7 /10 18

Icarus represents a deliberate departure from traditional survival game design, introducing session-based mechanics and permadeath pressure absent from open-world competitors. Developed by RocketWerkz under Dean Hall’s creative direction, the game launched December 2021 and evolved significantly through weekly updates and expansions (New Frontiers, Great Hunts, Styx). With a Metacritic score of 67 indicating mixed critical reception but sustained player engagement, Icarus challenges survival game conventions through time-limited missions, orbital dropship mechanics, and permanent character progression tied to optional permanent bases. This review dissects how session-based design creates psychological urgency, why the game demands strategic preparation over reflexive action, and how post-launch expansions expanded the core formula.

How to Play Icarus

Icarus demands deliberate planning before descending to the planet’s surface. Each mission has a strict timer; failure to extract via dropship before mission end results in total character loss (permadeath). Surviving revolves around crafting, base-building, and resource extraction within these time constraints.

1. Character Progression – Your orbital character maintains skills, technology tree unlocks, and inventory between missions. Lost expeditions mean permanent death of that character variant.
2. Mission Selection – Choose from limited-time challenge missions or permanent open-world exploration. Each has unique objectives, threat levels, and extraction deadlines.
3. Resource Extraction and Base Building – Gather ore, plants, and components to craft survival gear. Build permanent outposts on the planet surface for long-term operations.
4. Combat Encounters – Combat is challenging but avoidable. Focus on preparation (armor, tools) over direct engagement. Apex predators require tactical positioning and patience.

Who Should Play Icarus

Icarus appeals to strategic-minded survivors who appreciate planning over reaction and accept failure as learning. Players seeking weekly content updates and deep progression systems will find substantial engagement; casual survivalists may find permadeath too punishing.

• Hardcore Survival Enthusiasts – DayZ veterans and Rust players will embrace permadeath mechanics and the rush of escaping before mission timer expires.
• Co-op Builders – Up to 8-player co-op encourages base-building strategy and shared progression, making this ideal for friend groups seeking collaborative survival.
• Developers Embracing Updates – RocketWerkz releases weekly updates; committed long-term support indicates consistent new content and balance adjustments.
• Skip If – Avoid if you dislike permadeath mechanics, demand seamless open-world persistence, or expect competitive PvP. Permadeath frustrates casual players with limited playtime.

Icarus Platform Performance

Icarus releases exclusively on PC with demanding hardware requirements reflecting its dense procedural worlds and detailed alien fauna. Performance scales from low-end RTX 1060 support to 4K ultra settings on flagship GPUs. The game supports both DX11 and DX12 rendering (DX11 often performs better despite DirectX 12 development focus).

Icarus System Requirements

Icarus carries substantial PC hardware demands due to Unreal Engine 4’s visual fidelity and procedural world generation. Even at minimum specs, 16 GB RAM is mandatory. Recommended configurations should budget 32 GB RAM for optimal multi-mission sessions. The game occupies 70 GB storage, requiring SSD installation.

Similar Games to Icarus

Session-based survival remains a niche design philosophy; few games replicate Icarus’s blend of permadeath urgency and extracted-progress mechanics. These alternatives capture comparable elements across different settings and frameworks.

• Grounded – Cooperative survival in backyard ecosystem; less punishing permadeath, more story-driven progression, colorful art style versus Icarus’s harsh alien landscape.
• Palworld – Creature-catching survival hybrid with base-building; shares co-op focus and progression systems but emphasizes creature partnerships over pure crafting loops.
• ARK: Survival Evolved – Open-world persistent survival with creature taming; avoids permadeath on most servers, prioritizing indefinite base expansion and dino acquisition.
• Green Hell – Brutal jungle survival focusing on psychological pressure; single-player only and non-session-based, emphasizing realism over arcade-style challenge missions.

Icarus vs Competitors

Icarus distinguishes itself through session design and permadeath mechanics—features competitors eschew for persistent progression. Pricing reflects larger DLC ecosystems and weekly content updates. Gameplay length scales dramatically based on DLC ownership and co-op engagement.

Icarus Story and World

Icarus orbits a once-terraformed planet deemed humanity’s greatest failure. As prospectors, players descend via dropship to extract rare exotics and valuable resources before catastrophic environmental events force evacuation. The world-building emphasizes alien ecosystem diversity: alien fauna ranging from docile grazers to apex predators, toxic atmospheres requiring oxygen management, and procedurally-generated biomes offering visual variety across repeated playthroughs. Narrative remains minimal; the game relies on environmental storytelling through ancient ruins and data logs rather than character-driven plot. This approach appeals to players prioritizing gameplay over cinematic experience, though some criticize the lack of story structure as aimless.

Icarus Multiplayer and Online

Icarus embraces co-op as core design pillar. Up to eight Steam friends join dropship expeditions on shared missions or persistent open-world outposts. Server hosting options range from peer-to-peer (free) to dedicated servers. No competitive PvP; all gameplay centers on collaborative resource extraction and shared base-building logistics.

• Mission Mode – Time-limited objectives with extraction deadlines. All players must reach the dropship before timer expires or face mission failure and character permadeath.
• Open World Expeditions – Persistent outpost mode with no strict timer. Build indefinitely, manage crew members (with expansions), and practice survival without permadeath pressure.
• Seasonal Events – Limited-time challenges introduce exclusive cosmetics and rewards. Seasonal missions rotate monthly, maintaining engagement incentives.
• Cross-Platform Save – Progress links to Steam account; no controller-specific limitations.

Icarus DLC and Expansions

Icarus’s post-launch roadmap significantly expands the base game. Three major expansions introduced new maps, missions, and progression systems. Numerous cosmetic packs and creature comforts provide optional enhancements. Total DLC investment can exceed base game cost; however, non-DLC owners can experience expansion content on friend-hosted servers (with host owning expansion).

• Styx (2023) – $19.99; introduces icy moon map with higher difficulty, new creatures, and tier-3 technology.
• New Frontiers / Prometheus (2023) – $29.99; massive tropical biome expansion with tier-4 technology, dozens of new alien species, and challenging environmental hazards.
• Great Hunts (2025) – $24.99; boss campaign expansion with legendary weapons, multi-stage hunts, and tier-5 equipment locked behind DLC purchase.
• Creature Comforts – $14.99; base-building cosmetics and quality-of-life camp improvements increasing rest bonuses.
• Free Weekly Updates – Balance patches, bug fixes, and new cosmetics released consistently; content roadmap typically 6-month outlook.

Icarus Community and Support

RocketWerkz maintains exceptional player-facing communication. Weekly development updates appear in Steam news; developer Dean Hall participates in community AMAs and Reddit discussions. Player feedback directly influences patch priorities and design decisions. The subreddit remains active with strategy guides, base showcases, and permadeath loss stories creating narrative engagement even for spectators.

• Official Discord – Active developer presence with dedicated channels for bug reports, feature requests, and player events.
• Reddit Community – Highly engaged subreddit with base-building showcase threads and permadeath recovery discussions. Community guides supplement sparse official documentation.
• Mod Support – Steam Workshop integration enables cosmetic mods and gameplay tweaks; modding community remains modest compared to larger open-world survival titles.
• Update Cadence – Weekly updates standard practice; roadmap shared quarterly with transparent hitrate communication (typically 70%+ delivery on announced features).