One of the most interesting things about a game being in Steam Early Access is watching how it twists and adapts to what players want. Obviously games have a vision behind them, but it’s contact with the player base that really can help a title become all it can be. Soulmask is one of those games that seems to be doing early access right, with several updates – including a huge new one – helping it get to a massive sales milestone, all before the game has even hit its full release.
Soulmask has a unique take on the survival game genre. Instead of being a person, you’re more a form of energy that can move from body to body, taking on new skills and abilities as you swap forms. In addition to gathering food, building shelter, and more – you’ll recruit your own tribe around you, becoming a chieftain of your own mini empire.
As part of the early access process, community feedback has helped developer CampFire Studio unleash a brand new update that has helped propel the game to a colossal 400,000 sales on Steam. The Evolution of Masks patch launched on Thursday July 18 and has helped sand off plenty of the game’s rough edges.
As we previously reported some players have expressed a desire to hold onto their starter bodies instead of hopping out into others. Now that has become much more viable as a route, with buffs to your starting body as well as unique perks you’ll unlock the longer you play as them. You can also stay in a chosen body even after death now, with a Quick Remodel feature becoming available after defeating the Vajra Ape boss. This will snap you away to your campfire moments before death (albeit with a few temporary debuffs), letting you have continued life after nearly meeting the end.
In addition to all that, you’ll be able to buff your original body by copying skills and bonuses from other tribespeople using a special tool known only as the Mysterious Stone Table. This will mean that your original persona can even take on new abilities – something you would be locked out of in the previous version of the game. Crafting has been improved, you can run around with a small cadre of tribespeople, and there’s much more.
If you’d like to see the full patch notes, you can head over to the Steam announcement here. Soulmask is also 10% off until Thursday August 1, making this a great time to hop in and try it out for yourself.
You can also take a peek at our guide to the best RPGs you can play on PC, as well as our picks for the very best open-world games out there right now.
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