Under a Rock doesn’t have a release date, and Nordic Trolls has said plainly that Early Access “isn’t launching soon” [2]. That hasn’t stopped the game from racking up over 450,000 wishlists across platforms, making it one of Steam’s most-anticipated unreleased titles [7]. If you’re trying to figure out whether to add it to your own list, here’s every mechanic the developer and publisher have actually confirmed — taming, building, combat, and the parts that could still change before launch.
What Is Under a Rock?
Under a Rock is a procedural open-world survival-crafting game for 1-10 players, built by the Norwegian debut studio Nordic Trolls and published by Gameforge 4D GmbH [1]. You play an early-19th-century explorer shipwrecked on an island where evolution took a different path: Neanderthals never died out, wildlife grew to unnatural sizes, and curses are a real, mechanical hazard rather than flavor text [2]. Reviewers who’ve seen the trailers describe the pitch as Valheim’s build-survive-fight loop crossed with Tomb Raider’s tropical exploration — a “vibrant take on the oftentimes punishing survival genre” rather than a grim survival sim [3].
The confirmed platform list is PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, plus PS5 and Xbox Series X/S with cross-play support [2]. Minimum specs already published on Steam call for a Core i5-6600, an RTX 2060, and 16 GB of RAM — high for a game still in pre-Early-Access testing, and a sign the procedural world generation is doing real work under the hood [1].
That procedural layer is also the reason Nordic Trolls, publisher Gameforge, and every preview outlet keep repeating the same line: no two islands will play out the same way. Resource nodes, cave layouts, and Neanderthal camp positions regenerate per world rather than sitting on a hand-placed map, which is standard for the genre but worth flagging because it directly shapes how much of this guide can stay useful after launch — the systems below are fixed, the specific locations you’ll find them in won’t be.
It’s Not in Early Access Yet — Here’s What’s Actually Confirmed
The only public hands-on so far was a free Steam playtest that ran through September 7, 2026, as part of Steam’s PvE Survival Crafting Fest. It was single-player only, capped to a size-limited island, and restricted to “Tier 1” content — an alpha slice, not the full game [3]. Early Access remains listed as “To be announced” on the Steam page, with no window given for PS5 or Xbox Series X/S either [1] [2]. Treat everything below as the current state of a game still being built, not a finished feature list.
| Confirmed by dev/publisher | Shown but could still change |
|---|---|
| 1-10 player co-op, cross-play PC/PS5/Xbox | Full Tier 2+ island content (playtest capped at Tier 1) |
| Tame/Companion split creature system | Exact companion stat balancing (Mobility, Ferocity, etc.) |
| Traditional and Ghost building modes | Blueprint sharing between players — publicly “in development,” not shipped [6] |
| Neanderthals as a hostile faction | Final combat balance beyond the alpha build |
The short version: the core loop — build, tame, fight, explore — is locked in. The specific numbers around it aren’t, because nobody outside the playtest has touched a build past Tier 1 content yet.
Building a Base: Two Modes, No Real Limits
Under a Rock ships with over 500 buildable components, enough to go from a beach hut to a sprawling multi-story village [2]. What sets the system apart from a typical Valheim-style build mode is the split between two placement modes. Traditional mode places a piece the instant you have the resources for it — the same as most survival games. Ghost mode lets you lay out an entire structure first, without spending anything, and it stays as a translucent plan that any teammate can fill in by delivering the required materials over time [6].
The mechanism matters more than it sounds: because Ghost layouts persist independently of the physical structure, a raid, cave-in, or curse effect that destroys part of your base doesn’t erase the plan — you just re-supply the ghost outline and rebuild. Nordic Trolls has also said blueprint sharing between players and worlds is in development, though it hadn’t shipped as of the last confirmed build [6]. You can build on land, in trees, inside caves, and underwater, though some environmental inhabitants will actively resist construction in their territory [6].
Combat, Neanderthals, and Curses
Confirmed weapons span clubs, spears, axes, and bows, with swords also shown in later gameplay reveals [4]. Nordic Trolls describes the combat as “primal and dynamic,” built around skill-based dodging and precisely timed shield blocks rather than a stat-check gear treadmill [4]. That framing matters for anyone coming from Ark or Palworld, where numbers do more of the work than timing does.
Neanderthals are the confirmed hostile faction, and the developer has specifically flagged that they “vigorously protect their territory” with distinct attack patterns per encounter rather than one shared enemy skeleton reused everywhere [4]. Curses and diseases sit alongside them as a second threat layer — supernatural ailments the game treats as a survival stat to manage, not just narrative color, though the exact mechanics (duration, cure methods, stacking) haven’t been detailed publicly yet [4].
Worth setting expectations here: “primal and dynamic” combat is the developer’s own framing, not an independent benchmark, so treat it as a design intent rather than a tested claim until more hands get on a build past Tier 1. What is verifiable is the weapon variety at this early stage — four melee/ranged types confirmed before Early Access even has a date is more than most survival games show pre-launch, which suggests combat has had real production time rather than being bolted on late.
