Magic Badges & Silly Smoothies? What Happened to Survival Grit?

E

ErdelMeb

Refugee
To The Fun Pimps Dev Team,


I've been a longtime fan of Seven Days to Die, playing it for years across multiple builds, and I’ve loved the progression and depth that made this game stand out in the survival genre. It's gritty, immersive, and brutally honest—exactly what survival should feel like. That’s why I’m writing with real disappointment about a couple of recent mechanics that completely break that immersion: the biome badge system and the smoothie mechanics.


Let’s start with the biome badge. I understand wanting to incentivize exploration or allow players to survive harsher zones, but handing out a magical "congrats, you're immune now" token completely undercuts the realism the game built its name on. Survival should be earned through adaptation—proper gear, environmental awareness, and resource management—not through a badge that handwaves the danger away.


This isn't an RPG where you drink a potion and suddenly resist lava. It's Seven Days to Die. Where’s the gritty logic in becoming resistant to radiation or snowstorms just because you passed an invisible checklist? If anything, biome survival should be tied to crafted gear:


  • Desert: sun-resistant clothing and hydration-focused buffs.
  • Snow: cold-weather gear and heat sources.
  • Burned forest: a gas mask to protect against ash (which would make relocating coal nodes there more meaningful and immersive).
  • Wasteland: layered radiation protection—think hazmat suit mods or a modular gear system.

This would deepen the survival experience without breaking immersion—and give players real goals tied to their environment, not just artificial “progression gates.”


Now, about the smoothie system. I don’t even know where to begin with this one. Mixing snow, blueberries, and coal into a drink that suddenly nullifies freezing temperatures is cartoon logic at its worst. It’s not clever, it’s not immersive, and it feels like a shortcut slapped on for the sake of feature padding. This is survival, not a Saturday morning chemistry experiment.


If smoothies are going to exist, they should be used for minor buffs, like hydration, stamina recovery, or mild health regen. But crafting a snow-conquering beverage out of literal charcoal dust and fruit? That’s immersion-breaking in the worst way. At least make the mechanic plausible—maybe herbal infusions, protein shakes, or cooked broths with proper heating effects.


I say this not to insult your team, but to voice what I’m sure many longtime players are feeling: these systems feel lazy, and they weaken the survival identity that made this game special in the first place.


Seven Days to Die is close to greatness. You’ve built something people care deeply about. But systems like this chip away at the trust and connection players have with the game world. Please reconsider the direction these mechanics are heading. Survival games should challenge our creativity and adaptability—not hand us cartoon solutions to real threats.


Sincerely,
A long-time fan who still believes this game can be the best in the genre.
 
You're questioning this stuff with a zombie apocalypse game. Where food also somehow doesn't spoil and broken limbs heal a lot faster than irl.
 
I've admittedly only been around since A16.4, but when has 7D2D ever been gritty or brutally honest, particularly in terms of survival? At best you had to carry around extra clothes and swap them.

I could understand super annoying, because that's what the temperature stuff was like in A16, when you could go from fine to freezing to burning up over the course of 30 seconds, but gritty, immersive, or brutally honest wouldn't be words I would ever associate with 7D2D.
 
ErdelMeb said:
That’s why I’m writing with real disappointment about a couple of recent mechanics that completely break that immersion: the biome badge system and the smoothie mechanics.
Click to expand...

I, for one, appreciate the civil expression of your opinion. I largely agree the symbology involved (badges, smoothies) is not clearly related to a survival theme and wish it did. I can choose to look at badges as acclimation and gathering ingredients for smoothies as an activity you undertake while trying to acclimate.

In terms of mechanics, I don't see a difference between a badge and special inventory slots for special equipment, but I do see how that affects immersion. A trader being involved in the final step to receive the badge also doesn't fit with acclimation. That could have been done entirely through the player-driven challenge system.

The elimination of temperature also seems weird to me. That system seemed complimentary.

To me, it feels like all the parts for a survival-centric approach are/were present, just presented awkwardly.
 
Vaeliorin said:
I've admittedly only been around since A16.4, but when has 7D2D ever been gritty or brutally honest, particularly in terms of survival? At best you had to carry around extra clothes and swap them.
Click to expand...

I agree. I've never found 7D2D to be gritty survival, but I have appreciated it's survival elements. It doesn't strike me as a game that goes heavy into any one system and that I think has been part of it's charm.

By the same measure, I don't think the OP is advocating for change that would make it gritty survival, but instead advocates for the game's symbols to connect to reality -- not an overly realistic mechanic -- but something that at least suggests survival.
 
zztong said:
I, for one, appreciate the civil expression of your opinion. I largely agree the symbology involved (badges, smoothies) is not clearly related to a survival theme and wish it did. I can choose to look at badges as acclimation and gathering ingredients for smoothies as an activity you undertake while trying to acclimate.

In terms of mechanics, I don't see a difference between a badge and special inventory slots for special equipment, but I do see how that affects immersion. A trader being involved in the final step to receive the badge also doesn't fit with acclimation. That could have been done entirely through the player-driven challenge system.

