Conan Exiles

I play the game now since Early Access. And I surely had my ups and downs with it.
But I just got to give this mad respect for handing out such an gorgeous version of the game.
Every other company had sold this as "Remaster" for 60€ or so.
Thank you Funcom

Conan Exiles is on my favorite games list with Skyrim, the Dark Souls trilogy, and Minecraft. This game is truly special and a real gem. There is so much you can do in this game and it has long-term playability which makes it worth the money. You can play the story line or you can decide to do whatever you want instead. You have full access to the map unlike many other games. You can build all over the map in creative or in survival. It has crafting of all kinds of things. You can fight pve, or pvp if that is your thing. You can have your own private server. I just wish they allowed many worlds like in minecraft. You only get 2. Plus they allow mods and those add so much to the game. Some of the modders are truly gifted. I just wish they would keep their mods all up-to-date. You can play single player, co-op, or public. You can play online or offline. You have choices and I like that. But I have to say the most unique and best feature of Conan Exiles are the thralls. If you like to roleplay, then you will love the thralls. You can make the perfect companion to go on adventures with you, protect you or fight with you, and keep things operating at your base. I absolutely love the thralls. Best idea ever. This game never gets boring. Yes, it has some glitches and bugs (what game doesn't) but it doesn't detract from this being one of the best games ever made.

gave out the repolish for FREE. looking at YOU wildcard studios. its the same game and its not $60 XDDD

Props to Funcom for the new update being free. Unlike certain other publishers who deserve salting.

I've been playing Conan Exiles for years, 7k+ hours. Love this game! You can play it solo or with friends, learn about the world through lore or (with help from mods) make your own. Yes, from time to time, there can be some bugs or some slow months like any other game, but I always come back to this game as I love building, creating characters and stories for them. I've heard great things about pvp but I generally play on a RP server but it's nice the option is there. Highly suggest giving it a try if you like sandbox games, building, creating characters and exploration. Look at mods for more in depth character creation and less building restrictions.

I'll get this out of the way before I even start: I'm reviewing Conan Exiles as a PvE player, comparing it mainly to other survival games I've played such as ARK, Rust, Subnautica, The Forest, and Grounded.
I also want to separate the game itself from the direction Funcom has taken with its monetization. My recommendation is based on the quality of the game, not on the company's business practices.
Don't get me wrong—I think Funcom's monetization has become one of the worst aspects of Conan Exiles. The Bazaar is heavily overpriced, the old Battle Pass was a terrible addition, and with almost every major update they somehow manage to break large community mods like Age of Calamitous. At this point it almost feels like modders have to rebuild their work after every update. I strongly dislike that direction.
That said, the game underneath all of that is still excellent.
Maybe I'm a bit too forgiving when it comes to Conan. I started playing it during the COVID lockdowns and quickly became attached to it. Even after all these years and all of Funcom's questionable decisions, I still think the core game is one of the best survival experiences available.
Compared to games like ARK or Rust, Conan Exiles has one of the clearest and most satisfying progression systems in the genre. You're almost always working toward the next tool tier, armor set, dungeon, or crafting station, and it never feels confusing. Resource gathering is balanced well enough that progression doesn't become an endless grind—even on official server rates.
The revamped attribute system was a great improvement and makes character builds feel much more meaningful than they used to.
Combat is a little dated by today's standards, but it's still enjoyable. Dodging, blocking, climbing, and stamina management make encounters far more engaging than simple hack-and-slash combat. It's not perfect, but I'd still rank it above several other survival games.
The Thrall system remains one of the most unique mechanics in the genre. Capturing NPCs to become craftsmen, guards, or combat companions gives progression another layer that few survival games can match.
There are plenty of progression paths besides simply upgrading your weapons. Sorcery, religions, crafting specializations, dungeons, legendary gear, and world bosses all give you long-term goals throughout the game.
Exploration is probably my favorite part. The Exiled Lands are full of hidden caves, ruins, dungeons, bosses, and environmental storytelling. The desert regions feel especially polished, while the jungle and snowy north are slightly less detailed, but the overall world design is fantastic.
The building system is another highlight. Unlike many survival games that heavily restrict where or how you build, Conan gives you enormous freedom. Even after finishing the main progression, it's fun to jump into creative mode and build castles, cities, or entire settlements just because you can.
The story itself is... okay. Most of it is delivered through lore tablets, ghosts, journals, and NPC dialogue. I personally didn't pay much attention to it because I found the delivery somewhat dry, but compared to most survival games, Conan actually has a decent amount of lore if you're interested in discovering it.
The crafting system contains a huge number of recipes without becoming overwhelming. Only the very late game starts asking for large amounts of resources.
Thanks to the Enhanced Edition, the game also looks surprisingly modern. The updated visuals, lighting, and environmental improvements have helped it age much better than many survival games from the same era.
Of course, the game isn't perfect.
There are still bugs, occasional performance issues, and some frustrating AI behavior. While optimization is much better than it used to be, major updates sometimes introduce new problems. Multiplayer can also suffer from desync issues depending on the server, and Funcom's update philosophy often prioritizes monetization over fixing long-standing community concerns.
Still, when I compare Conan Exiles to other games in the genre, I keep coming back to it. Very few survival games combine exploration, progression, base building, dungeon crawling, world bosses, and RPG mechanics this well.
My first complete playthrough took about 150 hours, and I enjoyed almost all of it. As a purely single-player experience, replayability isn't infinite, but it's absolutely the kind of game you can revisit a year later and happily sink another 70–100 hours into.
Despite Funcom's increasingly disappointing monetization, I still believe Conan Exiles has one of the strongest foundations of any survival game I've played. In terms of progression, exploration, building, and overall PvE gameplay, it remains among the best in the genre.
If you enjoy survival games, it's absolutely worth buying—especially when it's on sale, which happens several times a year.

I still come back to this game from time to time since its early access days. Back then it was full of bugs, but somehow my friend and I still had a great time playing it. The difference between the old version and the current one is huge. The game kept getting updates, new content, and improvements over the years.
Cut trees, gather stone, survive the weather, build your base, upgrade your gear, capture thralls, clear dungeons, kill bosses, and just try to stay alive in this massive world. Conan really nails that survival sandbox feeling for me.
The new UE5 update made the game look much better visually and honestly it’s the reason I started playing again after years. I also really like how they connected Exiled Lands and Siptah together. Being able to teleport between the maps feels like a smart change instead of splitting the content apart.
My favorite part of the game is definitely the follower/thrall system. Hunting for strong thralls and traveling around the world with them makes the world feel more alive and gives me a reason to keep exploring. The mod support is also great. There are so many amazing mods, especially for solo play, and I use quite a few of them myself.
The game still has some issues here and there, and the biggest problem right now is probably the servers. Busy servers can get extremely laggy and they still haven’t fully solved that problem. But even with its flaws, Conan is still one of my favorite open world survival games.