The Alters

Well. Do I recommend it? Yes, 100% Am I going to finish it myself? Probably not. The great example of amazing game that just not my thing. So here is some info for you to decide: 1. It's not a sandbox. 2. It's heavily story driven. Based on mentioned above, it's less about strategy and management, but more about executing proper sequence that fits narrative. Don't get me wrong, it's NOT a bad thing. It's just to make a decition, is it your type of game or not.

....for emotional trauma and existential dread, not gameplay Imagine this: you get home from work after surviving a battle royale with Karen from accounting who insists her spreadsheet deserves priority in the server restore queue. You just want to relax, sip your beer, and build a cozy little base. Enter The Alters—a game that promised strategic space exploration and base building and delivered... a cosmic episode of The Office meets Black Mirror. At first, it’s peaceful. You’re alone, the stars twinkle, and you’re optimistically constructing modules thinking, "I’m gonna build the IKEA of space bases." Then, WHAM—“sun’s coming, gotta move or become space toast.” No pressure. So what do you do? Clone yourself. Obviously. Except these clones—sorry, “Alters”—aren’t mindless drones. No, they each come with their own memories, skills, and crippling emotional baggage. You wanted a mechanic, and now you've got one... who resents you because he thinks you made all the wrong life choices. Suddenly your clone is having an identity crisis while you're just trying to build a bridge anchor to move your base. And don't even get me started on the HR department. Oh wait—that's you. You're the HR. You're the therapist. You're the project manager of the world's weirdest dysfunctional interstellar startup. “Team synergy” now involves convincing your scientist self to stop crying while your botanist alter passive-aggressively replants potatoes. Obstacles in the terrain? Easy. Obstacles in the soul? Buckle up. By Day 15 you’re no longer playing a base-building sim. You're navigating a philosophical debate with yourself about whether your technician alter is actually you or just a deeply disappointed version of you who regrets not going to art school. Final Thoughts: 10/10 10/10. The game promised space survival but delivered intergalactic HR management with existential crises. At some point, I had to create a therapist Alter just to mediate the emotional fallout from all my other Alters. Better than many AAA games out there.

Overall, while Jan's performance was lackluster, the characterization of Jan, Jan, and Jan really sold this game for me. The developing relationship of Jan and Jan kept me engaged throughout the entire story. Even though I hated Jan, I was always rooting for Jan and was excited to see where the story took him along with Jan and Jan as well.

Updated Review: I take it all back, I recant my previous review. This game is an absolute masterpiece. Sure Act 2 brings about moments of high stress, but wow, without spoiling anything the game is aware of the stress it causes, aware of the choices feeling hallow, and answers to it in one of the most philosophical and brilliant ways I've ever seen in media. This game, even with it's occasional bugs (which will be patched out sooner or later) is a testament to the human condition. The story is masterfully done, and while I am very close I haven't seen the ending(s) yet. I may be presumptuous to assume it will stick the landing, but everything so far has been so masterfully crafted that I felt compelled to update my review on this game. I underestimated it, I thought the design was a flaw, instead now I see that it was purposeful. This game's intention is not only to tell a wonderful story but to elicit a range of emotions from the player. Perhaps not everyone will have the same reaction I do, perhaps Jan and his story (stories?) will not connect with everyone. But for me, the narrative hit so close to home that I couldn't give this game anything less than a resounding recommendation. --- Old Review: This game is amazing, honestly stunning in it's writing, visual design, philosophical questioning, sound design, and so much more. After my first night of playing it I thought it would easily end up in my top 5 of all time, but sadly its starting to sink a bit as I slow down. My biggest issue with the game is the stress, the constant time management with so many spinning plates feels like you have to do everything perfectly. When I ran out of time and the sun arrived I had to go back a good 5 or 6 days to start doing things in a more optimal way. I understand that the stress and time elements are meant to be there, I understand that the intensity of making hard decisions is a major design choice, I just wish that the game would let up for a while. It feels like there's so much to do, not enough time to do it all, and no feeling of reward for making one choice over another. That's what's really missing, is that the choices you make don't feel good. So many of the the choices in the game (and I'm only around act 2 so far) feel unrewarding. It doesn't feel like you made a difficult choice with an outcome you can be happy with or one you want to live with. It just leaves you with a feeling that you didn't play optimally enough. This story is one I am so invested in, one I want to finish, but it's so difficult to stay invested when it feels like you're constantly drowning. I'm going to try to push through the end but honestly I really feel like I need to space this game out a bit more and play it in smaller increments so that I can actually relax in my free time. If there were a fix, I would honestly love an "easy" or "story" difficulty setting that greatly extends the time you have at specific stops along your journey. As the game goes on the stress only increases, you building up this great base with a great team doesn't make things easier, if anything it makes things a lot harder now that you have so many more plates to spin. That and I've noticed quite a few bugs here and there that I'm sure will be resolved in time, but one time I lost the game because It hadn't registered that I had built a dormitory and that all the alters were happy for example. I re-loaded the day, did everything almost exactly the same, slept again, and survived the night. Between the bugs, the stress, and the lack of a manual save feature it makes this game a hard one to recommend right out of the gate. But, with that being said, I still do recommend it for it's overwhelmingly great story, visuals, and ideas. The Alters is a unique concept, one that I don't know if any or much of story telling has dealt with yet, at least not in this exact way. It's truly a wonderful experience as long as you can manage the stress the game wants to throw your way as well.