The elimination of temperature also seems weird to me. That system seemed complimentary.

To me, it feels like all the parts for a survival-centric approach are/were present, just presented awkwardly.
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They had to dump the temperature system as it was too tempermental. They could not quite get it working right if at all.
 
Hey everyone,
Thanks for all the replies — I really appreciate hearing everyone’s perspective.


After thinking it over, I want to walk back part of my original post. I agree that calling 7 Days to Die a purely dark and gritty survival game may have been off-base. The game’s always had a bit of a goofy or campy edge to it, and I can see why people enjoy that balance.


That said, I’m glad the conversation around some of the newer mechanics is happening — that was the real goal, and it’s been great seeing the different takes.


I’m simply the type who enjoys the grind — crafting new gear, saving specific outfits for hazardous regions, and leaning into systems that feel more survival than arcade. But either way, I’m still going to play (and enjoy) 7 Days to Die for the foreseeable future.
 
zztong said:
I, for one, appreciate the civil expression of your opinion. I largely agree the symbology involved (badges, smoothies) is not clearly related to a survival theme and wish it did. I can choose to look at badges as acclimation and gathering ingredients for smoothies as an activity you undertake while trying to acclimate.

In terms of mechanics, I don't see a difference between a badge and special inventory slots for special equipment, but I do see how that affects immersion. A trader being involved in the final step to receive the badge also doesn't fit with acclimation. That could have been done entirely through the player-driven challenge system.

The elimination of temperature also seems weird to me. That system seemed complimentary.

To me, it feels like all the parts for a survival-centric approach are/were present, just presented awkwardly.
Click to expand...
Thank you — seriously. I really appreciate how respectfully you engaged with the post. Your take on viewing badges as a form of acclimation and smoothies as part of the survival grind is a fair way to interpret it, and that actually helps me see it in a slightly more generous light.


You also nailed it with the point about mechanical equivalence vs immersion — I agree, the function might be similar to slotting in special gear, but the presentation is where it loses some of that survival tone. And yeah, having a trader hand over the badge kind of breaks the self-reliant survival feel. A player-driven challenge system would’ve fit way better.


Glad I’m not the only one who misses the temperature system too — it felt like a natural survival mechanic that added depth and consequences.


Really appreciate your perspective. You articulated what I was trying to say better than I did in some ways.
 
ErdelMeb said:
To The Fun Pimps Dev Team,


I've been a longtime fan of Seven Days to Die, playing it for years across multiple builds, and I’ve loved the progression and depth that made this game stand out in the survival genre. It's gritty, immersive, and brutally honest—exactly what survival should feel like. That’s why I’m writing with real disappointment about a couple of recent mechanics that completely break that immersion: the biome badge system and the smoothie mechanics.


Let’s start with the biome badge. I understand wanting to incentivize exploration or allow players to survive harsher zones, but handing out a magical "congrats, you're immune now" token completely undercuts the realism the game built its name on. Survival should be earned through adaptation—proper gear, environmental awareness, and resource management—not through a badge that handwaves the danger away.


This isn't an RPG where you drink a potion and suddenly resist lava. It's Seven Days to Die. Where’s the gritty logic in becoming resistant to radiation or snowstorms just because you passed an invisible checklist? If anything, biome survival should be tied to crafted gear:


  • Desert: sun-resistant clothing and hydration-focused buffs.
  • Snow: cold-weather gear and heat sources.
  • Burned forest: a gas mask to protect against ash (which would make relocating coal nodes there more meaningful and immersive).
  • Wasteland: layered radiation protection—think hazmat suit mods or a modular gear system.

This would deepen the survival experience without breaking immersion—and give players real goals tied to their environment, not just artificial “progression gates.”


Now, about the smoothie system. I don’t even know where to begin with this one. Mixing snow, blueberries, and coal into a drink that suddenly nullifies freezing temperatures is cartoon logic at its worst. It’s not clever, it’s not immersive, and it feels like a shortcut slapped on for the sake of feature padding. This is survival, not a Saturday morning chemistry experiment.


If smoothies are going to exist, they should be used for minor buffs, like hydration, stamina recovery, or mild health regen. But crafting a snow-conquering beverage out of literal charcoal dust and fruit? That’s immersion-breaking in the worst way. At least make the mechanic plausible—maybe herbal infusions, protein shakes, or cooked broths with proper heating effects.


I say this not to insult your team, but to voice what I’m sure many longtime players are feeling: these systems feel lazy, and they weaken the survival identity that made this game special in the first place.


Seven Days to Die is close to greatness. You’ve built something people care deeply about. But systems like this chip away at the trust and connection players have with the game world. Please reconsider the direction these mechanics are heading. Survival games should challenge our creativity and adaptability—not hand us cartoon solutions to real threats.


Sincerely,
A long-time fan who still believes this game can be the best in the genre.
Click to expand...
If you want gritty, immersive and brutally honest survival, then go try playing Monster Menu: The Scavenger's Cookbook. I could only play it once, it was way too hard to play for a kid's game.
 
