If Zelda and Harvest Moon were to have a baby, Yonder would be the fruit of that particular union. The story, and it is a term I use loosely, revolves around a character with no name, shipwrecked on the island of Gemea. To be reunited with your people, your task is to rid the island of the dark and ominous Murk that has infested the island, threatening to engulf and consume the island and its peaceful inhabitants.

How does the game propose that you complete this noble task? By engaging with the islanders and the environment. Talking with the locals will provide the player with certain tasks that must be performed to move the thin narrative along. These tasks invariably involve what I have found to be Yonder’s core gameplay function: Crafting. NPC’s will, more often than not, send your nameless protagonist on a journey to collect specific items. These items can be acquired through completing tasks such as farming, cooking, fishing and brewing. Items obtained by partaking in these activities are often not useful in and of themselves, but when combined with others, become quest-completion worthy.



As your relationships with the islanders develop, so too do the rewards they offer. Your search for materials and items encourage a thorough exploration of the island and its eight distinct locales, or biomes. During your travels, you will encounter magical beings called Sprites. These little creatures have the unexplained power of being able to dissolve the Murk that has overcome the island. So, the more you explore, the more Sprites you will discover, the more Murk you can eliminate. In some instances, dissolving the Murk will open up new areas of the map to explore. The more Murk you’re able to dispel, the closer you get to achieving your goal of being reunited with your people.

Be warned, fellow explorers: This is not a fast-paced adventure game. Missions are layered and are designed to keep you engaged with the crafting system for extended periods. It’s also in your best interests to invest in building up a farm, as this will yield items that can be used to barter with, with the local populace. That takes time, although there is a great deal of fun, as well as a real sense of fulfillment, to be derived from building a farm from lowly beginnings to a veritable ranch. Ultimately, the game allows you the freedom to approach it in a multitude of ways, as players are not restricted by a dogmatic, or linear structure, a feat that developer, Prideful Sloth, can be proud of.



It’s a beautiful game. From lush grasslands, overgrown jungles and snow-capped mountain peaks, Yonder is a visual delight. Whether it’s the orange hues of a sunset on the ocean’s surface, the moonlight piercing through the leaves of an otherwise darkened jungle floor, to something as basic as the light of your lamp illuminating your path as you traverse the world at night, there is no shortage of wonderful sights to behold. Accompanied by a playful, joyful, thoroughly uplifting orchestral score that compliments the created world in every way, Yonder is equally as enjoyable to listen to as it is to observe.

Featuring not only a day/night cycle, the game boasts a season cycle as well. Each of the four seasons brings with it a distinct change in weather, which goes a long way to take the terrain you have become familiar with, and turning it into something new, fresh and even somewhat unfamiliar at times. The drawback to this is that the day/night cycle is just a little too accelerated. After having spent a lot of time with the game, one comes to the realization that the world is just not as dynamic and appealing during the evening as it is during the day. The plus, I guess, is that the night cycle comes to a close just as quickly, so it’s a nitpick from my side.

One bone of contention I do have, however, is that for a game that is so dependent on the gathering and crafting of all manner of items, inventory is woefully limited. You are able to stash your inventory into chests with unlimited space at one of your farms, I grant you, yet this gives rise to yet another administrative hassle: The travelling to and from your farms far too frequently, either to dispose of items or to retrieve items from a farm chest to complete a task. Filling up even one of your biggest backpacks can be done in a very short space of time, exacerbating the need to visit a farm to empty your pack. This, if not managed correctly, and frequently, has the ability to bring to an end the joy of exploration and engaging in other activities.



Yonder boasts more of a bartering system than a system of buying from and selling to shopkeepers. You will select an item in the shop’s available stock, then select stock within your own inventory, with a similar value, with which to trade. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but works perfectly within the boundaries of the game as a whole.

Yonder, if played the way the developers have clearly intended, will take a good long while. You are encouraged to soak up everything the world has to offer, at a pace that is never dictated to you at any stage. There is no combat, no consequence for dying (which only ever happens if you try to swim), and no pressure. Simply go about your business of living, building, bartering and, occasionally, ridding the game world of Murk.