Sand: A Superfluous Game

Sand: A Superfluous Game is a top-down game about surviving and exploring a dangerous, resource-scarce wasteland in what was once Alaska. You control one character and can bring several AI-controlled teammates on harder missions. Travel across an overworld map to find locations and towns where you can trade and take on missions; how far you can go depends on the water you carry. You can upgrade your water capacity and travel speed, but areas farther from your base are more dangerous.

The wasteland

The story takes place 999 years after the events of The UWN Superfluous' mission to save Earth. Pieces of the asteroid that destroyed the fabled ship later struck the planet, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. Radiation brought mutations and mass extinctions, and the survivors now cling to life in the dry, arid lands once known as Alaska.

A fragile peace between three races rests on their control of scarce resources. Humans hold much of the knowledge needed to build and maintain machines for extracting water and energy. The Karkadann, large bipedal herbivorous rhinos, protect the only large known water source and use it to grow the vegetables their size requires. The amphibious Anura, frog-like carnivores, control the salvage market and dive into toxic oceans to recover materials and technology thought lost.

The dead begin to rise under the apparent control of the Inks, reclusive ink-like beings that take human form and wear bones as decoration. Their aggression threatens the three tribes: they may join forces against it, or be overwhelmed because they cannot trust one another.

Build and explore

Your base is central to the story and to improving your skills, gear and stats. You can build and upgrade it to research, craft and make use of the desert's finite resources. Crafting weapons and gear, hunting, building and fighting all contribute to your character's growth.

Exploration brings you to interesting places and random encounters, as well as towns where you can trade and get missions. You can breed llamas to ride and may be able to race them; later, you can unlock cars to travel farther across the wasteland. Death is not permanent, though it carries some form of punishment.

Gear and powers

You can unlock powers for your exo-suit, including stealth, mass fear and abilities tied to sand. Sand powers include Sand Wall, Rock Throw, Sand Decoy and Glass Blast, as well as sand traps and a sand fireball.