Eyeing an Early Access Game? How to Tell if It's Worth Buying or Not

howtogeek.com:

Many developers now make early builds of their games available as a paid "early access" or "game preview" offering. If you're truly excited or intrigued by a game, you may be tempted to pay for it before it's actually done, but should you? Let's look at the factors for and against buying an early access game.

Is There a Vertical Slice?

A "vertical slice" in the context of game development is basically the proof of concept for a game used to convince investors to put their money towards development. When developers put out a paid early access version of a game, then those "investors" are you. Except that your money isn't being invested at all, it's just being used to fund development and the only thing you (maybe) get back is a complete game—eventually.

This only really applies to games that are super-early in their development cycle, but at the very least, any early access version of a game should have a portion that gives you a demo of what the whole game is intended to be like. It needs to look, feel, and play more or less like what the developers intend. If there isn't anything that meets even this minimum requirement, steer clear just as any real investor would.

Do the Developers Have a Roadmap?

So you're happy that there's the bare minimum of gameplay to show you what the final game is aiming for, but do the developers have a clear idea on how to get there? Look for a developer blog, anything published on their website, and on platforms like Steam communications on the games page itself. Are there milestones? Do they have a rough idea of when the game will be finished?

Many early access games are developed by small, inexperienced teams or even individuals. That's not a bad thing by itself, but it makes it more likely that they aren't organized, or haven't planned realistically. While they do need funding to get the game done, it's important to make sure they actually have a plan for how the money will be spent!

How Active Has Early Access Been?