Craftopia is the most bewildering video game mash-up I’ve ever seen

Zelda: Breath of the Wild meets *everything*

I’m not sure how I managed to avoid crossing paths with Craftopia until today – an abundance of Steam Early Access games and bad timing, I guess? – but one look at this trailer from June, and wow. I’m calling it: this is the most bewildering combination of video game concepts and inspirations I’ve seen.

As Destructoid reader Roager put it this afternoon, “There is a LOT going on in this trailer.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect – the thumbnail and name didn’t exactly fire up my imagination beyond the usual survival-game fodder – but then I got to the 20-second mark, in which foxes, deer, and elephants stroll on wheels en masse to generate power. Then I saw the protagonist spin their sword into a group of comically tall skeletons. Then I saw her catch a giraffe, Pokémon style, and hoverboard with friends.

That’s to say nothing of the player-crafted conveyor-belt machine shuffling cows into a soup cauldron.

Will I play Craftopia while it’s in Early Access, which is where it has been since September 2020? No. I’m not convinced I’ll enjoy playing this in the best possible conditions, let alone in an unfinished state.

Will I continue to be fascinated by its audacity and flip through community screenshots? Hell yeah.