Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Red Rust Pioneers
fish in a bottle · Published by Rusty Robot
Last updated 8 Oct 2026
Build a new life in the Wild West open world of Red Rust Valley, alone or with up to 4 players in co-op. Hunt, farm, raise animals and craft through the changing seasons in this survival game as your camp grows from a canvas tent to a homestead. Free land, open skies, and a world worth exploring.
Action, Adventure, Indie, Early Access · 2026 · More free games
Explore Red Rust Pioneers' vast Wild West open world, where you craft and farm alone or with friends. Watch your camp evolve from a tent to a homestead across changing seasons.
About this game
The year is 1842. Behind you, the life you knew. Ahead, the western frontier - miles of open sky, untouched valleys and adventure. Out here, the land is rich, the rivers run clean, and what you make of it is yours to keep. All you need is the frontier ahead, friends beside you, and the will to build a new life from the ground up.
The Wild West won't make it easy. But you didn't come out here for easy.
Build your homestead from a canvas tent to a ranch on the western frontier
Travel by wagon, break camp and push further west to settle new land
Hunt, fish and farm to feed yourself and your companions through every season
Craft tools, weapons and gear to carve out your place on the frontier
Survive blistering summers, violent storms and bitter frontier winters
Explore a vast open world alive with beauty, danger and discovery
Play solo or with up to 4 players in co-op
Red Rust Pioneers brings together the deep survival crafting and base building of Valheim and The Forest with the rugged beauty of Red Dead Redemption 2, set on a living, breathing western frontier.
BUILD & SETTLE
You didn't come west just to survive.
You came to build something. A canvas tent becomes a cabin. A cabin becomes a homestead. A homestead becomes a ranch. With your own two hands and the hands of your companions, you'll build a new life in the wide open wilderness of Red Rust Valley, one timber frame and campfire at a time.
The frontier is free and it's waiting. What you make of it is up to you.
EXPLORE & ADVENTURE
The wilderness beyond your door is yours to explore.
Your homestead is your anchor. When you're ready, load your wagon, break camp, and ride out into the wilderness. New country reveals fresh resources, hidden valleys and breathtaking vistas you'll want to share with your companions. And when your saddlebags are full and the sun is dropping, there's nothing quite like the ride home, wagon loaded, ready to build something new.
Every expedition brings something back to make your homestead a little stronger, a little larger, a little more your own.
LIVE OFF THE LAND
But first, you have to survive it.
The Wild West doesn't care about your plans. Battle hunger, thirst, and the unforgiving elements as you forage, hunt, and fish to stay alive. Farm and harvest crops to build a self-sufficient camp. Venture into the mountains for the resources that'll give you an edge.
Master the seasons. Scorching summers, violent rainstorms and freezing winters stand between you and the life you're building. Respect the frontier, and it will reward you. Defy it, and the west has a long memory.
GOOD COMPANY
The trail is better with friends beside you.
Invite up to three friends into your world - split the work and share the adventure. Ride out into the wilderness, set up camp beneath the stars, and build a homestead and new life together. Red Rust Pioneers is built from the ground up for co-operative play, and the frontier is a better place for it.
The frontier is waiting. Your story starts here.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10/11 (64bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 5 2600 or above
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB / AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT and above
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 30 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Red Rust Pioneers is in active development. System requirements may change as development continues and performance optimisations are applied. Players hosting co-op sessions should expect higher CPU and RAM usage. An SSD is strongly recommended.
Recommended
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 11 (64-bit)
- Processor: Intel Core i7-10700 / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X or above
- Memory: 32 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT
- DirectX: Version 12
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 30 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Red Rust Pioneers is in active development. System requirements may change as development continues and performance optimisations are applied. Players hosting co-op sessions should expect higher CPU and RAM usage. An SSD is strongly recommended.
