In Stranded Deep, an open-world survival simulator not unlike the Steam Early Access game, Raft, a valuable skill for staying alive is an ability to manage resources efficiently. Because wood is an essential component in a wide variety of crafting designs, it can be helpful to know if trees will grow back, or if they are consumed when harvested.

Wood is an important building material in Stranded Deep, required in building Walls, Rafts, Splints and more. Wood Logs and Palm Fronds can be acquired by cutting down Palm Trees, while the Ficus Tree yields Wood Sticks. These can then be used to craft supplies and shelter, or as fuel for a campfire.

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Unfortunately, Palm Trees and Ficus Trees do not respawn, so players must travel to other islands in the event that they run out of these resources. The likely reason for this is that the developers wanted to incentivize exploration; if trees were to grow back, then players might - as Civilization IV designer, Soren Johnson worded it - optimize the fun out of the game. Rather than risking their character’s life to venture out into unknown waters, players would be rewarded for staying put.

stranded deep character chopping wood from palm tree

In more lore-friendly terms, it can be understood that trees don’t grow back due to how long it takes for them to grow in real life. In a game with a reasonable amount of realism, the amount of time it would take for these trees to replenish themselves would be prohibitive.

It should be noted, however, that there are a couple resources that do grow back: Palm Saplings and Yucca Trees. These plants will provide players with Fibrous Leaves, which are necessary as campfire fuel and for when Stranded Deep players need to make a splint. Players shouldn’t get confused though; while Palm Saplings will grow back within one to three in-game days of being harvested, they will never grow into full Palm Trees.

Stranded Deep forces players to make tough decisions about their survival strategy. Palm Trees provide a good example of this because, in addition to the previously mentioned Wood Logs and Palm Fronds, they can be harvested for Coconuts, allowing Stranded Deep players to make a Coconut Flask to transport drinkable water around with them. However, chopping down a tree will permanently deplete its resources, and once a player’s home island is devoid of these trees, the player will have to risk traversing shark-infested water to find more. 

If trees are becoming scarce on the island, it’s advisable for Stranded Deep players to build a raft with some of their available wood in order to make traveling between islands a little safer. Alternatively, players would have to swim to the next closest island, fill their limited inventory with supplies, and then risk the return voyage home. New players should limit the number of nonrenewable trees they cut down in the first place.

Stranded Deep is available now on Linux, macOS, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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Source: Prima Games