Across the Wonderlands

To the Star is a survival and adventure game that takes us to a fantasy world inspired by Alice in Wonderland. The independent team Covenant.dev is behind the development of this game. It's a Polish studio from Warsaw, which delivered Gord in 2023.

Mechanics

In To the Star we watch the action from a third-person perspective (TPP). The game provides us with a vast, open world. It consists of both picturesque, peaceful landscapes and locations full of dangers. The game has a day and night cycle, which affects what creatures we will encounter on our way and how they behave. The cycle also applies to which resources and areas will be made available to us.

Our base of operations is Briefbase, to which we can move at any time, because the character we control keeps it in their briefcase and always has it with them. Visits to Briefbase allow us to rest after each expedition and prepare for the next ones.

During the game, we gather resources that we use for crafting. We produce useful tools, clothes, melee and ranged weapons, and also prepare meals. The ingredients can include, among other things, our emotions or the "sweetness" obtained from the creatures we catch called Sweet Cuties. It is worth remembering that over time all objects wear out from use, and as a result - they get destroyed.

Clashes with opponents are dynamic, and during them we make use not only of swords and bows, but also of other means that give us an advantage over enemies. The previously mentioned meals provide our character with various enhancements (buffs). However, by throwing certain types of food at enemies, we can inflict various negative effects (debuffs) on them. For example, by throwing a shrinking cupcake at an adversary, we will cause them to shrink, posing a significantly smaller threat to us.

It is worth remembering that we cannot "charge" our character and his opponents indefinitely with these types of effects. After filling their stomachs with food and drink, they are unable to take more and, consequently, this means no more buffs or debuffs. They may "burp" to make room in their stomachs, but this action resets all previous modifiers.

Another interesting tactic that we can use on the battlefield is to throw the briefcase containing our base at the enemy. The hit itself does not harm them, but we can prepare specific plants (for example, explosive ones) in the base, which activate after hitting the enemy with a briefcase, causing a specific effect.

Game modes

To the Star can be played alone or cooperatively online.

Technical aspects

To the Star runs on Unreal Engine 5. The game offers full support for mods, allowing players to create their own items, creatures, and locations.