Log Away Review: Build Your Dream Cozy Log Cabin

Relaxing in a remote log cabin surrounded by beautiful nature is probably what many people dream of. I myself sometimes wonder what it would be like to retreat to such a place, connecting with nature and completely unwinding with no distractions. Perhaps that’s why I was compelled to try out this new game, Log Away.

This game has one sole purpose: to allow you to create your own cozy log cabins however you please with the tools provided, getting to pick the setting while listening to relaxing music. Plus, you can immerse yourself in your creation by visiting it in first-person mode, and unlock unique items by gaining 100% synergy. The question is: is Log Away any good, and is it worth your time? 

Log Away is now available on Steam for $9.99.

Story – No Narratives Except Your Own

Log Away is one of those games that has no storytelling whatsoever – and that’s totally fine. This game really doesn’t need a story for the context of what it’s about. All the focus is on constructing log cabins to your heart’s desire. There’s no story to follow, no strict direction. It’s simply a means for creating a cozy space you can call your own, namely a log cabin. No story required – unless you want to tell one through the cabin you put together, and that’s fine, too.

Gameplay – Building a Log Cabin Hideaway

If you like log cabins and have ever wanted to build your dream cabin, Log Away gives you the tools to do exactly that. In no time at all, you can create a log cabin from scratch, adding furniture and furnishings, outdoor features, and even adjusting natural effects such as the time of day and weather. 

Choose Your Location and Your Interests

Before building your dream cabin, you must first choose where to build it. You have a choice of nine different locations, all wonderfully picturesque and serene, the perfect setting for a log cabin retreat. They can be in the middle of a forest, by a running stream, or right by the beach. Also in consideration is the season. It can be spring/summer, fall, or winter. 

Next, you can choose up to three interests out of ten. This adds a little extra something to your cabin creations. Interests include writing, fiber arts, sculpting, painting, fishing, woodworking, and more. Selecting these unlocks unique themed objects you can add to your dioramas. I do believe it is necessary to choose at least one interest to proceed, and although you are not strictly required to use the items provided, they can contribute to your synergy score.

Once you’ve picked the location and at least one interest, you’re ready to build the cabin of your dreams.

Build and Furnish

After the scene loads, you’re free to build whatever you wish. In terms of construction, you have access to wooden walls, wooden and stone floors, doors, windows, canopies, fences, roofs, and tracks. Within minutes, the cabin can be ready.

Once you’re happy with that, you can move onto adding furniture and decorations. Admittedly, at the moment, the selection of objects available can feel somewhat limited. The same can also be said for the construction items. It might just feel that way because we’ve been spoiled with the enormous catalog of objects available in games like The Sims 4.

You’ve got enough to work with at least to create a comfortable cabin, and the items have been nicely designed, so it’s better than nothing. You can still get creative with what you’re provided. Some construction objects and furniture can also be customized with different colors and textures to add variety. Plus, you can unlock more items through maxing out synergy, get access with selected interests, and get unique items in certain settings.

More content could be added yet. So far, we’ve had a Christmas DLC, which is actually pretty good, so fingers crossed more content is on the way.

Feeling festive? Why not try out the Christmas DLC items!

Adding and removing items is easy to do and not unnecessarily complicated. You do have to right-click instead of left-click something to either move, customize, rotate, or delete it, but this actually works because you don’t end up selecting something by accident.

There are some more things to note. You aren’t given the biggest space to work with. Cabins can be no bigger than the 7 by 7 grid provided, despite the area around it being bigger. Also, cabins can’t be built on multiple floors. With this in mind, you cannot be expected to build mansions. However, the space provided is big enough to create a medium-sized cozy cabin, with enough room to add furniture and such.

Setting the Mood

If you think that the work ends after building the cabin and furnishing it, you’re wrong. You can further customize your scene by altering a few factors. This includes the camera filter, time of day and shadows, weather, and music. This adds that final extra touch to your diorama to really make it yours and completely transform the setting. Also, it’s really simple to adjust these settings individually, rather than it being needlessly complicated.

It’s amazing how much difference a change in lighting, time of day, and weather can make.

Synergy and Keepsakes

Although Log Away is designed to be completely freeplay with no stories or strict tasks, if you are someone who likes to achieve goals in games, Log Away does offer something. Synergy scores are present in every level. These are gained based on what objects you place. As you add more objects, your synergy level rises.

Once you reach a max score of 100, you can access travel bags, which in turn unlocks new items from each of the ten interests. These special items are called Keepsakes.

I have yet to get a synergy score of 100 and subsequently unlock any of these items. I hope to one day, but note that this is completely optional and only if you wish to earn the extra items. The highest synergy score I ever got was into the 80s.

Explore Your Creation

After building your dream log cabin, then what? Why not take a look around, which is exactly what you can do in Log Away. You can enter first-person mode at any time and explore what you’ve created, to truly immerse yourself in the scene. You can even interact with certain items, like opening/closing doors and windows, turning on taps and showers, and more.

Sadly, you can’t interact with everything. You cannot, for example, lounge on a bed or sit in a chair, or relax in a hot tub. It’s a nice idea, and maybe one day, but not right now. If you want to do things like that, you’ll have to jump into games like The Sims 4.

You can enter first-person mode anytime to explore your cabin.

Graphics – Beautiful Cabins in Beautiful Surroundings

If there’s one thing to say about Log Away, it’s that the graphics hit the mark. As you would hope, they are just stunning. Every single location is just gorgeous to visit, with intricate details such as rushing water and squirrels and foxes running around in the background. The construction tools such as the walls, windows, doors, and more are great to look at, so you feel confident creating a truly stunning cabin. Plus, the objects have been lovingly crafted, making each one unique.

Everything in Log Away feels truly real, like you could just step through the screen and go right there!

Audio – Something to Unwind With

I wanted to talk about the music of Log Away separately rather than having it merged with the graphics. There’s nothing better than busily creating a cozy cabin than listening to some dreamy chillout music. You can even switch between different types of music to fit the theme. I never got tired of the music and it did a brilliant job of helping me to focus and relax, further immersing me into the laid-back vibes of Log Away.

Log Away was reviewed on PC with a key provided by Double Jump.