Some games manage to win you over with just a few images. When I saw Among Trees, nestled between quick-fire trailers during the PC Gaming Show, I was immediately smitten with its strong visuals. The comparisons with Firewatch that followed the reveal seem apt - both games immediately stand out for the vibrancy of their colour palette. Among Trees' early morning is a mix of light blue mist dissipating into the yellows, purples and pinks of morning sunlight. The woods stretch as far as the eye can see.
Among Trees is a first-person survival game currently in Early Access on the Epic Games Store, casting you as a young woman alone in the wilds. You open your eyes and find yourself next to a dilapidated cabin on a clearing, with no hint as to how you got there. There's no story yet, but none was needed for me to be spellbound early on. The first order of business is clear - the cabin needs repairing. Stepping closer reveals the materials needed to fix it, and taking a note with a button press will display the required number of each item on your HUD.
While some materials are immediately nearby, this first task already requires me to venture out past the clearing, an excellent opportunity to familiarise myself with the four stats always displayed on screen. There's vitality, warmth, sleepiness and of course hunger. As time passes, you will grow hungry and sleepy, and so while I'm on my hunt for cabin materials, I also pull my first mushrooms and mulberries to snack on. Your item menu reveals whether what you've just picked is edible, if it needs to be cooked first, and by how much it will satisfy your hunger.