Rend vs RimWorld
Rend
Rend is an up-and-coming, Nordic-themed, team-based survival game that is set in a wild and ruthless, fantasy world filled with fantastic creatures, where only the strongest are able to ascend to the realms of the gods. In this game, players are separated into their respective factions at the beginning. They are then given the freedom to explore the many biomes and harvest resources from the environment whether solo or co-operatively. The resources obtained can then be used to craft better weapons and tools or can be reinvested into the faction stronghold to fortify it from potential attacks from players from a rival faction and to advance your base just so you can unlock new technologies. Players have their own skill systems and talent trees as well, and these are the main ways for a player to customize and tweak their characters to their liking.The ultimate goal of the game, however, is to reap as many warrior spirits as you can by battling and defeating rival players and deposit the souls at the Divinity Stone in the middle of your faction base, that is if you're not slain while carrying such precious loot. Somewhat similar to grand strategy games, Rend is more of a continual game. It has game cycles of 2 to 3 months, in which the winning faction of each cycle will get a nice pile of rewards at the end of a cycle.
Rend has a really unique take on the survival genre and this might just give the game the fuel it needs to rise to the top. The game is currently in Alpha and its release date is still TBD.
RimWorld
RimWorld is a sci-fi-themed colony simulation game where you need to build a livable and possibly self-sustaining base by making full use of all the skills your survivors have. Your survivors have their own sets of personalities as well and hence, they will react to the events that are happening around them, form relationships with other survivors, and even refuse to do work that they don't want to do. It's also nice to note that the game emphasizes on parts of the body so if your survivor lost a leg in an accident, he or she can still hobble around on the other provided that some form of replacement, like a peg leg, is given.Although most worlds have multiple biomes, the world you play in is randomly generated, so basically, you will never get the same world twice. The most interesting part about this game though is its AI storyteller. It is the "god of luck" who will throw challenges at you, be it disasterous weather or a pirate raid. There are a few types you can choose from as well, ranging from Randy Random who likes to randomly give you events to deal with to Phoebe Chillax who favors more neutral or positive events and takes it easy with the more negative ones.
RimWorld is perhaps the ultimate story-driven sandbox game that not only lets you build your own colonies and manage them; you'll also get to experience a story that is written as you play along. Sounds just like a game you'd like to play? Well, be sure to check this game out!