This honestly should win a Hugo award and the Nebula. If there's no category for best science fiction game, make one and give it to these guys. They earned it.

I enjoyed the game, most notably the resource management, base building, and crew relationships. I liked reading about the different alters and their lives... HOWEVER If you want to make the most out of this game in Act 3 end game, make sure you invest in automining. Reasons w/ spoilers below (I did not invest in automining and it significantly messed up my experience) [spoiler] Half (?) your alters will leave you at the end of Act 2, if you invest in automining Act 3 will be relatively easier to get back on track. I did not have automining researched and spent most of Act 3 trying to catch up and gather resources (most of your resources will also be stolen) with very little manpower and was set very far behind so I couldn't play how I wanted despite playing very efficiently and keeping morale very high in Act 1 and 2 by finishing all side quests and character quests. [/spoiler] Overall I would still recommend this game. I wish the devs added an option to make love to one of your crewmates though.

i think it did everything it set out to do perfectly, and the story is really really good. it has so many memorable moments. the only warning (not criticism) i'd give before buying is the game is a lot of talking and managing your companions, making sure they don't rebel. if you have an attention span of a Fifa player this isn't the game for you.

Build the base, mine the thing, research the thing, fix the thing - men will do anything except go to therapy. 9/10 except for the game crashing bugs when it doesn't like how you laid out your base

I love the game but the TIMER RUINS THE GAME. No one wants to feel rushed not even in real life whoever made that idea to have a timer does not need to be apart of any other exploration game. Its a survival game not need for speed racing.

Great game. A nice balance of resource management, social interaction, and compelling story. Just finished my first play through, gonna play again with mostly different choices and see what happens! Also, hats off to Alex Jordan and his work as Jan Dolski, Jan Dolski, Jan Dolski, Jan Dolski, Jan Dolski, Jan Dolski, Jan Dolski, Jan Dolski, Jan Dolski, Jan Dolski, and Jan Dolski.

The game and style is really good, but what I hate is that constant pressure of time. Instead of walking and watching and fighting for survival all I do is running like maniac around the planet just to extract some resources and trying to complete task before it is too late. Which you realize sooner or later and dealing with alters in during the magnetic storm what they want to eat? Really? ... Then you have literally a couple of minutes before you get burned but hey everyone wants to talk or the game send you a warning message, that you will don't know some of their stories. Like I care when I have burning sun behind my back. I dunno. If you love to be in constant pressure, go for it. I am giving positive review, but I am really starting to get more frustrated rather than enjoying the game and I don't want to be running around just to have everything prepared in time ... I'm giving thumbs up for the creativity and to support games like this. Maybe lowering difficulty will fix it? I am in ACT 2 and I think this will be even more challenging now. Definitely not a chill game ...

Rarely does a game ask you to question not just your choices, but your very identity. The Alters isn’t really about Survival, it’s about facing the versions of yourself that never got a chance. And somehow, that makes staying alive feel devastatingly human. 10/10, would doubt myself again.

