Hytale is finally playable after a legendary run through development hell, and it's doing pretty well for itself, considering. It's made a pretty penny already, enough to fund two years of further development, and crucially, it's actually good. PC Gamer senior editor Christopher Livingston said in his impressions that the game "has a long road ahead" but "what's here and working works well."

The Hytale Team seems keen to keep the momentum up, as just four days after release, players have already been treated to a sizable update. It kicks off with a patch note containing the two most beautiful words in the English language: "added dinosaurs." It's a good sign that the team has its priorities straight.

But that's not all. There are some new character creation options, a slew of bug fixes including several crash fixes, and some balance changes addressing some fundamental-sounding problems: "weapon attacks should now check for line of sight," for example. Some placeholder assets and animations have been traded for more polished ones, and "cautious wildlife predators" have been adjusted so that they don't attack you unless you give them a reason to.

You can find the full patch notes on the Hytale website, where all sorts of info drops have landed regarding Hytale's lore and design plans over the last several weeks. It's a little astonishing how fast the studio has been moving since Hypixel owner Simon Collins-Laflamme acquired and revived the project after Riot canceled it—gameplay footage was shared a single day after the deal went through, and here we are just two months later with a playable build and fully implemented dinosaurs.

I'm keen to see where Hytale heads from here. I used to be the sort of guy that considered Grounded the one fun survival crafting game, but now that I've enjoyed Enshrouded, Abiotic Factor, V Rising, and Vintage Story, with another potential banger on the way in Hytale, I think I'm just a full-on convert to the genre's cause.

If you're interested in Hytale as well, it's not available to purchase on Steam just yet. Hytale is available for purchase in early access on the developer's website for $20.