Supported Languages
Latest news
AnnouncementsOfficial
The Demo Just Got a Lot Better
Howdy, Pioneers,We had this update written on Monday, and we did not send it.The demo had gone live, thousands of you were playing it, and we could see there was work to do. Rather than tell you how well it was going, we put our heads down and got on with it.Today's build is the one we wanted you to have.What changedPerformance is significantly better than it was on Monday. If the game ran rough for you earlier in the week, it is worth another look.The blurry picture is gone. If everything looked soft no matter what you did in the settings menu, that was a bug on our end, not your graphics card. It is fixed.A great many bugs have been squashed, a good number of them found by people playing the demo this week and telling us about it.A new building interfaceThis is the one we are most pleased about.Players told us the building interface was getting in the way. Not in a small number of reports either, and the same points kept coming up. So we rebuilt it.That went from community feedback to a shipped change inside a single week, which is exactly the way we want this game to be made. If you tried building earlier in the week and found it awkward, go and have another go. It is a different experience now.Thank youTo our playtesters, and to everyone who has downloaded the demo this week: thank you.The feedback has been genuinely invaluable. Bug reports, suggestions, screenshots, and people simply saying what felt good and what did not. It is shaping the game as we go, and the building interface is the clearest proof of that.There is still a long trail ahead of us, and we are grateful to everyone who has joined us for the journey so far. We are still reading everything, so keep it coming. There are Bug Report and Feedback buttons inside the game, and we are on Discord all weekend. Overlook Lake is only the beginningThe demo gives you your first taste of Red Rust Pioneers, but Overlook Lake is only the start of the journey.When Red Rust Pioneers reaches Early Access, the trai...Read full article on Community Announcements (Rusty Robot)AnnouncementsOfficial
The Trail Continues, and the Demo Arrives Monday
Howdy, Pioneers,We have got some big news from the frontier.First up, a lot of you have been asking for a little more time with the current playtest. So we are extending it by another 48 hours.That takes the playtest through to Sunday 30 August at 6:00pm Eastern (EDT), which is 3:00pm Pacific (PDT), or 22:00 UTC if you are further afield. A couple more days to explore Overlook Lake, expand your homestead, venture a little further into the wilderness and, of course, keep sending us your feedback and bug reports.And speaking of feedback.The playtest has been a huge step forwardOver the last few weeks more and more of you have been heading out onto the frontier, playing the game, reporting bugs, telling us what you enjoy and showing us where there is still work to do.It has been enormously useful.We still have plenty ahead of us. There are bugs to squash, performance improvements to make, systems to refine and a great deal more of Red Rust Pioneers still to build. But the response to the playtest has given us real confidence in the direction we are heading.More importantly, having people actually playing the game is helping us understand where to focus next.So when the current playtest comes to an end, Red Rust Pioneers is not going away.The playtest build becomes a free demoAs the playtest draws to a close, we will be releasing the latest build as a free Steam demo.That means you will still be able to head back to Overlook Lake, keep exploring the frontier and carry on helping us shape the game. It also means a great many more players will get the chance to discover Red Rust Pioneers for the first time.One important thing about your saveIf you are already playing the playtest, please read this bit.Your existing playtest save will not carry across to the demo. You will be starting a fresh game when you move over.So treat these last 48 hours as a chance to say a fond farewell to your current homestead before you set out on the trail again.We are joining Steam PvE Surviv...Read full article on Community Announcements (Rusty Robot)AnnouncementsOfficial
The Playtest Is Open to Everyone