You play as Jan Dolski, stranded on a radiation-threatened planet. To survive, you build a rotating mobile base and use a mysterious element, Rapidium, to clone alternate versions of yourself—the Alters—each shaped by pivotal life choices. I loved the concept. You are stuck on a planet and have to clone different versions of yourself to operate the base and survive. That’s really clever. Even better: you create the clones by looking at your life path and picking moments when you made certain decisions that led to you becoming the Jan Dolski that you are. It’s a compelling game mechanic because you are not only exploring, resource building and problem solving, you are questioning the whole nature of decision making. It makes you go back through your own life, wondering at the choices you made and what could have been different. [b]The Alters[/b] are distinct personalities (e.g., Botanist, Scientist, Miner) with unique skills and emotional needs. Dialogue and management incorporate psychology metrics like Frustration and Motivation—backed by excellent writing and choices that matter. The narrative explores identity, regret, and consequence through high-stakes moral dilemmas (e.g., saving brain-damaged Alters vs. risking corporate exposure). Survival systems—time pressure, resource gathering, base-building—are interwoven with the emotional care of your crew. Some UI is clunky (fast-travel, task clarity), tutorials can be overwhelming, and there are occasional visual glitches. Heavy emotional themes (grief, addiction, self-harm) may be triggering and exhausting for some. [b]The Alters[/b] is a standout for players craving thought-provoking storytelling and emotional depth in survival gaming. Its unique clone mechanic and moral weight are its greatest strengths—though the gameplay loop and user experience can underwhelm. A must-try on Game Pass; poignant and powerful if you can handle its emotional intensity. [h1]8/10[/h1] DISASTER | BAD | MEDIOCRE | OKAY | GOOD | [b][u]GREAT[/u][/b] |AMAZING| MASTERPIECE [quote] Reviewed on: Win11 Home 64-bit, Intel i5-11600K, GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB TUF, 32GB DDR4-3600 RAM, 2 x Kingston NV1 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD, Internet Broadband 1000/1000 Mbit[/quote] [quote] If you like this review, then please consider giving it a thumbs up. I've also reviewed other games that you might find interesting. If so please follow [u][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27418263/] Top of the Chart.[/url][/u]

I started [i]The Alters[/i] because it was from 11 bit studios. That was already enough for me to give it a chance. I trust them with stories that actually mean something. What I did not expect was how close this one would hit. I thought I was going to play a survival game. But very early on, it started feeling like something more. Something much more personal. You play as Jan Dolski, trying to survive alone on a dying planet. But soon, you are no longer alone. You create other versions of yourself. [b]Alters[/b], each shaped by a decision Jan never made. And with every new alter, the game quietly asks you: what if? What if you had made a different choice? What if you had said yes instead of no? Stayed instead of leaving? Fought instead of giving up? Every time I created a new alter and read his backstory, I caught myself thinking about my own life. My own decisions. Where I am now and where I could have been. Some alters made me proud. Some made me uneasy. Some carried weight I know I carry too. There were moments I just sat there in silence, because something hit too close. This game does not push you. It just opens a door and waits to see if you are ready to walk through it. Mechanically, everything works smoothly. The base-building, resource planning, and time management feel solid and thoughtful. But if I am being honest, that is not why I kept playing. I kept going because I wanted to know what the next alter had lived through. I wanted to hear their voice. I wanted to understand what kind of version of Jan they had become. And somewhere along the way, I realized I was not just listening to Jan. I was listening to myself. To the parts of me I do not always look at. The parts that wonder what could have been if just one thing had gone differently. I still have not finished the game. But I already know it gave me more than most games ever do. [b]The Alters is not just about survival. It is about possibility. It is about memory. It is about the versions of you that are still out there, somewhere, waiting to be heard.[/b]

Kind of DEATH STRANDING meets SOMA meets the Swapper meets Mickey 17 meets Detroit: Become Human, but with its own unique flair. It's not exactly like any of those, but somehow it feels like it fits right next to those other stories. I'm not very far into the game but I like everything about it so far, even though it feels like I'm struggling a little with some of the base building/maintence which isn't quite as intuitive as I thought it would be. However, once I have a hang of it I'm sure it'll just be a PEBCAK issue. Edit: I missed the memo I had to actual work to gather organics. PEBCAK for sure. Worth checking out, that's for sure! Edit after 9 hours or something: I like the game a lot. Mechanics are somewhat similar to DEATH STRANDING at time, similar building concepts. Movements/gathering reminds me of it as well. Story line is unique, similar again to the games I've listed, and engaging enough to stay interested. Jan is dry, angry, and suspicious of things that are happening around him, but also is determined. I like his character so far to stay invested with him. The Alter concept, no spoilers as much as I can, reminds me of Detroit: Become Human with its branches. I have no idea how my choices affect what's going to happen yet, but I like the way it's displayed. Edit after 13 hours or something: I think the game fucked with me. I'm not sure. I didn't save scum alright I had to leave, and it popped up this little message that implied I had done it on purpose and I swear the Alter I was talking to got more frustrated with me the second time around in case I tried and changed my responses. Mhm. I see you. Very cool, haha. Could be paranoia, but thanks for the guilt trip anyway! 10/10 It's fun, is that good enough haha?

