Why Early Access?

“Thirst or Bust is built around cooperation, competition, and the choices players make over limited supplies. We want players to help shape the balance between surviving together and pursuing personal goals. Early Access will let us gather feedback from different groups and use it to refine roles, items, navigation events, and the pace of a match while development continues.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We currently expect Early Access to last approximately one months from its launch. This is an estimate rather than a fixed release date. The schedule may change depending on development progress and player feedback.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“For the full version, we plan to refine role abilities, item choices, navigation events, and match pacing based on player feedback. We also aim to improve the clarity of the interface and rules, the experience for new players, multiplayer stability, and performance. The scope and priority of these improvements may change during Early Access.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The main game has not launched in Early Access or as version 1.0. The currently offered test is a separate, free Steam Playtest that includes Open Ocean, Pirate Dice and Rum before departure, and Hide and Seek. Rooms support up to 8 players, and Open Ocean requires at least 4 ready players to set sail. Crewmates share ship duties, compete for water and supplies, manage equipment, and rescue animals during the voyage. Hide and Seek offers small, medium, and large play areas and scene-prop disguises. The test includes Steam online play, in-game voice chat, and English and Simplified Chinese interfaces. Content, rules, and balance are still being refined, and players may encounter bugs. Future Early Access availability will be announced separately.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“We do not plan to increase the game's price during Early Access or when it leaves Early Access.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We plan to collect bug reports, balance feedback, and suggestions through the Steam Community discussions, and share development progress and changes through Steam announcements. Feedback about confusing rules, role and item interactions, match pacing, and multiplayer problems will help us prioritize improvements. Please include the game version and steps to reproduce a problem when reporting a bug.”