PixARK: Terracrypt digs into a dozen new underground biomes on Steam

PixARK has gone underground. Snail Games USA has launched PixARK: Terracrypt, the voxel-based survival game's first major premium expansion, on Steam. It adds a sprawling subterranean kingdom, a dozen new biomes and more reasons to spend your evening building a base instead of going outside like a well-adjusted person.

According to the announcement, Terracrypt costs $9.99 on Steam, with a 10% launch discount running through September 7. Players who do not already own PixARK can pick up the original game at 75% off during the same period, while a bundle offers a further 10% saving. Console versions are planned for the coming months, although the release announcement does not give specific dates.

The expansion begins with a crash landing and a distress signal leading players into a cavernous grotto. From there, the journey runs through 12 distinct underground biomes, each with its own atmosphere, hazards and survival rules. The release also adds 11 new species, new factions and a story about uncovering a centuries-old power before it destroys the planet.

There is more than spelunking on the menu. The announcement says players can use new technologies to build more elaborate bases, genetically engineer creatures and cultivate flora. Automated production systems keep working while the player pushes deeper. The wider game also receives quality-of-life upgrades, including saving at any time in single-player, direct access to nearby storage and a redesigned creature scanner with more detailed tracking information.

The pitch is familiar survival-game comfort food — gather, build, tame, repeat — but the underground setting gives Terracrypt a useful twist. A dozen biomes should make the expansion feel more substantial than a reskinned cave, and the promise of 200-plus hours is certainly bold. Whether that becomes meaningful variety or merely a very large pile of crafting chores will depend on how well those biomes actually change the way players survive.

Still, at $9.99 — and with the original game heavily discounted — PixARK: Terracrypt looks like a reasonably painless excuse to return to Snail Games' blocky survival sandbox. PC players who already enjoy the loop have little to lose by descending. Everyone else should try the base game on sale first, because 200 hours of underground busywork is only a bargain if you actually like digging.