At a time were everybody is complaining about games increasing in price I'm busy playing this gem and I couldn't be happier. It's worth buying even without a sale.

I went into this expecting a base-builder with strong progression mechanics, but instead got something closer to a resource-management based story RPG. Nevertheless, what is here pleasantly surprised me. Initial impressions are that the graphics are incredible, the level of detail is amazing considering my PC isn't even top-of-the-line. I wasn't expecting resource management as a gameplay aspect, and it isn't really something I enjoy but I stuck with it. I feel like I would've preferred something longer with more progression, akin to an automation game or a more traditional RPG (base building isn't a genre I've played much). But despite that, the gameplay is fun and the progression is engaging enough that I enjoyed it more than I expected. For criticisms, the second area is a little tedious with the sheer number of anomalies around. Also the strong emphasis on the branching choices and multiple endings and outcomes hurts replayability somewhat (ironically) as it feels pretty tedious to achieve, but that's more of a genre issue than a flaw with the game itself. A 7/10 for me, but this could be an 8-10/10 for you if you enjoy the gameplay more than I do. Even though my expectations of this game weren't in line with what I got, the quality of the gameplay, story, and art were still impressive. Overall, it's obvious this is a high-quality game and at a decent price, even if it isn't my cup of tea.

[h1] Game Of The Year, in an alternate universe [/h1] For the first couple of hours, The Alters had me hooked. The game starts off strong, presenting several intriguing story threads to unravel, gradually introducing new concepts, and guiding you through the creation of your first Alter. Learning about the protagonist, Jan, through his backstory immediately made me eager to uncover more. Unfortunately, you soon realize that the core gameplay loop is all the game really offers. This loop consists of harvesting resources, performing tasks for your Alters to progress their individual stories, and communicating with contacts back on Earth. While progressing the Alters' narratives is a genuine highlight, the overall cycle quickly becomes repetitive, with few meaningful distractions or diversions to break the monotony. [h3] Exploration [/h3] While the game and its environments are visually stunning, they are also quite one-note, and there is a distinct lack of meaningful side content to discover. Exploration itself also gradually devolves into dealing with a constant barrage of anomalies, and the level design is While initially interesting as a change of pace, these anomalies soon become so frequent that encountering them is no longer challenging, just tedious. You discuss challenges and objectives with your contacts back on Earth, but these interactions are disappointing. They are relegated to the communications room, represented only by a static profile picture in the corner of the screen while you stare at a generic static-filled display. This screen is never used to show anything relevant to the conversation, which feels like a missed opportunity, and result in them being quite dull. [h3] Disconnected Alters [/h3] Your Alters are a central part of the game, yet you can only interact with them within the confines of your base (with one notable exception). They won't speak to you while you're outside; instead, they will simply inform you that they need to speak with you back at the base. This design choice makes any exploration or resource harvesting feel lonely and disconnected. As a side note, the movies you find while exploring and can watch with your alters, are quite a blast, and definitely one of the highlights for me. Whenever you encounter an obstacle, the solution is always delegated to a conversation back at the base with either the technician or the scientist. There is a distinct lack of creative involvement for your other Alters, sidelining their supposed unique skills. The Alter creation process is similarly underwhelming. It heavily guides your choices, and even then, the resulting personalities don't always align logically with the decisions made to create them. [h3] An Unsatisfying Conclusion [/h3] Despite its shortcomings, I was still invested enough to look forward to the story's conclusion and the impact of my choices. Unfortunately, the ending was a profound letdown. You barely get to play through the game's finale. No matter what you decided, the epilogue feels tacked on and offers no additional gameplay beyond a single conversation that changes only slightly based on your choices. Furthermore, no satisfactory conclusion is provided for any of the other characters, leaving their fates mostly unresolved. [b] The Alters explores several interesting concepts and is visually stunning, but it suffers from a repetitive gameplay loop, uninspired map design, and an unsatisfying conclusion. [/b] The game only rarely capitalizes on its core premise—the exploration of self and the social bonds between you and your Alters—ultimately leaving you disappointed. That said, for those who can look past these significant issues, it might be worth picking up on sale simply to experience the unique idea at that is has at its center.

