Live on your own cloud island at "Aloft"

Michelle Brändle

14.2.2025

Translation: machine translated

My own flying island, polluted ecosystems, magical caves and a glider on my back to explore the endless expanses. That - and much more - is "Aloft".

I feed my fluffy sheep a few more bales of hay, roast myself an energising snack over the fire and I'm ready to go. Without wasting any more time, I fly my glider to the next island. After all, its fungus-infested ecosystem won't recover on its own. While I slaughter evil mushrooms with my self-made sword, I fervently hope to find another construction manual for my farm here. Good luck, good luck.

"Aloft": a magical world among the clouds

In "Aloft", I gradually gain a foothold in a magical world in the clouds. The building game is based on a familiar principle: collect and build.

But first I create my game character. I don't have many options for personalisation and the characters seem a little harsh. Nevertheless, I find a combination that I like.

My adventure then begins in a magical, sparkling cave. Here I collect wood and stone to create tools and pave my way to freedom. I use an axe and a hammer to smash my way through fallen rocks and blocks of wood to build a simple bridge over a ravine.

Once outside in the fresh air, I realise that I'm on an island floating in the air. The so-called Emerald Isle is the beginning of an as yet unknown journey and, in addition to initial building materials, also provides important information that is literally carved in stone. Little by little, I find out what is going on in this world and what I can experience here via knowledge stones and a large fresco.

To get away from this first island, I have to make myself a glider. I can display tips for the course of the game right from the start. That way, I always know roughly what my next tasks are.

The concept: creative crafting and cooking food

Once I've built the glider and strapped it to my back, I set off in search of a home island. My crafting skills are still limited at first. I can only combine two items via the inventory.

That's why I build a workbench with the hammer. I can link up to five objects here. I loot objects on the islands that I visit on an ongoing basis: various plants, stones, wood, vegetables and fruit.

I only know which new items and recipes are created from which objects once I have put them together. I like the game concept. I can link all kinds of things together and always have a sense of achievement when something new and practical comes out of it.

I get help when combining objects: I can combine objects in my inventory with a yellow dot to create a new item. I gradually fill my inventory this way.

While I'm having fun with combinations and crafting ideas, I don't need to worry that my character will starve or die of thirst. I should eat and drink, but for other reasons. It is practical to eat before an upcoming battle. Meals provide more or less powerful boosts for a limited period of time. This means I can last much longer in a fight.

The graphics: a world full of magical elements

The game's visual design is rather crude. Nevertheless, the designers have created a great atmosphere. The different times of day and weather conditions always create wonderful views. Finally, the icing on the cake are elements such as the glowing groups of butterflies and the fluorescent cave plants. The glowing wind stones also enrich the landscape. Together with the dilapidated huts, they hint at smaller and larger secrets of the world.

The graphics don't look particularly complex overall, as the objects are often repeated. So far, however, they have been used differently on each island and the combination with different landscapes and caves means that I always discover something new.

So far, I have only rarely discovered glitches and bugs, especially with moving objects in the game. For example, the sheep like to go for a spin on the fireplace - but fortunately they don't burn down. Some of the building elements for enclosures and huts can also be set up halfway in the air. So it's not always clear to me whether the animals can escape over this fence or whether I can walk over the half-finished wooden floor or fall into the depths. The chances are 50/50 in each case.

Off to great adventures: my own island

I need building instructions for large building objects. I get these from knowledge stones and objects that I track down on other islands. The objects are either very large and marked with colourful spheres, or they are inconspicuous stones decorated with a bow.

My first big craft and construction object is my personal home island. If I like a floating island, I have to claim it for myself with a home kite. I then equip the island with sails, a steering wheel and a large round map. I learn all these building objects by finding knowledge stones on the surrounding islands. I can just about reach them with my glider on my back. I can only travel further distances with the completed home island.

I can see which islands I've already visited and which I haven't on a map I built myself. I then click to mark the islands I want to visit next. The game then creates a green beam of light across my destination and I can head for the desired island.

My big mission: to restore the ecosystem

So stocking up on food for a fight is the order of the day. While I manoeuvre my flying island through the air, I set off in search of diseased islands. A nasty fungus has infected them and now it's time to clear them of the evil fungus creatures, cut down dead trees and restore the ecosystem.

