Raft 1.0.01 — Mac version

Raft runs happily on any Apple Silicon Mac. I've got it going on an M3 Pro MacBook Pro under macOS Sequoia without a hitch, so your M1 or M2 machine will handle it just fine. The ARM build means it's not fighting through a translation layer.

You start on a four-square raft with a plastic hook. A shark wants to eat your floorboards. Minute to minute, you're scanning the water for floating barrels and planks, reeling them in with your hook, and turning debris into drinking water and grilled fish. Miss a scrap and it drifts away. Miss the shark's approach and you're patching holes while it circles back for another bite.

Once you're fed and watered, the game opens up. You plonk down a research table and start learning new blueprints — better purifiers, bigger storage, a sail to steer towards islands. With an anchor crafted, you can stop at a reef, dive overboard, and gather clay and scrap from the seabed while keeping one eye on the shark. The raft itself grows from a tatty platform into a proper floating base with multiple decks, crop plots, and a cooking station.

When you're ready to push further, you follow the wind and radio signals to story locations — abandoned rigs, domed cities, and trading posts where you meet new characters and swap goods. It's the loop that keeps you onboard: drift, scavenge, build, and then sail towards the next mystery on the horizon.

If you enjoy making your own fun with a pile of sticks and a hook, Raft delivers. It clicks best for tinkerers who get a kick out of planning every floorboard, farmers who'll fuss over a beetroot plot while the shark gnaws the stern, and duos who divide the chores — one on lookout, one cooking. Solo players still get the full loop, but the rhythm really shines when you're yelling "plank at two o'clock" at a mate.

A session adrift

Morning on the raft. I reel in three barrels and a palm frond before the coffee's brewed. A quick scan shows the shark circling port side, so I patch a loose corner and check the water purifier — two cups ready. With thirst sorted, I spot a reef on the horizon and raise the sail. As we drift closer, I drop anchor, swap the hook for a flipper, and slip overboard. Down in the green, I grab scrap and clay between nervous glances at the reef edge. Something big moves in the blue. I kick for the ladder with half a lungful of air, toss the scrap into the research table, and unlock a smelter just as the sun dips. Tomorrow we sail. Tonight, we cook. The raft creaks gently under a sky thick with stars.

Version 1.0 marks the full release after a long Early Access run. It adds new story destinations with fresh enemies to tackle, more items to craft, voice acting for characters, new faces to meet, and a trading system.

• Architecture: Apple Silicon (ARM)