Staxel is a creative farming and village life game with voxel graphics, developed by Plukit and published by Humble Bundle.[1] It is the first game developed by Plukit. The game was released for early access on the official website in 2017, then added to Steam on January 23, 2018. It officially released on April 11, 2019.[2]
Staxel can currently be bought from the official store, Humble Bundle store, or Steam store.[1] There is no paid DLC for the game, though Staxel is highly moddable and many player-made mods are available for free on the Steam Workshop.
For changelists, see the announcements on Steam or the patch notes page.
Overview[]
Staxel is both a singleplayer and multiplayer sandbox voxel game that is about farming, building, and exploring in a peaceful world. There are no monsters that would hurt the player. Meet your fellow neighbors, get hobbies, complete achievements, or just have fun on your own! Players begin with a run-down farm and land that had been reclaimed by the wilderness. It is your job to turn this phenomenon around and make it profitable. Grow crops, raise farm animals, and build upon the island. There are many ways to terraform the world around you and spark your creativity![1][3]
Development history[]
The original PC version of Staxel was developed over the course of several years. New content updates were released at no extra cost.
The last major update was the Hideaway Hollow update, released on October 20, 2020.
After the release of Hideaway Hollow, a series of patches were released to fix bugs. After that,
Since then, bartwe, a head developer at Plukit, said it was "best to consider [Staxel] done" in a Discord comment in February 2022.[4]
On March 11, 2022, the same developer announced that Staxel CE is playable on Steam Deck.[5]
Switch port and Staxel CE[]
In February 2020, plans for a console release were announced. Prior to this announcement, there were reportedly no plans to proceed with a Nintendo Switch or other console port due to budget.[6]
On September 23, 2021, Staxel released on the Nintendo Switch.[7] It was self-ported by Plukit and was entirely rebuilt from the ground up to run well on the Switch as well as other systems. For this reason, some elements, such as the brighter appearance of lighting/shadows, the spawn behavior of bugs, and the size of the island differ between the original PC version and the Switch/CE version.
At the same time as the Switch launch, a lighter version of Staxel (identical to the Nintendo Switch version) called Staxel CE became available for macOS and Linux via Steam. It is also available to play for all Staxel owners on Windows via Steam; a launcher menu offers the choice of playing either version. Save files and online crossplay are not compatible between the two versions.
Game modes[]
Singleplayer[]
- Main article: Single-Player Mode
The singleplayer mode allows the player to access all of the same content as is available during multiplayer mode, and vice versa. While creating a new world, the player is able to choose the number of starting farms on the island: anywhere from one to four farms. These farms can be used in both singleplayer and multiplayer mode.
Multiplayer[]
- Main articles: Multiplayer - Starting a Server and Multiplayer - Joining a Game
Up to four people can play on the same world, hosted by one of the four. Use this mode by selecting a server from the Main Menu.
Creative[]
- Main article: Creative Mode
This option will allow players to obtain items without previously gathering resources and using the crafting system. This is good for players who are primarily interested in building in a sandbox mode. Choose this option before entering the game, or type /creative while in-game to toggle the option on and off.
Languages[]
Staxel is currently officially supported in English, French, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Dutch.
It is possible to submit new translations or update incorrect translations for the PC version on the git, and questions about this process can be directed to the developers via the official Discord.
System requirements[]
On all platforms, an online connection is not required for singleplayer gameplay, but is required for multiplayer gameplay.
Windows PC requirements[]
The following requirements are for the original PC version of Staxel, not Staxel CE.
Minimum requirements:[3]
- Windows 7 SP1 (64bit)
- Intel Core i5 @ 2Ghz (or equivalent)
- 8 GB RAM
- nVidia GeForce GTX 660 1GB / AMD Radeon HD 7850 1GB
- DirectX 9.0
- 12 GB of hard disc space
- Broadband Internet connection
- For multiplayer games, Staxel can require 1-3MB upload and download speed for both the host and the other players.[8]
Staxel CE is a much lighter version of Staxel that can run on less robust PCs/laptops.
macOS requirements[]
Minimum requirements:[3]
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: macOS 10.15
Recommended requirements:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
SteamOS + Linux requirements[]
Minimum requirements:[3]
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- Processor: 64bit Intel compatible
Recommended requirements:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Switch requirements[]
Staxel can be played on either a Nintendo Switch or a Nintendo Switch Lite. On a Nintendo Switch, both handheld and TV modes are supported.
Media[]
Images[]
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://playstaxel.com/about.html
- ↑ https://steamcommunity.com/games/405710/announcements/detail/3751970741569441092
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 https://store.steampowered.com/app/405710/Staxel/
- ↑ Official Staxel Discord. bartwe. February 12, 2022.
- ↑ Official Staxel Discord. "Staxel CE is now available for SteamDeck"bartwe. March 11, 2022.
- ↑ Staxel Discord. bartwe (developer): "we tried to do a port, but ran out of budget with no completion in sight so had to stop that before going broke"
- ↑ https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/staxel-switch/
- ↑ Staxel Discord. Nimbus Fox (player): "Yeah wifi won’t be fast enough for Staxel. Ethernet is recommended as Staxel can require 1 MB/s to up to 2-3MB/s"