Astroneer + Glitchwalker Expansion

I've put enough hours into Astroneer to know exactly what kind of game it is: a low-pressure space sandbox from System Era Softworks where the loop is dig, build, automate, and hop between planets without anyone shooting at you. The Terrain Tool lets you sculpt the ground like clay, tethers and oxygenators define how far you dare wander from base, and before long you're running power grids, rail networks, and shuttle routes across a whole solar system. That base game, now sitting at 92% positive across nearly 140,000 Steam reviews, earns its reputation. The Glitchwalkers expansion bundled here changes the flavour considerably, and that's the thing prospective buyers need to understand going in. Glitchwalkers ships you to Aeoluz, a new planet billed as the biggest and most complex System Era has built. The hook is a proper antagonist for the first time in the series: a rogue hacker called Bl!tZ who has wormed into the Astroneer systems, with a contact named Frank feeding you the mission chain. Narratively it's a noticeable step up from the nearly wordless base game. Mechanically the expansion introduces Hacked Storms, weather events more dangerous than anything in the base solar system, and a new loop built around gathering data to construct storm protection before you can push deeper into Aeoluz's layered biomes. Vault puzzles gate progress and give the whole thing a more directed, almost puzzle-adventure structure. That structure is also where the criticism lands. Reviewers and community members have noted that Glitchwalkers feels less like a sandbox expansion and more like a challenge mode grafted onto the Astroneer engine. The base-building freedom that defines the core game is significantly restricted on Aeoluz, the biomes can feel repetitive once the initial bioluminescent spectacle wears off, and the narrative arc runs out of steam before it fully pays off. There is also a meaningful barrier to entry: you must complete the mission "A Core Concept" in the base game before the expansion's mission chain unlocks, so raw beginners cannot jump straight to Aeoluz. That gating will frustrate anyone who bought the bundle primarily for the expansion content. On the upside, the co-op angle is generous: only the host needs the Glitchwalkers expansion for friends to join, which keeps the multiplayer barrier low. The base game also received Glitched Storms as a free addition alongside the expansion, appearing on planets across the base solar system as tracker puzzles that feed into the broader lore. The Custom Games mode, added in an earlier update, lets you tune oxygen levels, starting planets, and even enable permadeath, which meaningfully extends the life of both the base game and the expansion for players who want harder or more specific challenges. The bundle makes sense if you are new to Astroneer and want the complete current package, or if you are a returning player ready for something more directed and hostile than the chill base experience. If your priority is freeform base-building across an open solar system, go in knowing Glitchwalkers deliberately tightens that screw. It is a genuine experiment by a developer willing to push against their own formula, and that alone makes it worth watching, even if this first attempt at paid DLC is not an unqualified success.

Alex · Scout Team

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