The Gold River Project

The Gold River Project

Steam Deck Unsupported

Fairview Games Inc. · Open World Survival Craft · Jan 23, 2026

It depends on what you're after.

At $24.99. It has been as low as $17.49.

63%
Mixed
652 player reviews
Medium confidence
Buy it if you like
  • Graphics: 44 reviews raised it, mostly praise
  • Gameplay: 41 reviews raised it, mostly praise
  • Optimization: 41 reviews raised it, mostly praise
Think twice if you dislike
  • Bugs: 63 reviews raised it, mostly criticism
  • Interface: 44 reviews raised it, mostly criticism
  • Crashes: 37 reviews raised it, mostly criticism

Based on 652 player reviews · updated 3 days ago

What players think

The recurring themes across 300 analysed reviews: what players praise, what divides them, and what to know.

Why players love itThings to know
55% of themes are praise18% are divided27% are caveats
Graphics
Players who bring up Graphics mostly praise it.
-Game is stupid bright with the current lighting model, with no gamma control or brightness sliders to be found. (this is contrasted by near pitch black nighttime conditions, which would be fine, if you could use the apparently waterproof flashlight underwater for those sections.
44 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
Gameplay
Players who bring up Gameplay mostly praise it.
I understand if people are sad having issues with this game if it has to do with stuttering etc, but overall as an early release of a game, I found it to have a very puzzle catchy gameplay when playing co op in a atmospheric beautiful map.
41 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
Optimization
Players who bring up Optimization mostly praise it.
First optimization I run a 4070 super, an msi meg MB 64 gigs of ddr6 ram an intel I9 cpu and this game stutters like a palsy victim.
41 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
Story and characters
Players who bring up Story and characters mostly praise it.
While I do appreciate some games that prefer the approach of not handholding you through a story, and allow you to figure things out at your own pace, there's not much going on in the way of directing you to the next step.
39 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
Co-op
Players who bring up Co-op mostly praise it.
DEMO was rough but the concept is great: open-world camping, co-op, survival crafting.
13 of 300 sampled reviews raised it
Controls
Players who bring up Controls mostly praise it.
Controller support and steam deck verified.
7 of 300 sampled reviews raised it

Theme by theme

Every theme is scored by what reviewers actually said about it, not just whether they recommended the game.

LovedMixedComplained about
Players love6 themes
Graphics44 reviews
Gameplay41 reviews
Optimization41 reviews
Story and characters39 reviews
Co-op13 reviews
Controls7 reviews
Divided opinion% still recommend
Performance32 reviews
50%
Multiplayer16 reviews
75%
Players complain% still recommend
Bugs63 reviews
57%
Interface44 reviews
55%
Crashes37 reviews
46%

Ranked by how many sampled reviews mention each topic. A topic sits in a column by what reviewers said about that topic; the percentage beside it is how many of them recommended the game anyway. One more theme was raised by fewer than 6 sampled reviews and is not shown.

Should you buy it now?

Crit’s read on the price, from Steam price history.

Prices have been lower

Currently $24.99. The lowest we've tracked is $17.49.

6 points recordedtoday · $24.99

The data behind the verdict

For the players who want the receipts.

Player review score
63%
Mixed
Playing right now
Achievements
25
total to unlock
Rarest-achievement stats coming soon
Average playtime
Not tracked yet

We’ll surface hours-played once playtime ingestion ships.