Conan Exiles stands out as an online multiplayer survival game set in the brutal world of Conan the Barbarian, blending action, strategy, RPG, simulation, adventure, and massively multiplayer elements on PC.
Gameplay
In Conan Exiles, survival demands constant attention to basic needs like hunting animals for food, cooking meals, and finding water sources to avoid dehydration. Players must also manage temperature by building campfires in cold areas or seeking shade during intense heat, while sandstorms require sturdy shelters for protection. Exploration covers a vast open world, from southern deserts to northern mountains, where climbing mechanics allow access to high places and ruins hold ancient secrets.
Building forms a core loop, with a system that lets you harvest resources to craft tools, weapons, and structures ranging from simple homes to sprawling cities. You can add functional elements like traps, elevators, and defenses, along with furniture and crafting stations. Combat relies on a combo-based system involving dodging, blocking, and wielding items such as swords, bows, axes, and daggers against monsters or other players.
Sorcery adds a dark twist, requiring players to corrupt their bodies for powers like summoning demons, undead thralls, or even lightning strikes. Thrall mechanics involve capturing and breaking NPCs on the Wheel of Pain, turning them into allies for defense, crafting, or entertainment. Religion plays a role too, with options to worship deities like Derketo or Jhebbal Sag, leading to abilities such as controlling massive god avatars to crush enemies.
Game Modes
Conan Exiles supports single-player mode for solo experiences, where you control progression speed, spawn monsters, or adjust settings as an administrator. Co-op mode allows small groups of friends to team up without broader server interactions.
Persistent online multiplayer takes place on public servers or player-hosted ones, emphasizing survival and dominance through PvP sieges or PvE challenges. Server admins can customize rules, enabling varied experiences from peaceful building to intense warfare.
Updates and Current State
The game receives updates through an Ages system, each introducing themed free content and optional Battle Passes for cosmetics. As of early 2026, the Age of Heroes follows the Age of War, bringing companions for quests, living settlements where thralls simulate daily activities like eating and sleeping, and enhancements to building and sorcery systems from the December 2025 update.
Stability improvements and features like proximity voice chat, new animations, and expanded crafting recipes keep the game evolving. The Isle of Siptah expansion adds a new island with unique creatures and building sets, though the base game remains robust on its own.
Is It Worth Playing?
Player reception on Steam shows mostly positive overall feedback from 37,415 reviews, with very positive recent ratings at 83 percent from 214 reviews in the last 30 days as of March 2026. Users praise the rewarding survival mechanics, extensive building options, and community-driven multiplayer, though some note a steep learning curve and occasional technical issues.
Metacritic reflects mixed scores, with a 68 metascore from critics and 5.5 user score, highlighting strengths in exploration and combat but criticisms for bugs and slow pacing. If you enjoy deep survival games with creative freedom and social elements, Conan Exiles offers lasting appeal, especially with ongoing free updates. Those seeking quick action might find the time investment challenging, but dedicated players often report hundreds of hours of engagement.
