Haven & Hearth is a hardcore sandbox from Swedish studio Seatribe that grew out of a student project and picked up Swedish Game Awards in 2009. Its world draws on Slavic and Germanic myth, and what players do stays: a felled forest, a ploughed field, a village. It entered Steam Early Access on 1 November 2024.
Characters don't level by killing monsters. Varied food raises your attributes and studying curiosities earns learning points. Players forage, tame livestock, farm, build and reshape the terrain. Death is permanent, though a new character inherits part of the old one's skills. PvP is open and cannot be switched off, and worlds are reset from time to time.
It is a game for patient players and groups. Caveat: alone you can lose months of work, and the interface and graphics are very plain.
