Flotsam

Flotsam: A Survival City-Builder on a Flooded Planet

Flotsam is a unique survival city-builder set on a planet completely reclaimed by the ocean. In this game, players do not lead established societies but instead guide a small group of survivors, known as Drifters, who must build a new home from the very debris that covers the sea. The core appeal of Flotsam lies in its innovative mechanics, where every piece of floating junk is a potential resource. Players must master the art of salvaging, crafting, and managing their population's needs to transform a makeshift raft into a thriving, self-sustaining aquatic town against all odds.

Salvaging Resources from the Open Sea

The primary activity in Flotsam is sending your Drifters out to collect resources drifting on the currents. Players manually direct small boats to approach clusters of debris, automatically gathering wood, plastic, scrap metal, and other essential materials. This constant foraging is vital, as every structure, tool, and upgrade is built from salvaged junk. Players must strategically navigate their entire town to resource-dense areas while avoiding hazardous zones. The core gameplay loop of Flotsam revolves around this cycle of movement, collection, and construction to ensure steady progression.

Constructing and Expanding Your Floating Town

Building in Flotsam requires players to place structures directly onto a interconnected grid of foundations and walkways, all floating on the water. Players start with basic necessities like a Net Maker to create building materials and a Distillery for fresh water. As resources accumulate, they can construct more advanced buildings like research huts, homes, and workshops. Expansion is physical; players must build new platforms and bridges to accommodate growth, carefully managing the town's buoyancy and layout. This hands-on construction is a central pillar of the Flotsam experience.

Managing Drifter Needs and Survival

Survival in Flotsam is a constant balancing act. Each Drifter has needs for Food, Water, and Rest, represented by clear meters. Players must construct buildings like Fishing Huts and Distilleries to produce these essentials, assigning Drifters to work there. If needs are not met, Drifters become unhappy and less efficient, potentially leading to a death that depletes your valuable workforce. This system forces players to prioritize construction and resource allocation, making the management of your small community as important as the town's physical expansion in Flotsam.

Researching New Technologies for Progress

Technological advancement in Flotsam is handled through a dedicated research system. Players build a Research building and assign a Drifter to work inside. Over time, this generates research points that can be spent on a tech tree. Unlocking new technologies is essential for progression, granting access to advanced buildings, more efficient production chains, and better equipment. This system gates advancement, ensuring players must first establish a stable base in Flotsam before they can research complex solutions like metalworking or advanced food preparation.

Exploring the World and Discovering Lore

The world of Flotsam is not empty. As players navigate their town across the ocean, they will discover points of interest like shipwrecks, abandoned oil rigs, and isolated islands. Exploring these locations often yields rare resources, new Drifters to recruit, or pieces of lore that explain what happened to the world. This exploration provides crucial goals beyond mere survival, offering high-value rewards for those willing to venture off the beaten path and invest resources into building exploration boats.

Encountering Environmental Challenges and Wildlife

The ocean in Flotsam is a dynamic and sometimes dangerous environment. Players will encounter wildlife, both passive and aggressive, which can be a source of food or a threat to Drifters. Weather events like fierce storms can damage structures and scatter your carefully arranged town, requiring repairs and reorganization. These environmental challenges introduce an element of unpredictability, ensuring that even a well-established town in Flotsam must remain adaptable and resilient to survive the long term.

Key Features

  Build a thriving town entirely from salvaged ocean debris.

  Manage the essential needs of your Drifter population.

  Research new technologies to unlock advanced buildings and tools.

  Navigate your entire town across a vast, flooded world to find resources.

  Explore points of interest to uncover lore and recruit survivors.

  Adapt to dynamic environmental challenges and wildlife.