The Kindred Review (PC)

If you hear someone saying “it’s just another Minecraft clone” when talking about The Kindred, then you can probably assume they haven’t made it beyond the loading screen. It’s an inevitable assumption based on The Kindred’s use of blocky graphics, but there’s far more here than that comparison gives credit for, especially as it’s still in Early Access.

Instead, the Kindred puts you in control of several characters, none of them directly taking the role of “you”. You actually control a whole bunch of little guys, setting up power, farming, mining, hunting and whatever else needs sorting. There’s a lot of depth, and yes there are Minecraft-esque crafting elements, but this is already showing signs of being a very deep and enjoyable game in its own right, and while there might be elements of other games in there, The Kindred is certainly its own game with its own ideas and qualities.

As I said, it’s still in Early Access, but it’s worth keeping a close eye on – updates are coming quickly and the developers are really paying attention to early adopters.