The next major milestone for Ardem is getting closer. Following the ongoing closed playtest this August, the Ardem public playtest is scheduled to begin on Thursday 15th October, giving a much wider audience the opportunity to experience the game and explore more of what is being built.
While the closed playtest is primarily focused on testing the technology behind Ardem, the October public playtest is planned to bring together a much broader selection of gameplay systems. For players who have been waiting to step into the world of Minnowa, October is set to be a much bigger opportunity to experience Ardem for themselves.
The current closed playtest is deliberately limited. Its purpose is to stress the game, test servers, find crashes, and identify problems that the development team needs to fix. The official playtest documentation describes testers as being there to “break things” and report them, rather than simply judge whether the game is fun. The October public playtest moves things towards a broader gameplay experience. The official feature scope shows a clear difference between the two builds, with several additional systems planned for the Public Playtest.
What Can Players Expect?
The public playtest is planned to include many of the core systems already being tested during the closed playtest, including:
- Character creation
- Clothing and equipment
- Movement and animations
- The in-game UI
- The playable Minnowa map
- Loot and item spawning
- Hunger, thirst and survival needs
- Crafting
- Object placement
- Gunplay
- Farming
- Electricity and generators
- Ground vehicles
These systems are listed in the official feature scope for the October 15 Public Playtest. But that’s not all. Several systems that aren’t part of the current closed playtest are planned to make their appearance in the public playtest.
One of the notable additions planned for October is buildings and interiors. While the closed playtest currently excludes these, the public playtest scope lists them as a meaningful part of the October experience. This will give players more opportunities to explore the world around them and discover what lies inside the structures scattered throughout Minnowa.
Survival Gets More Dangerous
The Public Playtest also expands the survival side of Ardem. The October build is planned to include health, damage, and healing, alongside the hunger, thirst, and survival systems already being tested. Players therefore won’t just need to find supplies and navigate the world. Staying alive will become an increasingly important part of the experience.
The Infected Arrive: Perhaps one of the biggest additions for players is infected gameplay. This adds another major threat to the survival experience and brings Ardem closer to the dangerous post-apocalyptic world players have been waiting to explore.
Base building is also planned for the public playtest. The October scope includes base building, alongside object placement, crafting, and other systems that can contribute to establishing a place to survive. For players interested in creating their own safe haven, this is an important step towards the wider survival gameplay Ardem is working towards.
This also expands the ways players can interact with the world, with fishing and farming becoming available for testing. Together with gathering supplies, crafting, and managing survival needs, these systems begin to create a much broader survival loop.
What Isn’t Included Yet?
The October public playtest is still a test build, and there are several systems that aren’t currently planned to be included.
These include:
- Animal AI
- Hunting
- Cooking
- Water vehicles
- Aircraft
- Groups / clan systems
- Skills and character progression
- Dynamic world events
These systems are marked as not included in the current public playtest scope. That doesn’t necessarily tell us what the finished game will or won’t contain — it simply shows what is currently planned for this particular playtest. With exploration, survival needs, crafting, farming, vehicles, infected gameplay, buildings, interiors, and base building all coming together, the October test should provide a much better look at the direction Ardem is heading.
There is still a long road ahead, and the game remains firmly in development. But for survivors waiting to enter Minnowa, the countdown to 15th October is now underway.
