Readers of our site are likely familiar with Polish studio Donkey Crew and its woodpunk survival sandbox Last Oasis. The game, which was first unveiled in 2019, cast players as nomads traveling a desert wasteland aboard large walking wooden ships known as Walkers.
It made its early access debut in 2020 after numerous delays but faced a wave of negative player feedback enough that even its creator admitted the game “sucks,” which then led to the Season 5 “LOverhaul” update in 2022. Following that were sporadic updates, then a long period of radio silence that was broken only last September with promises of a sixth season – promises that have not been expounded upon since.
We bring this up because Donkey Crew is continuing to throw a light across its other co-op survival RPG Bellwright, which the studio unveiled in March 2023 even as Last Oasis’ early access crawled to its fourth year. There’s now a new gameplay trailer that offers a look at its medieval world of harsh environments, its dangerous foes, and its overall settlement management hook, while a 72-hour playtest and associated promotions are running between now and March 30th.
As for when Bellwright will begin its own early access, Donkey Crew promises that will be soon™, with more details to be shared in the coming weeks. Obviously any early access title should come with a mental caveat emptor, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that the studio has done this before.
