In the crowded survival game landscape, Icarus stands out as a bold reimagining of what the genre can be. Created by Dean Hall, the mastermind behind DayZ, and developed by RocketWerkz, Icarus launched on December 4, 2021, bringing a fresh take on survival mechanics through its innovative session-based gameplay. With over 153 consecutive weekly updates and a dedicated player base, this isn’t just another survival game—it’s an evolving experience that demands both skill and strategy.
What is Icarus?
Icarus is a PvE survival game for up to eight players that challenges you to explore a savage wilderness in the aftermath of terraforming gone wrong. Unlike traditional survival games where you build permanent bases, Icarus introduces a revolutionary time-pressure element: complete your mission and return to orbit before the timer runs out, or lose everything.
The premise is compelling and grounded in science fiction. The game takes place on the fictional planet Icarus, located roughly four light years from Earth, where an attempted terraforming procedure failed due to unforeseen complications from exotic materials. Players become prospectors, dropping to the planet’s surface to complete contracts, gather resources, and hunt for valuable exotic matter—all while racing against the clock.
The Revolutionary Session-Based Gameplay
What makes Icarus truly unique is its session-based structure. Most gameplay occurs during timed missions where players accept contracts on a space station orbiting the planet and drop down to complete objectives. This creates a constant tension that few survival games match.
Here’s how it works:
The Drop: You begin each mission by launching from your orbital station to the planet’s surface with minimal equipment—just an exposure suit to protect you from the harsh environment.
The Mission: Whether you’re retrieving scientific samples, hunting exotic creatures, or establishing temporary outposts, every action counts when the clock is ticking.
The Extraction: Once the mission timer completes, the drop-pod returns to the station. If you fail to return in time, your character’s body is left on the surface and your progress is lost.
This high-stakes format transforms every decision into a calculated risk. Do you push deeper into a cave system for better resources, or play it safe and ensure you make extraction?
Core Survival Mechanics: More Than Just Building
Environmental Challenges
To survive on the surface, players must manage oxygen, food, and water while finding temporary shelter from the hostile environment. But Icarus takes environmental hazards to another level.
Players have standard health and stamina bars that deplete through combat, sprinting, gathering, and other physical activities. However, the real danger comes from the planet itself:
- Hostile Wildlife: Genetically modified creatures adapted to Icarus’s unique ecosystem hunt players relentlessly
- Devastating Storms: Various weather events inflict movement and stamina debuffs, with prolonged exposure depleting health and potentially setting structures on fire
- Oxygen Management: Unlike Earth, Icarus’s atmosphere requires constant attention to oxygen levels
Progression Without Persistence
One of Icarus’s most controversial yet brilliant design choices: nothing players build or do persists on the surface between missions. Every drop is a fresh start in terms of physical resources.
However, progression isn’t lost entirely. As players progress, their characters unlock talents that improve abilities and access crafting blueprints enabling more advanced tools, weapons, and materials. On subsequent missions, you retain these talents and blueprints but begin with minimal material supplies, forcing you to rebuild smarter and faster each time.
This creates a satisfying loop: each mission makes you more skilled at surviving, even if you’re starting from scratch materially.
Crafting and Technology Tree
Initially supplied with nothing but an exposure suit, players must harvest materials essential to survival. The crafting system in Icarus is extensive, featuring:
Early Game Essentials:
- Stone tools (pickaxe, axe, knife)
- Basic weapons (bow and arrows)
- Survival fundamentals (campfire, bedroll)
Mid-Game Development:
- Advanced structures and fortifications
- Improved weapons and armor
- Food preservation and cooking stations
Late-Game Technology:
- Electronics and fabricators
- High-tier weapons including firearms
- Glass greenhouses and refrigeration
- Advanced mining and resource processing
The technology tree features over 250 talents to unlock, offering deep customization of your playstyle. Will you specialize in combat, construction, or resource gathering? Each choice impacts your effectiveness during missions.
Game Modes: Three Ways to Play
Icarus offers flexibility in how you experience its brutal world:
Timed Missions (Prospects)
The core Icarus experience. Accept contracts with specific objectives and time limits ranging from hours to weeks of real-time gameplay. These missions offer the purest form of Icarus’s tension and reward cycle.
Open World
Explore without mission timers, though the survival challenges remain. Perfect for players who want to experience Icarus’s world at their own pace without the pressure of extraction deadlines.
Outposts
Build permanent structures that persist between sessions. This mode appeals to traditional survival game fans who want to create lasting bases and long-term projects.
A Living, Breathing World
Elements of the game world are persistent, such as cave and lake locations, while others are procedurally generated, including mineral formations found in caves. This hybrid approach keeps the world feeling familiar yet fresh with each mission.
The planet features diverse biomes:
- Dense forests teeming with life
- Arctic regions with extreme cold
- Desert wastelands
- Volcanic areas
- Expansive grasslands
- Treacherous cave systems
Each biome presents unique challenges and resources, requiring different strategies and equipment to survive.
The Developer’s Vision: Reinventing Survival
Dean Hall didn’t just create another survival game—he set out to evolve the genre he helped pioneer. Having established the survival game blueprint with DayZ, Hall recognized the genre’s limitations in how it challenges players and introduces new content.
Icarus represents his answer: a survival game that respects player time through sessions, maintains tension through permanent death consequences, and evolves continuously through weekly content updates.
