Dev Blog #2: Ways to get around in Under a Rock

Hey everyone! Based on the recent announcement trailer, we thought it would be a great idea to cover a few of the traversal methods you saw, as well as the ones we haven’t shown yet.

While exploring the vibrant biomes of Under a Rock, you need to be able to think on your feet. Like when you first see a creature, even if they’re absolutely adorable, you need to be ready to react—whether that ends with you giving them a hug or, the more likely option, running for your life. While running is a quintessential part of getting around in any survival game, there may be times where going on foot just isn’t the best or even the preferred approach, and that’s where the variety of travel mechanics come into play.

Now let’s take a peek at those methods:
While some of these mechanics will be available to you as soon as you wash up on the beach, some will require you to craft items or tame creatures.


GLIDING

Soar through the air with your very own glider and experience the world from above by jumping off the highest mountain, or opt for something simpler by choosing the nearest rock. This one is an easy-to-learn, but hard-to-master mechanic.

Gliding through the air during a storm, although fun, might not be the best idea.


GRAPPLING
This is a favorite of ours. We just had to have it, and it turned out to be amazingly good fun, even more fun than we expected it would be. You can grapple freely to any surface strong enough to support the grappling hook, meaning it will go straight through the leaves on a palm tree, but the trunk itself will work nicely.

Grappling down can easily lead to unfortunate corpse runs. Unless, of course, you have chosen abilities that mitigate some of this high-velocity fall damage.

CLIMBING

Under a Rock would feel incomplete unless you could climb rocks, trees, the walls of your home—basically any surface that looks climbable.

This is free climbing at its finest. Up, down, sideways, diagonally, even around edges. Want those coconuts high up in the palm tree? Well, you can either climb up or chop it down, though should you do the latter, you won’t be getting any more coconuts from that tree.

When you get to an edge, you will mantle onto the surface above. Going down works the same way, just in reverse, but only as long as you choose to go into climbing mode.

SWIMMING & DIVING

There are water surfaces to swim across and mysterious depths to explore while diving. Shipwrecks, enigmatic ruins, creatures, resources, and even underwater caves await.

RIDING CREATURES

Form a bond with creatures of your choice, be it a Snugget, a Dodo, a Bee, or one of the many other creatures that inhabit the island. Their speed, ability to carry, or even combat skills vary, so having multiple companions to choose from is a good idea.

Would you like to know more? Then make sure to follow us on social media and Discord, as we will be releasing longer gameplay footage of our travel mechanics over the coming weeks.