives. By crafting tools and eating food for buffs, you can improve your damage, which lowers the number of times you have to click something to break it down. You’ll even be able to build structures that clear out all resources in the surrounding area, requiring no clicking at all. There’s also an accessibility option in the settings to change the control to a hold-to-click action, which can be toggled even before you begin playing the game. Or, if you decide to wait like I did, you can equip special gloves later that enable it for you.

While the gameplay is already smooth from the start, it gets even more seamless and fun as you collect credits. I think of them like XP, but they function more like a currency. You’ll receive them each time you finish clicking on a node, which can be anything from a measly eight credits to 100 if you break down rare, shiny resources. Essentially, the more clicks something takes, the more credits you’ll earn. These pool together at the top-left of your screen, and you’ll spend them on island expansions, making new land magically appear from nothing. Additionally, each expansion often comes with Tomes scattered through the environment, allowing you to unlock various perks, such as raising your critical damage, improving creature spawn rates, reducing crafting time, and much more. These perks are upgradeable with credits, as well.

You can only expand your island so far, though, and once you reach your limit, you’ll need to venture to another biome to get more resources. This is where crafting comes in. At shrine-like structures, you’ll have specific items to turn in, kind of like the Stardew Valley community centre. Once you craft them and complete the list, a new collection of land will appear in the distance.

It’s easy to fulfil the requirements at the start, as you’ll turn in basic items such as wood or copper ingots. But as you progress, some item recipes will require Synergy between certain workbenches, which is achieved by placing the structures next to each other. For instance, when connected, an Inscription Table and Imbuing Table give you access to schematics for new Scrolls and Lamps. As such, each component of Outpath’s gameplay feels interconnected. The more you click, the more resources and credits you gain, allowing you to craft, research, and expand, a loop that you’ll rinse and repeat all throughout, even when you’re crafting more complex items and structures later on.

However, while Outpath hooked me easily, it has its missteps. As mentioned, you’ll have light survival mechanics, which come in the form of hunger and sleep bars, but all they do is cut into your game time. They function like invisible timers that you have to keep track of, and it can get annoying to stop mid-exploring and mid-gathering to eat food and sleep. You also have to replenish them in a particular order since sleeping degrades your food bar a lot, so it just wastes resources if you eat first. Some food items do provide damage buffs, though. So it’s not all for nought, but they still feel awkwardly included. That said, you can disable this feature in the gameplay settings if you’re not a fan, which took me a while to discover.

Outpath does have a tendency to not explain basic things about the gameplay, adding needless confusion to an otherwise seamless experience. This is apparent mainly when placing structures down. For some unknown reason, you can’t place builds in certain spots, but you can shift them over to an identical space and put them down without issue. It truthfully doesn’t make sense to me, even after spending hours with the game. It also took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to remove and rearrange items on my hotbar, as there’s no tooltip or brief tutorial for it. The same confusion washed over me as I tried the fishing mini-game for the first time, sending me to the Steam discussion section to find an explanation of how it works. While I don’t mind when a game lets you discover stuff on your own, I don’t necessarily want to be confused about simple, foundational controls and mechanics, especially if it aims to prioritise relaxation and flow.

What is relaxing, though, is the soundtrack. The chill tunes create the perfect atmosphere. I also love that it plays more than one song, avoiding the problem I had with Nova Lands' limited soundscape. The music fits nicely with the Minecraft–esque art style, as well, instilling a bit of nostalgia as you explore this colourful, pixelated, and blocky world.

All in all, Outpath is great if you’re looking for a casual game with a satisfying gathering and crafting loop. Despite some of its hiccups, it’s a mesmerising time that offers so many fun recipes to create. And if you’re a chronic multitasker like me, you can get through your backlog of audiobooks and GrinCast episodes with every session of play.