[u]Never[/u] has a game captivated and fascinated me so much... and above all so quickly. This game was on my wish list from the moment it was announced, so I'm not that biased about it. But if you give it it a shot, prepare to be blown away. Mainly if you love the dystopian futurist spaceships' managment.

I just finished the prologue, and wow this is a gem. It is wild to see a game with graphics this good run this well. That almost never happens anymore. The story is fascinating and explores cool themes that make you think. The gameplay loop and concept are really unique. The music and sound design are immersive. 11 bit really knocked it out of the park with this one. So far I am blown away.

Men will literally sign up for a dangerous mission sponsored by a shady corporation, only to find themselves forced to create clones with altered consciousness to survive on a desolate, hostile planet—that will serve as surprisingly effective therapy... instead of going to therapy.

While I think this is a pretty nice game, it suffers from getting a bit too roguelike, especially starting from act 2.. Let me explain a bit what I mean by that: the game gives you a couple of tools to keep your Alters happy and lift up their mood. But these tool mechanic just completely stops working when some scripted quests/events start coming your way.. And you learned that mechanic to keep your Alters happy and you will logically try to use those mechanics when Alters start to rebel against you (also very much scripted when they start to rebel against you), but as I said it's all scripted, leaving you no room for Improvisation! I think Improvisation is a very important thing especially out in space in a survival scenario. But I learned the hard way that this game is very much scripted events and if you try to use your logic to find solutions to make them happy again, it just won't work. It's just not that deep. Meaning that you have to just follow the story and craft the stuff they're asking you to craft otherwise it's just game over. I think this game design is a bit of a letdown especially because the story and setting is brilliant! So if you're the type of gamer that like to solve problems yourself by logically thinking about solutions, this might not be the game for you. I had to reload many saves before I started to realize that this game wants you to do the things and play in a certain way ONLY! Nonetheless I will leave a positive review because I like the Sci-Fi setting but I don't like the roguelike element that comes into it later in the game..

Is it a little rough around the edges occasionally? yes. Is it a wonderful story with decent resource management and exploration? Yes Do your choices matter? YES! It's a great game, and the devs help fund Ukraine which is a plus for any decent person

Never played ANYTHING like this! In a world of re-makes, this game takes sooo insane risks and pulls it off. I mean, just for the idea alone and for being truly unique this game is a 10/10. Such bravery must be rewarded. I don't think you can imagine how this game is until you experience yourself. Worse case scenario you return it. I'd say the first moment of truth is when you make your first alter. This is early on, maybe 2 hours in. Reading through the past life events is such a personal experience that reflects at your own life in a way no review can explain.

Another game from my wishlist that I cannot play due to hard coded keybinds (right mouse button). Hard coding essential input like the right mouse button reduces accessibility, hurts user experience, and excludes players who could otherwise find ways to enjoy the game. There is no technical justification strong enough to outweigh these downsides. Input remapping should be a basic, non-negotiable feature in any modern game especially in a PC release. Not all players can use a standard mouse setup. Some may rely on adaptive devices, alternative input methods, or need to shift keybindings to suit physical limitations. By hard coding a mouse button, the game limits their ability to customize controls to match their needs.

The setting and style of this game is great, but its events are 100% on rails, if you miss your mark within the precise window the game wants you in, you're done for, you won't know for days (up to 2 hours in game) that you are screwed and will have to reload an earlier save, (difficulty sliders make no difference for this mechanic). You're constantly fighting for your life micromanaging everything, crew/resources/storage/weather/time, it gets tiring but you can clearly see that if it was more forgiving then you'd enjoy the game. Update Jun 17th: This game is just not fun, its got some great Ideas and graphics but falls short in gameplay. -35% of all players finished Act 1 -11% finished Act 2 -6% finished Act 3 I don't care what the positive reviews are saying, most of those people are clearly not completing the game. For reference you can reach end of Act 2 in 20 hours.