By March 2021, over 65 people were working on Icarus across RocketWerkz studios, demonstrating the company’s commitment to creating a AAA survival experience. The team’s dedication shows in the game’s polish and the consistency of post-launch support.
Community and Player Base
As of October 2025, the game sees over 1.6 million daily players on average, with over 16,500 total concurrent players from Steam and other supported platforms. These numbers reflect a healthy, engaged community that’s stuck with the game through its evolution.
The consistent player base proves that Icarus’s unique approach resonates with survival game enthusiasts seeking something different from the standard formula. The game has cultivated a dedicated following that appreciates its uncompromising vision and regular content additions.
Who Should Play Icarus?
Ideal For:
- DayZ Fans: If you loved the tension and stakes of Hall’s previous work
- Hardcore Survival Enthusiasts: Players who want meaningful consequences and challenges
- Co-op Groups: Teams of 2-8 players who communicate well
- Strategic Players: Those who enjoy planning, optimization, and risk management
- Time-Conscious Gamers: The session structure respects your time with clear mission parameters
May Not Suit:
- Casual Survival Fans: The difficulty curve is steep and unforgiving
- Solo Builders: Those primarily interested in creative building without survival pressure
- Players Who Hate Losing Progress: The permadeath on failed extraction is brutal
- Low-Spec PC Owners: The game demands decent hardware for optimal performance
Tips for New Prospectors
Starting Out Strong
- Prioritize Oxygen: Always know where your next oxygen source is
- Build Smart, Build Fast: Time is precious—don’t overengineer early structures
- Watch the Weather: Storms can end your run quickly if you’re unprepared
- Travel Light: Carrying excess weight slows you down when seconds matter
- Learn the Map: Understanding landmark locations saves critical time
Progression Strategies
- Focus Your Tech Tree: Specialize early rather than spreading points thin
- Prepare for Extraction Early: Don’t wait until the last minute to head back
- Coordinate with Teammates: In co-op, divide roles for maximum efficiency
- Accept Some Losses: Failed missions teach valuable lessons—embrace them
Long-Term Mastery
- Study Biomes: Each environment has optimal resource routes
- Time Management: Learn how long different crafting tasks actually take
- Risk Assessment: Know when to push forward and when to retreat
- Build a Blueprint Library: Unlock diverse options to adapt to any mission
Technical Performance and Requirements
Icarus runs on the Unreal Engine and demands a moderately powerful PC for smooth performance. The game’s stunning visuals come at a cost in terms of system requirements, but the immersive world justifies the hardware investment.
Regular updates have improved optimization over time, though some players still report occasional performance issues in certain biomes or during intense weather events.
The Ongoing Evolution
What sets Icarus apart from many survival games is RocketWerkz’s commitment to continuous improvement. The weekly update schedule introduces new content, balance changes, and community-requested features regularly. This isn’t a game that was abandoned after launch—it’s a living project that grows with its community.
Recent updates have added:
- New mission types and objectives
- Expanded crafting options
- Quality-of-life improvements
- Additional wildlife and environmental hazards
- Enhanced building mechanics
Pricing and Value Proposition
Icarus follows a premium pricing model rather than free-to-play or early access. The base game offers substantial content, with optional cosmetic additions available. Given the hundreds of hours of gameplay available and the continuous free updates, the value proposition is strong for dedicated survival game fans.
Regular sales provide opportunities to jump in at reduced prices, making it accessible to budget-conscious players willing to wait for deals.
The Verdict: A Survival Game That Demands Respect
Icarus is worth playing in 2025, but only if you enjoy an uncompromising, janky, yet engaging gameplay experience. This isn’t a game that holds your hand or forgives mistakes easily. It’s a brutal, demanding survival experience that rewards skill, planning, and perseverance.
The session-based structure brilliantly solves one of survival gaming’s biggest problems: the endless mid-game grind. Every mission feels purposeful, every extraction satisfying, and every failure motivating rather than demoralizing (mostly).
For players seeking the next evolution in survival gaming—one that respects their time while maximizing tension—Icarus delivers an experience unlike anything else in the genre. It’s not perfect, and its difficulty won’t appeal to everyone, but for those willing to embrace its harsh realities, Icarus offers some of the most rewarding survival gameplay available.
Where to Buy and Get Started
Icarus is available exclusively on PC through Steam. The game receives regular updates, so checking the store page for current sales and editions is recommended.
Before You Buy:
- Check system requirements against your PC specs
- Consider starting with friends—co-op eases the learning curve
- Watch gameplay videos to understand the session structure
- Join the Discord community for tips and teammate finding
Final Thoughts
Icarus represents Dean Hall’s vision of what survival games can become when freed from the constraints of traditional design. By embracing time pressure, permanent consequences, and session-based structure, it creates moments of genuine tension that most survival games never achieve.
Yes, you’ll lose characters to poor planning. You’ll rage at storms that destroy your carefully built shelter minutes before extraction. You’ll curse the wildlife and the oxygen system and the brutal difficulty curve.
But you’ll also experience the rush of successful extraction with seconds to spare. The satisfaction of mastering a biome that once terrified you. The teamwork required to pull off complex missions. The constant improvement that comes from learning through failure.
That’s what makes Icarus special: it’s a survival game that makes you earn every victory, and makes those victories mean something.
Have you survived Icarus? Share your most memorable extraction stories or biggest failures in the comments below. We learn from both success and failure in this unforgiving world.
