Boats and post-apocalyptic settings go together like water and fish, and I’m here for it. Flotsam, the drifting survival town-builder set in a world swallowed by rising seas, has reached its full release. The update introduces the finished narrative campaign, expanded world, specialist questlines, and significant mechanical upgrades.

Set in a world completely overtaken by rising seas, Flotsam centers on a group of “drifters” who travel across a polluted ocean on a handmade, mobile town and gather floating debris like plastic, driftwood, metal scraps. You’ll need to convert these into essential infrastructure. Water stills, food-cleaning stations, workshops, and shelters form the backbone of survival, while the constant need to balance power generation, weight limits, and layout constraints adds logistical complexity. The world is procedurally generated, encouraging players to adapt their settlement as they travel between submerged ruins and isolated pockets of land.

The 1.0 update introduces, for the first time, a full narrative campaign. Each drifter specialist—such as the Birdkeeper, Chemist, Electrician, and the newly added Aquaculturist—now has a dedicated questline. These characters serve functional roles within the settlement, unlocking new structures and technologies while revealing personal backstories that connect to the broader world’s collapse. Completing their stories grants additional mechanics and production options, giving long-term progression a clearer arc than in earlier versions.

Two new regions expand the navigable ocean. The Industry Zone introduces hazardous industrial remnants, bringing new materials alongside heightened contamination risks. The Polluted Woods, a contrasting biome, mixes organic decay with environmental hazards, presenting different survival challenges. Both areas provide resources unavailable elsewhere and broaden the game’s exploration loop.

Construction systems also receive notable revisions. Buildings can now be fitted with functional upgrades, such as air filters that lower pollution exposure or Gas-bags that reduce overall town weight. These upgrades help players refine settlement efficiency, particularly as they transition from early wood-based power sources to cleaner electricity generated through advanced research.

Alongside mechanical changes, Flotsam’s full release includes a complete achievement set and a collection of quality-of-life updates aimed at easing long-form play. Improvements to navigation, resource management, and production chains streamline some of the more repetitive tasks associated with the game’s earlier builds.

After 6 years of development shaped by player feedback, Flotsam has finally left early access on Steam, and it’s a pleasure to see how the developers have transformed their little scrap-settlement management game into a fully developed city builder. I’ll certainly be dropping anchor on this title.