Early game Overthrown solves the classic tree-punching problem

I’ve played so many survival and crafting games that I have the initial procedure down to a science. Here’s how it usually happens: I wake up in a new environment and immediately start hitting trees. Sometimes I can’t even get through trees – I have to gather sticks and stones and make a makeshift axe, and then I can start chopping down trees to get logs. I’m so tired of beating trees and collecting sticks. Overthrowna wacky kingdom-building simulator designed to be played with friends manages to shake up that stale formula.

The first thing I do in Overthrown I claim a crown marked by a ray of light, which seems like a bad system of government, but allows me to find a foothold. Then I need to start getting wood to start building my settlement. Sure, I have to punch trees, but developer Brimstone has made the core movement and combat in this game smooth and fast. So I’m not just hitting trees; I hit them with combos, dash into them, and beat the crap out of those mighty oak trees. I don’t need to upgrade my ax to level 3 to attack a large tree; I just need to be persistent in hitting him.

As soon as the tree falls, the log rolls away and I have to push it down and hope it doesn’t fall off the cliff. I can also pick up a log and throw it at the sawmill to instantly turn it into pieces of wood. Comfortable!

That’s the big attraction Overthrown; there’s room for plenty of physics-based antics. While building my base, I can move an awkwardly placed building by picking it up and throwing it. My base attracts NPC villagers who help me with my daily work. I can pick them up too, so if someone is too sleepy, I can just toss them into bed like the benevolent monarch that I am.

Overthrown just entered Early Access and I haven’t had a chance to try it out with a group of friends, so I’ll have to see if the game continues to tickle my funny bone. For now, I’m just glad I won’t have to collect sticks and painstakingly build my first axe. If you’re going to make me punch trees, at least do it in a new way.