Survival games tend to follow a pattern: gather resources, build shelter, expand. But Oxygen Not Included never lets you forget that sometimes, just surviving the day is the real win.
Developed by Klei Entertainment, the studio behind Don’t Starve, Oxygen Not Included drops you into an asteroid with nothing but a handful of duplicants — your oddly charming little colonists — and a growing list of problems. Oxygen, water, food, temperature, stress. Everything matters. Everything can — and will — go wrong. And that’s exactly what makes it so hard to put down.
At first glance, it sounds like another base-building sim. Dig tunnels, build rooms, assign jobs, research upgrades. But the deeper you go, the more you realize everything is connected.
The algae you’re burning for oxygen? It won’t last.
That water supply? Contaminated before you even noticed.
Your best cook? Just vomited from stress — right next to dinner.
What starts as a plan quickly turns into patching holes, fixing mistakes, and trying to stop your colony from collapsing.
That’s really where Oxygen Not Included shines. There’s a rhythm to failure here — one moment you’re researching new tech, mapping out slick new plumbing. The next, your bathrooms overflow and carbon dioxide starts pooling where your duplicants sleep. Tiny disasters stack fast, turning progress into temporary victories. But somehow, that scramble keeps pulling you back in.
What makes it all stick is how personal it feels over time. Duplicants aren’t just workers — they’re little personalities, each with quirks and bad habits. You’ll get attached to the builder terrified of digging or the scientist who stress-eats your entire food supply. Every colony crumbles differently, and every failure feels less like losing and more like figuring out what not to do next time.
Visually, the game leans into that chaotic charm. The colony is displayed in a side-scrolling cutaway, every system — pipes, wires, gas vents — fully visible as your duplicants run around trying to hold it all together. It’s clean, easy to read, and somehow manages to make even sewage backups look oddly entertaining. There’s just enough cartoon flair in their expressions and animations to keep the mood light, even when things are spiraling.
And maybe that’s why players keep coming back. Oxygen Not Included doesn’t hold your hand. It’s tough, often punishing, but never unfair. Every tiny disaster becomes another story, another lesson, and another reason to start over — just to see if maybe this time, you’ll finally get it right.
Oxygen Not Included is available on Steam.
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