Castaways

Do you enjoy open-world sandbox survival games with a social twist? Castaways drops you adrift at sea on a raft with almost nothing, then challenges you to find land, gather resources, and build a thriving island civilization alongside other players. Developed by Branch.gg and described by its own team as “Animal Crossing meets Minecraft with a bit of RuneScape,” it runs free in your browser with optional NFT ownership built in.

What is Castaways?

Castaways is developed by Branch.gg, a Seattle-based startup founded in 2020 by Dayton Mills, Connor Hollasch, and Charles Vien — a team that grew up building Minecraft servers and communities before pivoting to Web3. The game raised a $12.5 million seed round in 2022 led by Dragonfly Capital and Polychain, with participation from notable investors including Coinbase Ventures and Naval Ravikant.

The game runs in browser on PC, Mac, and mobile with no download required. It is currently in Open Beta (v1.6.0), meaning content is still expanding and occasional instability may occur during updates. Branch takes a “free-to-own” approach: rather than selling NFTs, the team mints collections and gives them to active players, letting the community earn ownership through participation.

How Does Castaways Work?

Every player starts adrift on the open ocean with almost nothing. Your first goal is finding land. On the water you can fish using a crafted rod — fishing involves a rhythm minigame where other players nearby can join in on large catches. Once you find an island, the survival loop begins: harvest palm trees for wood and coconuts, mine stone and coal, farm sugarcane, and protect your crops from seagulls.

Resources go into building and expanding your island. You can invite other players to join yours, combine lands into larger neighborhoods, and travel the seas to trade goods with other castaways or raid them for loot in PvP. Hunger management runs throughout — if your food bar empties, health starts dropping. The social dimension is central: larger fish schools spawn more frequently where groups of players are active, making cooperation genuinely rewarding.

Mini-games like fishing tie into the broader survival loop, with rare loot including crafting tools and collectible items dropping from ocean catches.

Digital Collectibles in Castaways

Castaways uses a “free-to-own” NFT model — items gathered and crafted in the game are minted as NFTs and transferred to players automatically, without requiring wallet connections or transaction signing during normal play. Branch built a custom middleware layer called Backpack that sits between Web3 and Web2, keeping the blockchain invisible unless you want to engage with it.

Genesis collections include The Raft (100 NFTs), The Islands (500 NFTs), and 1,000 Genesis Character NFTs. These were distributed free to early active players and now trade on OpenSea, Blur, and other Ethereum marketplaces. Genesis Island NFTs grant owners control over specific resource outflows — Lava and Coal — on their assigned island, plus access rights for other players.

Players who are done with the game can sell their islands and in-game inventories to other players as NFTs.

Getting Started in Castaways

Play for free directly in your browser at castaways.com/play — no account or download needed to start. You spawn on a raft in the ocean; start fishing immediately to build your first tools. Craft a fishing rod from sticks and rope gathered from ocean spawns, then use it to catch fish for food and loot. Finding land is your first major milestone. If you want to link your NFT items to a wallet for trading on secondary markets, connect an Ethereum-compatible wallet from the settings menu — but this is entirely optional and the core game works without it.

Where to Go Next

• Explore more metaverse games.
• Learn about blockchain gaming in our FAQ Library.
• Browse all NFT games.