The only true issue I see with this is the clothing aspect. Tying environmental survival to clothing would mean that as soon as you leave the forest, all the armor sets would suddenly be useless as you would be required to wear the specific gear for the specific biome, which takes away from player expression.

Smoothies are silly, definitely, but honestly not a terrible idea, maybe need to be flavored a bit differently and/or tweaked. The badges though, are very silly. My opinion is that every quest objective you complete for biome progression should extend the safe amount of time you can spend in that biome, as well as the amount of time the "smoothies" give you. Biome specific equipment MODS should do the same. (Also, maybe smoothies should give diminishing returns until you've fully rested outside the biome). Basically, you should, with preparation, be able to last a long time out in a hazard biome, but not indefinitely. An hour or two, maybe even three, (remember each hour is an entire in-game day), but not just forever because you got a badge.
 
Badges and smoothies are silly, yes. If they're going to work on refining the system going forward, it would be nice to see the badges and smoothies become something slight more immersive/believable.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd be fine with a hazmat suit instead of a wasteland badge even if the suit does not show on my character. Perhaps immersion breaking for some folks, but less so than a magic McGuffin badge that makes you immune to radiation
 
ErdelMeb said:
completely undercuts the realism the game built its name on
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I'm not sure realism is the word for it. That word has been thrown around in so many different gaming contexts, it's practically meaningless, especially in those circles who no longer speak of photorealistic graphics, but actually think they can approximate the real world virtually and/or want us to live our lives online for their benefit. I find it's often used when I gather the person means natural or organic in feel as opposed to "real." What you speak of I think of as natural as opposed to artificial or, especially, fantasy-like.

Noah Gervais mentioned in his (unlisted) retrospective of Fallout 76 that he would have appreciated more creative separation between the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises than...well, that...and -- let's face it -- BGS' influence on the gaming industry in general has been huge. Word is: TFP are fans of Bethesda's Fallouts. I wasn't expecting enchanted armor pieces to come about in 7 Days, but they did, and I chalk that up to BGS' influence on the postapocalyptic genre. The badges and smoothies (and HUD messages), though, frankly seem to me the easy way out of implementing a complex, robust system just to be able to say, "we did it," and smack of the daily, weekly, etc. so-called "challenges" of "live service" and "challenge" windows of other games. TFP may no longer have the time or money to implement such a robust system after over a decade in development. I don't know. They may think the egregious shortcuts other developers are using are a-okay. I don't know. But, if that's the case, it's a real shame because these final updates are going to make or break the game going forward. These are supposed to be the final touches before (official) gold. Instead, they're coming off as AI generated, rushed [descriptor redacted].
 
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zztong said:
I can choose to look at badges as acclimation and gathering ingredients for smoothies as an activity you undertake while trying to acclimate.
Click to expand...
I can't. You don't "acclimate" to smoke inhalation or radiation poisoning in real life. And, while I realize this is a video game, the very idea you could is exceptionally out of place in the postacalyptic genre. The fantasy genre? No problem. You can do anything in a fantasy setting.
 
ErdelMeb said:
Burned forest: a gas mask to protect against ash (which would make relocating coal nodes there more meaningful and immersive).
Click to expand...
I'd agree with the gear approach, whether armor or mods. The Burnt Forest, though, is a large area comparable to, say, the Ash Heap region of Fallout 76 and, even there, the requirement of masks or firefighter equipment is confined to an even smaller space within the Ash Heap. I'd be wildly guessing if I said either BGS or TFP are more concerned with Fashion Souls...I mean...cosmetic outfits for players to display in multiplayer to express themselves than the game's regions themselves making sense, but it may actually be a consideration.

I take it the magical smoothies and badges are TFP's answer to that dilemma or, perhaps, some other. But -- ack! -- isn't there a more reasonable middle ground somewhere, like -- say -- not making damaging effects region-wide?
 
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InfiniteWarrior said:
I can't. You don't "acclimate" to smoke inhalation or radiation poisoning in real life. And, while I realize this is a video game, the very idea you could is exceptionally out of place in the postacalyptic genre. The fantasy genre? No problem. You can do anything in a fantasy setting.
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I believe firefighters adapt to the presence of smoke to some extent. We likely have different opinions as to how smokey the environment is.

As for the wasteland, it's already a fantasy land. I can't believe it is radioactivity because it doesn't act like radioactivity and there's no believable source of radioactivity that dangerous and pervasive. I have to believe it is just a generically toxic environment. So, as an indeterminate toxicity, I can at least believe it might be like an adaptation in the short term with the major health effects delayed for years.

I would add that Fallout also is a fantasy land when it comes to radioactivity, but folks generally accept Ghouls and healing damage from radioactivity. I'm not sure if you accept those concepts or not, but if so then acclimation seems equally fantastic but viable for a game world.

I would certainly agree in both cases that our characters run a significantly higher chance of cancer and other long-term health issues because of the environment.
 
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