Conan Exiles is a survival game based on the popular cult hero, Conan the Barbarian, who plays a small but significant part in the game’s beginning.

The game begins with the playable character being rescued by the eponymous hero, Conan. The character has been found guilty of a crime and crucified and left to die next to an abandoned and derelict road. Conan cuts you loose and then vanishes, having played his part in your life!

The game is set in the mythical Hyborian times from the book series of the same name. Players must work their way along the evolutionary arc moving from wood to stone to iron to steel tools and equipment all in a matter of mere hours.

Instead of tutorials, the player has journals which spell out a suggested learning curve, talking you through gathering materials, finding food and water – your health metre is fairly fragile during the first few levels after your rescue and must be watched carefully until you have enough possessions that it maintains itself, more or less.