A new indie survival game called Duneborn is starting to gain attention on Steam thanks to its harsh desert setting, extraction style gameplay, and heavy Mad Max inspired atmosphere. Developed by A.P Games, the title blends open world survival mechanics with vehicle combat, scavenging, and dangerous PvP encounters in a brutal post apocalyptic wasteland.
Set in a massive desert filled with abandoned ruins, hostile raiders, and giant mutated creatures, Duneborn places a major focus on survival and resource management. Fuel, water, scrap, and ammunition all play an important role, forcing players to carefully plan every expedition into the wasteland.
One of the game’s biggest features is its vehicle system. Rather than acting as simple transportation, vehicles in Duneborn serve as mobile bases where players can store loot, craft supplies, and carry essential survival equipment. Losing your vehicle during an extraction run can mean losing everything you collected, adding a constant layer of tension while exploring dangerous areas.
The game combines several gameplay styles together. Players can explore the open world searching for rare materials, raid enemy camps for resources, fight hostile survivors, and battle giant desert creatures while attempting to safely extract with their loot before dying. Environmental hazards such as toxic dust storms and violent sandstorms also make survival significantly harder.
While the game can be played solo, online servers introduce PvP encounters that can completely change the flow of a run. Other players may attack on sight, attempt to steal valuable loot, or unexpectedly cooperate to survive dangerous situations in the desert.
Early reactions to Duneborn have been mixed but promising. Many players have praised the atmosphere, survival systems, and vehicle focused gameplay, with some comparing it to a mix of Mad Max, Rust, Crossout, and extraction shooters like Escape From Tarkov. However, criticism has largely focused on technical issues, optimization problems, rough animations, and general lack of polish in some areas.
Since launch, the developers have continued releasing updates aimed at improving performance, fixing bugs, and adding quality of life improvements as they continue expanding the experience.
Although still rough around the edges, Duneborn appears to be another ambitious indie survival project attempting to carve out its own place in the growing extraction survival genre, particularly for players who enjoy harsh open world sandboxes and vehicle based gameplay.