This game really, really hates you (and I love it)

Do you like games that crush your soul through sheer difficulty? Do you like games that reward your persistence and give you a massive endorphin boost when you finally overcome the hurdles and feel all-powerful?

I have the perfect game for you. I've never enjoyed overly difficult games. I play games to relax, not spike my blood pressure. But there is this one game you may not have heard about that's crushingly difficult, yet weirdly offers a relaxing experience at the same time. I know it seems nuts, but hear me out. This is Kenshi.

You aren't 'The Chosen One'

Kenshi is a game in which you take control of a number of the world's laziest people. I say this because when you start, your team has zero skills. Nothing, nada. Yet, they're fully-grown adults. So they've successfully avoided any and all forms of skill-building up until the moment you arrive in the world.

You quite literally start at rock bottom, and even the wimpiest bandit out there will absolutely wipe the floor with your squad. I'm talking about a 1v5 against a 90-pound severely starting bandit, and your five heroes will end up as bleeding heaps on the ground.

If you don't have a first aid kit or no one in your team regains consciousness long enough to bandage you all up, that's it, game over. It just ends, and you're left staring at a world in which you no longer play a part. Unless, of course, a slaver team passes by, in which case you'll likely end up working the pits of Rebirth, a slave-labor settlement in the game.

Ironically, working the pits of Rebirth is kind of a blessing, because it gives you the opportunity to build your skills in a locale where you're not able to die of starvation. If you try to escape and fail, though, death is a very real possibility there as well. You can also lose limbs. Lose a leg here, and your playthrough is pretty much done. Escaping a slave camp isn't easy when you can sprint, it's impossible when all you can do is crawl.

The opening hours of this game are brutal. You're constantly being beaten down by anything on a whim. And you'd better hope you don't run into Bone Dogs while transporting your hard-earned copper, or you've just become lunch for the local wildlife. Which, while we're on the topic, is also actively trying to hunt and eat you.

Not getting eaten is quite the achievement

Depending on where you start your playthrough, your early game won't contain too much threat from wildlife. It's only once you start to explore the world that you run into all manner of things. Bone Dogs are the tamest of the beasties, because you also get Skin Spiders, Blood Spiders, Gorillos, and more. Each of these animals will beat you to a pulp, and all except the Gorillos will eat you afterwards, but none are more feared than the infamous Beak Thing.

Unless you have top-quality robotic legs (that's a thing), you won't be outrunning a Beak Thing, ever. Your only choice is to either stand and fight and potentially lose your whole squad, or sacrifice one or two while the rest make their escape.

And then you have mods, and the manner of creatures that can find their way into your game are the stuff of nightmares. Let's not even go there. I'm still haunted by the time a single mutated skin spider chopped off half my squad's limbs in a 1v8 fight.

The turning point is the most satisfying thing

By this point in the game, you're so used to getting your butt whooped by everything and running from all but the weakest bandits, that it's just habit now. And then something strange happens. Your squad gets into a fight while you're preoccupied elsewhere, and you return to find bleeding heaps on the ground—but this time, they're not yours. Your group of outcasts and misfits actually won a fight.

This series of victories can go on for quite some time as you become bolder, explore more, and discover that all those ass whoopings actually paid off. You no longer have a team of starving beggars and mine workers, you have a group of competent fighters.

That is, until you happen upon a particularly scary group known as the Skin Bandits. And this is where many a playthrough ends abruptly.

You see, these Skin Bandits are incredibly powerful, quick to recover, and have a seemingly endless supply of troops. Knock them down, they get back up. But when they knock you down, they hastily scoop you up and transport you back to their base.

You're then placed in what is known as a peeler. Skin Bandits. Peeler. I bet I don't have to go into more detail there.

But this is around the point when you take what you've learned and try it all again. After a while, things just start to click, and the next time you meet the skin bandits, things aren't so easy for them. And so the cycle continues, and it never really gets old.

Kenshi's success is surprising

It always surprises me when I talk about Kenshi, and others don't know about the game. It's old, sure, having been around since 2014 and finally officially launched in 2018. But still, this game went on to sell over two million copies.

It's a niche game, but at the same time has outsold far bigger studios. Which reminds me, this game was made by one guy. Others eventually joined the team to complete the game, but most of the framework was created by Chris Hunt.

If you're a fan of Kenshi, you'll be happy to know that Chris and team have been hard at work on Kenshi 2, and boy, am I excited.

Should you play Kenshi, or wait for Kenshi 2?

As my final thoughts, I'll give you all you need to know on whether you should actually play Kenshi. The answer is yes. Everyone should give this game a go. That said, if you've only ever played FPS games and can't stand anything else, then maybe you shouldn't.

Kenshi is mostly an RPG Strategy Sandbox game. There is no story you have to follow, nor do you have to unlock anything, or even discover the game's lore. It's all entirely up to you how you go about playing this game. So if you prefer heavily directed stories, again, pass.

However, if you prefer to create your own stories, your own characters and their backgrounds, and really flex your creative muscles in a way that few other games allow, then Kenshi is absolutely, most definitely for you.

Oh, and as we approach $80 games, this one goes for $30 and under, with regional pricing making it way more affordable in certain locations. So go ahead, spoil yourself. And no, this was not a sponsored post, merely a look back at one of the best sandbox games I've ever played.

Have you played Kenshi? Tell your story in the comments—if there's one thing the Kenshi community enjoys, it's hearing the stories of other Kenshi players!

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