The 30-second answer
Two survival games left Early Access within a month of each other in autumn 2026 — RuneScape: Dragonwilds on 15 September, Enshrouded on 15 October — and they are both fantasy, both co-op, and both about gathering, building and fighting. Then they split.
Dragonwilds is a 1–4 player co-op survival adventure on Ashenfall, where magic replaces the tool grind. You do not chop a tree; you summon a spectral axe and it falls.
Enshrouded is a 16-player action RPG where you carve a base into voxel terrain and push into corrupting fog.
Small group, magic-first, RuneScape flavour → Dragonwilds. Bigger group, terrain sculpting, action combat → Enshrouded.
Head to head
| Enshrouded | RuneScape: Dragonwilds | |
|---|---|---|
| Left Early Access | 15 October 2026 | 15 September 2026 |
| Max players | 16 | 4 |
| Platforms | PC, PS5 (Xbox Series X|S spring 2027) | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Setting | Embervale, a fallen kingdom under the Shroud | Ashenfall, in the RuneScape universe |
| Gathering | Physical tools — pickaxes, axes | Spells — spectral axe, blink, conjure tornado of fish, explode ore veins |
| Progression | Skill tree, gear tiers, Flame Altar levels | RuneScape skill levelling with abilities and spells per skill |
| Building | Voxel terrain editing | Placed structures on a hand-crafted world |
| Main threat | The Shroud and its corrupted creatures | The Dragon Queen |
| Price | $29.99 at 1.0 (increase confirmed) | $29.99 (lowest recorded $20.99) |
| Steam reviews | Very Positive | Very Positive — 81% of 33,523 |
| Concurrent players (Oct 2026) | — | ~17,000–31,000 |
The one feature that defines Dragonwilds
Every survival game asks you to gather. Dragonwilds is the one that makes gathering feel like a spellcaster’s shortcut rather than a chore.
Official examples from the game: summon a spectral axe to fell a tree in an instant, blink away from danger in a cloud of magic, conjure a tornado of fish from a lake, and explode ore veins with a snap of your fingers. The setting explains it — Ashenfall is Anima-rich, and wild magic spills from the fractured land.
That is the reason to pick Dragonwilds. If the part of survival games you quietly resent is the fourth hour of swinging a pickaxe, this is the game that removes it.
Enshrouded takes the opposite approach: tools are physical and tiered, and its tools and gathering guide is a genuine progression system, not an obstacle to be magicked away.
Group size
This is the sharpest practical difference, and it is not subtle.
- Dragonwilds supports 1–4 players. That is the whole range. It is designed as a small-friends or solo experience, closer in shape to Valheim or Grounded than to a big-server survival game.
- Enshrouded supports up to 16.
If you are four friends, Dragonwilds is fine. If you could see the group growing, it will not scale, and that is a hard ceiling rather than a default you can configure upward.
Platforms
Dragonwilds has the wider launch. It left Early Access on 15 September 2026 simultaneously on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S — and the Xbox inclusion came after some public confusion, with Jagex confirming in response that there was no PS5 exclusivity period.
Enshrouded 1.0 is PC and PS5, with Xbox Series X|S following in spring 2027. If your group is on Xbox today, Dragonwilds is the only one of the two you can all play right now.
Combat and progression
- Enshrouded is third-person action RPG combat with dodge windows, parries and a skill tree supporting Warrior, Ranger and Wizard routes. Since 1.0 every swing, dodge and block costs stamina, and a timed parry fills the stun bar to open a Merciless Attack.
- Dragonwilds leans on the RuneScape identity: you level skills, and each skill grants abilities and spells as you progress. The enemies are RuneScape creatures — Zogres, Black Knights, and the new Garou — building toward the Dragon Queen.
Both are PvE. Neither is a PvP game.
Building
Enshrouded, and it is not close.
- Enshrouded: voxel terrain editing. You can terrace a hillside, carve a hall into a mountain, and level ground that was never flat. 1.0 adds second-generation Adventure Sharing with traps, logic gates and enemy spawners for published community builds.
- Dragonwilds: placed structures on a hand-crafted open world. The world itself is fixed; you build on it.
What each does better
Enshrouded is better at:
- Groups up to 16
- Voxel terrain sculpting
- Action-RPG combat with distinct builds
- A persistent, physically altered world
- Deeper equipment and crafting systems
Dragonwilds is better at:
- Making gathering fun — spells replace the tool grind
- Small-group co-op that is easy to organise
- Console reach right now (Xbox and PS5 at launch)
- RuneScape’s skill-progression satisfaction without an MMO commitment
- A bright, vibrant high-fantasy tone rather than grim fog
Verdict by player type
- You have more than four players → Enshrouded.
- You are on Xbox → Dragonwilds, until Enshrouded’s spring 2027 version.
- You hate the gathering grind → Dragonwilds.
- You want to sculpt terrain → Enshrouded.
- You want Souls-influenced action combat → Enshrouded.
- You want classic RuneScape skill progression → Dragonwilds.
- You are playing alone → Either works; Enshrouded explicitly supports solo and has more solo content.
At $29.99 each, price is not the tie-breaker. Group size and your appetite for magic-as-utility are.