The year of survival/crafting games continues with Nightingale, a stylish title from ex-BioWare devs

It's official: 2024 is the year of the survival crafting game! Enshrouded lived up to our high expectations, and Palworld took the world by storm with its mix of traditional survival gameplay and Pokémon-style creature collecting. And that trend is only looking to stay strong as this week sees the much-anticipated early access launch of Nightingale.

If you've never heard of Nightingale, the first thing to know is that it's the first release coming from Inflexion Games. That studio was founded by Aaryn Flynn, a developer who served as the general manager of BioWare from 2009 to 2017. If you ever loved the Mass Effect or Dragon Age games, Flynn and some of the other Inflexion Games developers deserve some of the credit.

The second thing to know about Nightingale is that it's not your every day survival game. It takes place in a magical setting with a distinct style that Inflexion calls "gaslamp fantasy." Beyond the usual gameplay loop of gathering materials, crafting gear, and building up a base, players will face off against strange and often massive monsters. They'll also be able to open up portals to new realms, and can even craft and use realm cards to help determine what will exist beyond the next portal.

Nightingale will be entering early access on PC tomorrow, Feb. 20, 2024. Stay tuned for first impressions from one of TapTap's editors, and share your own thoughts by posting a review if you end up checking it out.