Vein

• As time passes and seasons change, the world of Vein does too. Persistent, long-scale random events affect gameplay in this dynamic environment.
• AI can see, hear, feel, and smell you, and react intelligently to those senses. You’re being watched. Terrifying zombie variants make survival that much more difficult.
• From your hair to your body type to your stats, you can customize your character and make them truly unique among the survivors.
• You can interact with nearly everything you can see. Open mailboxes, adjust faucets, and knock on doors. Throw a can of beans at a zombie if you like.
• Build over the destroyed world and establish safe-houses. Defend yourself from raiders and invasions. Maintain your base by yourself or with friends.
• Hunt, fish, and trap. Till land and grow your own food. Chop your own wood. Once canned goods run out, you’re on your own.
• Get around the world of Vein with cars and trucks. Refuel and maintain your vehicle. Upgrade parts to repair damage and improve performance.
• There’s a pretty ambitious/impressive list of planned features listed on their website, so be sure to check that out.

Pending info.

This is a good one to jump in and out of as the developers push development forward to see how things are shaping up/changing.
Always reference the Notes tab to check when Hashtag related info/reviews have been updated.

Overall I get powerful “this feels like Survive the Nights” vibes from Vein. And that’s not a bad thing! I’m always a fan of the features/mechanics from one game making their way into other titles. Especially when the feature/mechanic is done well. For someone like me- being incredibly building challenged- having STN and Vein focus on simply fortifying existing structures instead of building mansions is a welcome feature. I don’t mind the text-based inventory system, though folks can have a love/hate relationship with it.

More than anything, it’s a smart move by the developers not to charge for the game now as a demo/early-access title. I’ve jumped in and out of it a bunch – and while I believe/hope that many of my issues with the game are things that will change with time & further development, there are no guarantees. If you should check out the demo – which, why not, it’s free- keep in mind that there is limited functionality in some aspects, missing animations, etc. Some of my initial gripes concern relatively basic shit that I’m sure will change over time; the footstep noise being off/weird, no sound for looting, a thunderous AND annoying clack sound in some menus- like doing the crafting.

To me, the game feels stilted. As you move around the beautiful scenery, your interaction with things – looting, movement, etc.- feels incredibly stiff. No fluidity. The AI is a pretty basic zombie model that can most easily be killed by stepping in to swing, stepping out, and stepping back again. Though they recently gave them the ability to climb things, which is neat because it prevents them from being quite as useless as they were previously.

Game Notes

• The game is set in Champlain Valley, NY. This is notable to me because I’m from NY! But also, it’s nice to see an actual specific area as opposed to a “generic forest/island which has all sorts of random plant/wildlife that make no sense.”
• According to the FAQ, no advanced nutrition or health system- similar to SCUM - is planned.
• While you can currently play the “demo” version of the game, it’s just the most recent iteration. The developers plan to keep the game itself free until they feel it’s at a point where it’s justified/worth charging for it. At that point, the demo will remain up but no longer be updated.
• Vein is being developed by two developers who previously worked on Dead Matter. The developers are transparent about their previous role/work with the other title in their FAQ.

Website Changelog

• 3/9/23 - Changelog added.
• 9/18/2022- Hashtag Content & Review updated last.