14 DAY TRIAL // Since its release in Steam Early Access back in October, Haemimont Games’ sandbox survival strategy game, Stranded: Alien Dawn, received a lot of improvements, including two major updates that introduced new options for players.
The most recent update – Train and Tame, adds new options for players who want to provide their colony with a little ranch. The ability to tame alien wildlife is now available in Stranded: Alien Dawn and we went hands-on with the new update.
Before taming an alien animal though, I had to observe them first and see whether or not they’ll offer any benefits to my colonists. Taming an animal requires certain farming skills and, of course, the research of the new Animal Taming tech introduced with the update.
If you’re just starting your colony, I wouldn’t suggest trying to tame too many animals because the benefits are far fewer than the downsides. For starters, you’ll have to maintain the animals’ happiness, just like you would do with your colonists. You’ll also have to reserve some construction materials to build sheds, spots and feeders for your animals.
Becoming a ranch owner is basically a full time job, which will only allow you to reap the rewards after researching a few more techs that will make it easier to automatize most of the labor. However, taming one animal at the beginning of your adventure will provide your colonists with the option to bond with the alien wildlife, which will most often than not increase their happiness.
Not to mention that you’ll have to be very careful not to let your tamed animals starve because that can turn berserk. Your tamed animals can also get sick requiring one of your colonists to heal them. If you think you can’t handle all the hurdles that come with owning an animal, you can always butcher your tamed animals for food.
Besides new buildings like Animal spot, Animal Feeder, and Animal shed, the Train and Tame update also adds decorative Animal statues, which become available once you tame your first animal. These statues aren’t just offering decoration options to players, but they also provide relaxation perks to your colonists, so they’re always nice to have because they’re cheap and the benefits are invaluable.
While most animals that can be tamed can provide the colony with various resources (new and existing), some can be tamed to be used for hunting. In that regard, the update adds an important animal that your survivors can tame and build bonds with, the dog. Specifically, there are three dog breeds available in the game right now: Great Dane, Boxer, and Weimaraner. These can be trained to fight or they can be used for companionship to keep your colonists happy in troubled times.
Since the new update brings so many new features, it’s recommended to start a new game to check them all out. While you’re at it, make sure to add the new survivor, Hugo Delano, to your group. The new survivor is an animal expert, so he’ll never fail at taming a creature, and will even teach farming techniques with his fellow survivors. It’s a great boost to your group of survivors if you plan on going deep into animal taming, a very fun activity to go along with your colony expansion.
Conclusion
Stranded: Alien Dawn has gone a long way from its initial launch just a few months ago. The amount of content it now offers is staggering and if you love sandbox survival games that involve colonizing alien planets, this is a no-brainer.
Preview code was provided by the publisher.
