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Shipwrecked as a 17th-century merchant, survive a dangerous island in VR by scavenging, crafting, exploring, and enduring roguelike runs.
Released 12 Mar 2026
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A highly realistic VR survival roguelike adventure set on a ruthless 17th-century tropical island. Shipwrecked and alone, you must survive without guidance as you face wild beasts, nature’s fury, and a mysterious local tribe. Every decision is yours. Your survival is in your own hands!
Developed by Maru VR · Published by Maru VR
You play Daniel, a 17th-century merchant cast ashore on a tropical island. With little guidance, you must learn how to survive its wilderness and uncover more about the castaway and his story.
Explore beaches, riverlands, and jungle to find food, water, and useful resources. Handle objects directly in VR as you prepare meals, make fires, craft, build, and face wildlife, storms, sickness, and nighttime threats.
Survival unfolds across repeated runs: death ends a run, while surviving longer can unlock equipment and mechanics for later attempts. Day and night, weather, and shifting resources shape each trip, and adjustable settings let you tailor parts of the challenge.
Players who enjoy Bootstrap Island often praise its tactile VR interactions, striking island atmosphere, and the satisfaction of learning survival through experimentation. Some also highlight its narration, story, and tense nights. Other reviews find the early unlocks and repeated survival loop frustrating, and performance problems are a recurring complaint.
You step into the role of Daniel, a merchant cast ashore in the 17th century and forced into a brutal fight for survival. Unprepared for the wilderness, you must trust your instincts, learn through failure, adapt to ever-changing dangers, and endure a world that shows no mercy. A roguelike survival adventure where every decision matters and every mistake can cost you everything.
A highly realistic, systems-driven world where everything reacts. Day and night cycles, weather, fire, and liquids interact in complex ways - creating endless, unpredictable challenges.
The island can be explored freely. Beaches, riverlands, jungle, and other biomes offer different resources. Every interaction encourages experimentation and instinctive problem solving. You just have to be creative.
Every failure is a lesson. Learn, adapt, and return wiser and better equipped each time. The island is relentless — prowling predators, violent storms, sickness, territorial threats, poisonous plants, and tense encounters with a local tribe.
No two runs are the same. Resources, weather, and dangers shift with every attempt, forcing you to rethink how you survive.
Uncover the past of a stranded survivor — the life before the shipwreck and the uncertain future ahead. As you explore, piece together who you are, why you were on the ship, and whether your arrival on the island is mere coincidence or something far more meaningful.
There are signs of others. Whether they become allies or enemies depends entirely on you.
Tailor the experience to your playstyle. Adjust day length, world intensity, and survival systems to shape the journey you want — whether you crave a relentless challenge or prefer a slower, exploration and base-building focused adventure.
Co-funded by the European Union. Co-funded by European Union Creative Europe Media.
| Platforms | Windows |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 30 |
| Age ratings |
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| Controller required | Yes |
| Demo | View demo on Steam |
| DLC / extras | 1 listed on Steam |
| Website | Official website |
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