Howdy, Pioneers,We said we would keep opening the trail wider if things kept going well.Well, here we are.The Red Rust Pioneers Playtest is now open to everyone who has signed up on Steam.So if you requested access, go and check Steam. Your time has come.One thing before you go. This round of playtesting closes on Friday 28 August at 6:00pm Eastern (EDT), which is 3:00pm Pacific (PDT), or 22:00 UTC if you are further afield.So if you have been meaning to get your boots dirty, this is your window. Feedback from these last hours still lands straight in front of the team.And keep an eye on this page tomorrow. We are not quite finished for the week.One last big pushOver the last few weeks we have welcomed more and more Pioneers onto the frontier: our original Trail Guides, then the first waves of Steam playtesters, and now everyone who put their name in the hat.Every hour played, every piece of feedback and every bug report makes Red Rust Pioneers better. We have already fixed a great many issues thanks to our playtesters, and the game is in a considerably better place for it.A proper thank you to everyone who has joined us so far, reported problems, shared suggestions, sent us screenshots, or simply told us what they enjoyed. You have made the frontier better.Come and find us on DiscordIf you are playing, come and join us over on Discord. It is the best place to share feedback, ask questions, report issues and follow the progress of bugs as we work through them.And if you have not wishlisted Red Rust Pioneers yet, you can find the game here.The frontier is open, Pioneers. We will see you out there.Thanks for your ongoing support,– Rusty and the Rusty Robot dev teamP.S. There is tea to boil. You know the rest.Read full article on Community Announcements (Rusty Robot)AnnouncementsOfficial
1,000 Pioneers on the Trail
Howdy, Pioneers,A quick one from the frontier.First, a proper thank you to everyone already out on the frontier: over 400 of you now, between the Trail Guides from our Discord community and the first 350 invited from Steam.It has been a real pleasure watching so many of you take your first steps out there, sharing feedback, reporting bugs, and helping us make this a better game.It has gone well. So we are not hanging about.We have just expanded the playtest to more than 1,000 players.If you signed up on Steam and haven't had an invitation yet, now is the time to check your email and your Steam account again.Last time we said your turn was coming and that it wasn't far off. We meant it.Not signed up at all yet? There is still time. Head to the store page, request access to the playtest, and your name goes in the hat for the next wave.And if you are heading out onto the frontier, come and find the rest of us on Discord. Feedback, questions, bug reports and the occasional tall tale.Welcome to the frontier, Pioneers. We will see you out there.Thanks for your ongoing support,– Rusty and the Rusty Robot dev teamP.S. You know the drill with the tea by now.Read full article on Community Announcements (Rusty Robot)AnnouncementsOfficial
The Playtest Trail Is Opening Wider
Howdy, Pioneers,Go check your email.Today we sent Playtest invitations to the first 350 players who signed up for the Red Rust Pioneers Playtest on Steam. If you put your name forward, there may be an invitation sitting in your inbox right now.Go and look. We'll wait.How we got hereFor the last two months we've been running a closed playtest with Pioneers from our Discord community. More than fifty hardy folks have braved the frontier, built camps, tackled quests, found bugs, and broken things in ways we never expected.They're the reason we can open the gate today. Thanks to them, the frontier you're stepping into is in far better shape than the one they found.This is only the first batchAs our new arrivals settle in and we see how the build holds up, we'll be opening more places. So if no invitation arrived today, don't fret. Your turn on the frontier is coming, and it isn't far off.If you haven't signed up at all yet, there's still time. Head to the store page, request access to the Playtest, and your name goes straight in the hat for the next round.Got a friend you reckon would love this? Send them along to wishlist and sign up for the Playtest too. Who knows, they might be in the next wave, and then you can head out onto the frontier together.Come and find us on DiscordIf you're taking part, this is where you want to be.That's where you can share feedback, chat with the team and other Pioneers, and follow the bugs you report as we work our way through them. Some of the best fixes in the game started life as somebody saying "that seemed odd" in a Discord channel.Thank youTo everyone who has tested for us so far, and to the thousands of you who volunteered and are still waiting your turn: thank you. We're genuinely humbled by it. Your enthusiasm for this game is what makes the long hours, the late nights, the bug fixing and the general indie developer madness worth every minute.So. What are you waiting for?Go check your email.Thanks for your ongoing support,– Rust...Read full article on Community Announcements (Rusty Robot)
