Typically when you play an alpha demo of a game, you expect that any later demo will be better than the original. Very rarely do you play a later demo and go, what happened? Was this an older version of the demo that got used?

Is the computer overheating or is there a processing error? Is there something in the game that isn’t working properly that could be causing the bugs? These are just a few of the questions we had when playing Daedalic Entertainment and Octofox’s game Wild Woods at PAX East 2024.

Demo Impressions

When I previously played Wild Woods at PAX West 2023, the game ran smoothly, was comical, and was something to enjoy with others through couch co-op. At PAX East, the game felt like it was running slower despite the updated visuals and user interface.

The menus and that level were more vibrant. Additionally, we could tell that the PAX East demo was a newer build with the addition of mini-bosses, a new market, and a campout area. The game also featured new visual indicators for low health and cold when the players started to freeze.

Despite the new updates to the game, the newer demo felt like a step back. Yes, the couch co-op gameplay was still there but the PAX East demo for Wild Woods had a ton of bugs. Resources would drop and be unobtainable.

The characters would get frost damage when in the light, and occasionally the game would stutter. The core gameplay mechanics were still the same but something felt off. Maybe it was the group we were paired with or maybe it was the bugs.

At PAX West, we flew through the demo and it was a good number of laughs and excitement. This time it felt like a big slog. With resources bugging out and just floating in the air, unobtainable, we were limited on what we could do.

See a barrier or tree cut it down and hope we get the wood to kindle the fire. Cut the grass and plants to get healing plants, and hope that they can be stored.

We were ultimately fighting an uphill battle with limited resources and hoping things would work out; they did not. We ended up freezing to death after crossing a bridge at night. and having to fight enemies.

We were able to kill the enemies in the area but couldn’t get warm because we were out of wood and couldn’t heal because we were out of herbs. About half of the herbs and wood were unobtainable.

Despite the negative gameplay session we had at PAX East, we are still optimistic that Wild Woods will be a fun and enjoyable game when it releases. Octofox Games’ Wild Woods still does not have a release date but that is fine. We’d rather have a polished experience than a rushed game.

If you want to read our last preview of Wild Woods you can read it here.