Enshrouded 1.0 has received positive reviews for its free-form voxel building, exploration experience, and high level of polish, though multiplayer still suffers from issues like unsynchronized quest progress and severe lag. Critics believe its building and exploration mechanics have reached a leading position within the survival crafting genre.
The game blends survival crafting with action RPG elements. Players can build or terraform almost anywhere in Ember Valley, using bombs and pickaxes to carve paths through mountains. Systems like cooking, farming, and animal husbandry are retained, but the game omits punitive mechanics such as forced fatigue, crafting success rates, and structural integrity. Instead, shelters, fire sources, and decorations provide stamina bonuses.
Version 1.0 adds full voiceovers for the journal, new building camera angles, and the Sparkworks logic system. Players can use this logic system to design enemy spawns, trigger events, create special buildings, and craft custom dungeons, then share their creations. Characters can also mix roles such as tank, mage, healer, or stealth across 12 skill trees, with large-scale dungeons further emphasizing team specialization.
However, when playing online with seven friends, reviewers encountered issues such as unsynchronized world quest progress and journal notifications indicating "missed quests." These problems did not result in lost recipes or inaccessible areas, only minor losses in experience and shared moments, but checking quest lists remained quite troublesome. Although version 1.0 improved performance, significant lag can still occur with larger groups, so reviewers recommend using dedicated servers for parties larger than two or three players.