Taming vs. Companions: Two Separate Systems
This is the one mechanic worth understanding before you form expectations, because Under a Rock splits “creature ally” into two distinct systems rather than one universal taming loop like Palworld’s [5]. A Tame is a wild creature you catch using a Taming Box baited with that species’ preferred food — once caught, it lives at your base, periodically sheds species-specific resources, and lays eggs if you keep it fed and content [5]. A Companion is a separate creature that hatches from one of those eggs in a Hatchery, and it’s built for a different job entirely: companions can be ridden, fight alongside you, carry loot in an upgradeable inventory, and take direct commands — Stay, Follow, Attack, Stop, Mount, Dismiss — with adjustable combat stances [5].
| System | How you get one | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Tame | Lure with preferred food into a Taming Box | Lives at base, sheds resources, lays eggs |
| Companion | Hatched from a Tame’s egg in a Hatchery | Mountable, fights, carries loot, takes commands |
Companions level five stats through use — Mobility, Ferocity, Lifeblood, Burden, and Hardiness — and a Creature Handling skill on your own character governs how well you can direct them in a fight [5] [7]. One detail worth flagging for anyone planning a base: neglect a creature for too long and it can lose trust and revert to the wild, which functions as the game’s soft cap on hoarding tames instead of a hard inventory limit [5].
The Wildlife You’ll Actually Meet
Early gameplay reveals have already named several ambient species you’ll run into before you ever fight a Neanderthal. Dodos run in a panic looking for cover the moment they spot you. Fluffypuffs burrow underground the instant they sense danger and surface once it passes. Snuggets travel in groups and, despite their size, have genuinely sharp teeth — a small, specific detail that suggests the “cute” fauna isn’t purely decorative [6]. None of this is confirmed as final creature-design language, but it’s a useful signal that Nordic Trolls is building a world with personality-driven wildlife rather than reskinned mob templates. It also tells you something practical about pacing: if the ambient wildlife you meet in the opening hour is built to flee or hide rather than fight, the early game is likely to lean toward gathering and base-building before the Neanderthal threat and tougher tames become the priority.
Who Should Actually Wishlist This
| You are… | Verdict |
|---|---|
| A Valheim player who wants co-op building without brutal punishment | Strong fit — the “vibrant, not punishing” framing is the explicit pitch [3] |
| An Ark/Palworld taming fan | Fit, but expect a two-tier Tame/Companion system, not one universal capture loop [5] |
| Someone who wants to play something today | Wait — the last public build was alpha, single-player, Tier 1 content only [3] |
How to Play Under a Rock Right Now
You can’t buy or download Under a Rock yet — Early Access has no date on Steam, PS5, or Xbox Series X/S [1] [2]. The only way anyone has legitimately played it so far was the free September 2026 playtest tied to Steam’s PvE Survival Crafting Fest, and that window has closed [3]. Wishlisting on the official Steam page is currently the only reliable way to get notified when Nordic Trolls opens the next playtest or announces an Early Access window — playtests for co-op survival titles at this wishlist tier tend to reopen in staged waves rather than all at once, so wishlisting is also what determines how early you get an invite next time. If you’re weighing it against other pre-launch survival games, our Emberville guide covers a similarly unreleased title using the same confirmed-vs-preview approach, which is a useful way to compare how two different studios are handling a pre-launch build in public.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Under a Rock out yet?
No. As of this writing it has no confirmed Early Access date on any platform; only a limited, single-player alpha playtest has been public, and that window closed September 7, 2026 [1] [3].
Is Under a Rock multiplayer?
Yes, the full game is confirmed for 1-10 player co-op with cross-play across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S — but the playtest so far has only allowed single-player [1] [3].
How is taming different from companions in Under a Rock?
Tames are wild creatures caught in a Taming Box that live at your base and produce resources and eggs. Companions hatch from those eggs, and are the ones you actually ride, command, and fight alongside [5]. If you’ve played Palworld’s single-loop taming system, this two-tier split is the biggest adjustment.
What platforms will Under a Rock launch on?
PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, plus PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, all with cross-play support confirmed by the developer [2].
Is Under a Rock similar to Soulmask or other survival-taming games?
Structurally yes — base building plus creature companions plus procedural exploration is the same broad shape as Soulmask’s servant system, though Under a Rock’s Tame/Companion split and prehistoric-island setting are its own thing.
Sources
- Under a Rock — Official Steam Store Page. Valve/Gameforge 4D GmbH
- AltChar. Under a Rock — Everything We Know So Far
- GamingBible. Valheim and Tomb Raider Collide in Limited-Time Free Steam Survival Game
- WorthPlaying. Under a Rock Reveals More Game Details, Shows Off Combat Gameplay
- Gematsu. Under a Rock “Taming” Gameplay Trailer, Screenshots
- Gameoneer. Under a Rock Introduces Base Building and Fluffy Creatures
- ComicBook.com. Highly Anticipated Open-World Survival Game Reveals New Gameplay Trailer
I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.