Praey for the Gods
Survive a frozen island and scale massive gods to defeat them.
Praey for the Gods is an action-adventure survival game from No Matter Studios. It first entered early access in January 2019, and the complete version launched for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One in December 2021.
The player character washes up on a frozen island with nothing but her clothes. To survive the cold, dynamic weather, and other threats, she must scavenge for weapons, food, and other supplies. After exploring, she tracks down giant creatures called "gods," scaling their bodies to strike chimes at key points. Each god is unique and requires study to defeat, with cave drawings offering hints. The game has an exhaustion system: hunger, fatigue, and cold worsen performance. Sprinting, for example, increases hunger and slows stamina recovery. Freezing winds or water force the player to find shelter and build a fire before health drops. Potions help, but hunting, gathering, cooking, and resting are strongly advised. Thirty glowing totems are hidden around the map, earned through environmental puzzles or obscure locations. Every three totems boost maximum stamina, for a total of ten upgrades, which is vital for fighting the gods. Crafting focuses on maintaining and upgrading equipment. Resources come from crates, animals, enemies (not the gods), or the environment. Treasure hunts with puzzles yield rarer items. Weapons have levels based on how easily they are obtained, and clothing and other gear can be upgraded once resource costs are met.
Development began in 2014 in San Francisco with the three-person team of Brian Parnell, Hung-Chien Liao, and Tim Wiese, initially working part-time. On October 19, 2015, they revealed the game as *Prey for the Gods* with a short YouTube trailer. In February 2016, the studio moved to Seattle to work full-time. They crowdfunded through Kickstarter in July 2016, raising over $500,000—more than double the $300,000 goal—which expanded the game’s scope. The team cited *Shadow of the Colossus*, *Deus Ex*, *DayZ*, and *Bloodborne* as inspirations. No Matter filed for trademark protection in May 2016, but ZeniMax Media, owner of the *Prey* trademark, objected, claiming the name was too similar. To avoid a legal battle, No Matter abandoned the trademark and changed the name to *Praey for the Gods* in May 2017, just before ZeniMax’s *Prey* released.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Prey for the Gods
- Developer
- No Matter Studios
- Composer
- Ian Dorsch
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows · PlayStation 4 · PlayStation 5 · Xbox One · Xbox Series X/S
- Released
- December 14, 2021
- Genre
- Action-adventure, survival
- Modes
- Single-player
- Engine
- Unity
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The player character begins stranded on a frozen island with only the clothes on her back. She must scavenge for resources such as weapons and food to survive the dynamically generated weather and other hostilities. After exploration, players track down behemoths known as 'gods', finding ways to scale their massive bodies and strike chimes at critical points. Each god is unique and must be studied to understand how to defeat it, with hints provided through cave drawings.
The game employs an exhaustion system: the character becomes hungry, fatigued, and chilled over time, negatively impacting performance. Most actions, like sprinting, increase hunger and reduce stamina replenishment. Exposure to freezing gales or water requires finding shelter and making a fire before health is affected. Potions are scattered around, but hunting, gathering, cooking, and resting are strongly advised. Thirty glowing totems can be found by solving environmental puzzles or searching obscure locations; each set of three increases maximum stamina, crucial for defeating the gods.
The crafting system focuses on maintaining and upgrading equipment. Resources are found in crates, dropped by animals and enemies (excluding the gods), or found in the environment. Treasure hunts involving puzzles yield rarer items. Weapons have levels relative to how easily they are obtained, and clothing and other items can be upgraded once resource costs are met.
Reader's Guide
Praey for the Gods occupies a niche in the survival genre by combining resource management with colossal boss fights. Its significance lies in its ambitious scope, achieved by a three-person team through a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over half a million dollars, doubling expectations. The game's development history includes a trademark dispute with ZeniMax Media over the name 'Prey for the Gods', leading to the spelling change to 'Praey for the Gods' in May 2017. Reception was mixed: the PlayStation 5 version received generally negative reviews, while the PC version received mixed or average reviews on Metacritic. Critics appreciated the strong visual design but criticized technical problems, irritating movement, and survival mechanics, with IGN citing the climbing mechanic as more irritating than fun due to slow movement and glitches. Despite these criticisms, the game remains notable for its unique fusion of survival and giant-monster combat.
Did You Know?
- The game was originally titled 'Prey for the Gods' but was changed to 'Praey for the Gods' in May 2017 after a trademark objection from ZeniMax Media.
- No Matter Studios consists of only three people: Brian Parnell, Hung-Chien Liao, and Tim Wiese.
- The Kickstarter campaign raised over half a million dollars, more than double the original goal of USD$300,000.
- The game's gameplay was inspired by Shadow of the Colossus, Deus Ex, DayZ, and Bloodborne.
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