I can tell from a distance whether a flying island is infected by the plague by the sickly yellow colour and the equally yellow foggy swamp of the island. I use my stone tools and later better weapons, such as a sword, to fight off attacking fungi. The aim is always to find the core of the plague: a huge yellow plant. I chop it up in several stages. Sometimes it's more challenging, sometimes less, but it's always fun.

Once the core plant has been destroyed, the whole island is transformed: the yellow colour disappears, but the island is not really green yet. The ecosystem can't simply recover from the disease and I have to help. I trudge through the landscape with my handmade field research book. This book documents what the island is still missing.

Sometimes just a few more trees and plants are missing, sometimes it needs a bit more life like insects or mammals. I have to track down and remove very sick trees and objects.

I gradually distribute what I have collected on healthy islands from my inventory until the ecosystem is 100 per cent green again. Once I have achieved this, the island transforms once again and this time trees, meadows and bushes appear in lush green. That feels really good. Now I can wander happily through the refreshed nature and look for more knowledge stones or materials for future building projects.

Shaping everyday life: Farm and animals enliven my home

As the story progresses, I discover a second fresco that shows me I have the opportunity to get involved with my own farm and grow crops. The encyclopaedia tells me what to look out for and how to proceed. But the game doesn't provide all the information. So you always need a little creativity and patience.

I enjoy finding out how to plant sugar beet, what I can grind in a mill I've built and how the sheep I've collected behave in a new enclosure. Trial and error is the order of the day.

In addition to my sheep, there are also supposed to be alpacas and pheasants. Unfortunately, I haven't come across any of these yet, but I'm confident: the ship map always expands when you cross the current map border. This means that unknown island groups are constantly appearing for me to explore. My favourite activity is therefore sailing around my home island. It's a cosy way to keep discovering new places.

Different modes: for peaceful, creative and squads

I need a lot of collected material to beautify my island. If you are one of those players who like to spend a lot of time and attention to detail building, you may feel at home in creative mode. Here you have infinite resources at your disposal and can place your dream house on the island without any restrictions. All recipes and building plans are also already available.

If you don't feel like struggling with tedious mushrooms, there is also a peaceful mode. Here you have no enemies as a single player and can focus entirely on yourself and your islands. If you are travelling in the multiplayer server, the enemies simply ignore you and you can focus on regenerating the island.

I don't really like the two modes, as I find it more exciting to slaughter my way through nasty enemies and to have a creative framework when building - and to earn the recipes the honest way.

I love playing in multiplayer mode. I can bring up to seven friends into my world. Once I have invited friends, I have to trust them in the settings so that they can really interact with my island. They can easily park their own island next to mine. Cleaning up the sick islands is much more fun together and we beautify my island together.

The island designer: let your creativity run wild

The game comes with a separate island designer. Here I create my dream island from scratch instead of claiming an island from the game for myself. The designer is somewhat confusing, but offers everything you need to create your own island. From lush meadows and huge stones to a refreshing water source, I first build an island base. I then populate it with huge trees and bushes as well as smaller plants and meadow flowers.

Afterwards, I can also share the island with other players and designers in the Steam Workshop. Or I can subscribe to the island myself and simply upload it to my own world.

Interim conclusion on early access

"Aloft" has been in Early Access for a year since January, but already offers a lot of possibilities. Apart from a few glitches and translation errors, I haven't come across any bugs so far.

After almost 20 hours of gameplay, I still feel like I'm in the early days of "Aloft". The game is more of a leisurely glide above the clouds than a speeding flight through the skies. That doesn't bother me. On the contrary: I like the many possibilities to embellish my island landscape. Building is simple, even if the handling means that I often place a fence or a floor too high in the air.

The game is a cosy, magical adventure that you can also play with friends as a casual gamer. It brings minor challenges through the sick islands and merely hinted at possibilities, but is never overwhelming. Gossip and chat via Discord goes well on the side.

"Aloft" was made available to me by Funcom in Early Access. It has been available for PC via Steam since 15 January.

Michelle Brändle

Editor

Michelle.Braendle@digitecgalaxus.ch

In my world, Super Mario chases Stormtroopers with a unicorn and Harley Quinn mixes cocktails for Eddie and Peter at the beach bar. Wherever I can live out my creativity, my fingers tingle. Or maybe it's because nothing flows through my veins but chocolate, glitter and coffee. more

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