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2024 · Keen Games · Adventure · Role-playing

Enshrouded

You are Flameborn, last ember of hope of a dying race. Awaken, survive the terror of a corrupting fog, and reclaim the lost beauty of your kingdom. Venture into a vast world, vanquish punishing bosses, build grand halls and forge your path in this co-op survival Action RPG for up to 16 players.

Released: 24 January 2024
Platforms: PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S
Genres: Adventure Role-playing Survival
Developers: Keen Games
Publishers: Keen Games
Modes: Co-op Single-player
Perspective: Third person
Themes: Action Survival
Engine: Holistic engine
Country: Germany
Age ratings: PEGI 12 USK 12 GRAC 15+ESRB T
Languages: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Spain) and 3 more
Time to beat: 46hmain story76hcompletionist

About

Enshrouded is a survival and action role-playing game by Keen Games for Microsoft Windows. It launched in early access in January 2024 for PC, and was for a full release in October 2026 for PC and PlayStation 5, and in early 2027 for Xbox Series X and Series S.

›Story

The storyline of Enshrouded takes place in the ruined realm of Embervale, a once-prosperous kingdom brought to total collapse by human greed. The downfall began with the discovery of Elixir, a powerful blue substance harvested from deep within the earth that granted superhuman strength and amplified magical potential. Driven by addiction and an insatiable desire for power, the ruling factions built massive Elixir Wells, digging deeper into the earth. However, these operations inadvertently breached underground caverns, releasing the Shroud—a parasitic fungal spore that acts as a deadly, corrupting fog.

The Shroud quickly choked the land, driving citizens mad and turning living creatures into mutated, mindless husks known as the Fell. As civilization collapsed, the last of humanity were sealed into "Cinder Vessels"—stasis chambers sustained by the Flame, a primordial force of light and life—and hidden away in the vaults of the Ancients, an elusive elder race. Centuries later, players awaken as a Flameborn, the final hope for humanity. Emerging into a world consumed by toxic fog, the Flameborn must harness the power of the Flame, reclaim lost knowledge by rescuing sleeping masters, and purge the Shroud to rebuild Embervale.

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The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Enshrouded is a survival action role-playing video game played from a third-person perspective. It supports up to 16 players at once. The game's world is set in Embervale, an open world which can be freely explored by players. The overworld is where players can build their bases, gather resources, and craft new equipment and gear.

Players will be able to summon friendly non-playable characters to their base, who will then provide players with new crafting recipes and quests. Players can also explore areas which are covered by a thick layer of fog named "the Shroud". These areas are dangerous as they are filled with hostile monsters, and players can only stay within it for a limited period of time before their character dies; however, players can find valuable loot and treasure chests which regenerate regularly in the Shrouded area.

Development

Enshrouded is being developed and published by German studio Keen Games, which previously developed Portal Knights. The developers drew inspirations from games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Valheim. While the combat was influenced by "Soulsborne" games, it was not designed to be as challenging. It was envisioned as a "welcoming" game for players who are unfamiliar with the survival game genre.

Keen announced the game in May 2023. An eight-hour demo for the game was released during Steam Next Fest in November 2023. Enshrouded was released via Steam's early access model on January 24, 2024. A full release of the game is scheduled for Autumn 2026.

Reception

The PC version of Enshrouded received generally favorable reviews from critics, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 85% of critics.

Enshrouded sold one million copies within a week of its early access launch in January 2024. In August 2024, the player count increased to three million. The latest count by January 2026 was five million players.