The game itself is great. I rarely get ‘sucked in’ to a game anymore but this is a rare exception. I also never write reviews because I just don’t care enough. This is an exception. There is a constant stream of varied tasks that are challenging but not overwhelming on standard difficulty. Managing crises feels really rewarding and the game has a way of making me want to continue playing despite characters experiencing major setbacks, instead of reloading an older save game, which I feel is a rare thing to accomplish in game design. Unfortunately, in it’s current state there are multiple progression breaking bugs, because of which I cannot recommend the game. It is extremely frustrating to have to go back to earlier saves (the game only saves at the beginning of each in-game day) and remember and redo all the little decisions that felt so impactful the first time. These bugs are also difficult to identify because when you first encounter them, you don’t know if they’re an intentional game mechanic, for example a character refusing to work. At 28 hours in, I am completely stuck because I can’t build a module required to progress. Instead of whining on the forums, I submitted two bug reports with screenshots and save files. At first I got friendly response indicating that my report was being taken seriously, however as soon as the person responding figured out I was playing on Linux, I got a generic response saying that Linux is not supported. Apparently that is enough for them to dismiss my problem. The game appears to run flawlessly on Linux. Zero crashes, good performance. Obviously I would not make a bug report for a crash or other technical problem knowing the game doesn’t officially support Linux, but the bugs I encountered are problems with the game logic and some of them have been reported by other players on the forums. Very frustrating.

I really liked this game, first 5 hours was great. Than the ticking clock became a problem, this game must be completed on a fixed time. Just a 90s "you are dead" screen if you take second to enjoy the game, instead of rushing past content and do the right stuff in order. This realization sucked all fun out of the experience, and left me stressed when I was looking for a chill experienced. Not for me I guess.

Now THAT'S how you do a game. Narrative is at its core, with the game mechanics strongly supporting it. The story is good and captivating, the mechanics are keeping me on edge without the ability to just farm the sh*t out of it and kick back and relax. Something always happens, I really have to run around fixing things. I love it. And I'd say the price is low, actually, for the quality we receive.

---{ Graphics }--- ☑ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good (a bit repetitive but still good) ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☐ Decent ☑ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☐ Old Fashioned ☐ Workable ☑ Big ☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☑ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☑ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☑ Average ☐ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☑ 8 ☐ 9 ☐ 10

Great concept, meh game. I was quite engaged for Act 1, but by mid-late Act 2 the game started to become an unbearable slog. I like resource management games, I like difficult games. I hated playing this game and dealing with my clone's constant hissy fits over absolutely nothing. I'm in Act 3... I will probably push on finish it, but I've long since stopped enjoying it. The problem basically is the game's main shtick, dealing with your Alters. Yes, people have needs. Yes, the setting is a very stressful situation. But they have the emotional development of toddlers and their work ethic isn't much better. What's more, they are ANNOYING. Every one is insufferably written and the voice-acting just isn't there. The characters are completely one-note which does not sell the game's "theme" of different life paths, choices, etc. making the man you are. Like, great, I could have chosen to be one ridiculous cardboard cut-out... or another. Dealing with the Alter's arbitrary rioting - even when you gave them everything they asked for - can really put you in a bind with exploration and resource management. I can't get resources for making better food if the crew rages and skips work after one day of low quality meals. I was just running around frantic fulfilling momentary needs and couldn't get into a rhythm or get efficient. "Sounds like a skill issue." Maybe. Or maybe it's just not that fun to play...? I couldn't stand the characters any more so I literally just started mashing spacebar through their dialogues. In a story-driven game. Then resource management got really tedious and repetitive. By Act 3 I was in such a bad place (story reasons) I was doomed. I charted out the map to find each resource spot, reloaded an earlier save, and then abused my foreknowledge to avoid the doom spiral. Some retries were necessary learning my way through Frostpunk and This War of Mine, but this feels REALLY bad in Alters as a story-driven game. You aren't doing new runs, you're playing the same segment over. The retread sucks butt. What else? Graphics are pretty good, FSR upscaling and framegen not so good. Looked even more stuttery for me than native. I don't think the game benefits from >60 FPS anyway, so the bigger difference between highs and lows has no upside, only makes swings in FPS more noticeable. Music is totally forgettable. 15 hours in I can't remember a single tune. Fairly frequent animation bugs like character spasms climbing up ledges. Some crashes to desktop, but rare. How would I make the game better? Tweak some of the Alter attributes so everyone is legitimately useful. Some of the Alters I picked weren't any help beyond "extra body". The Guard was actually just a drain on resources (I made a bad choice and he just stopped doing useful work). Make the Alters less needy, have more sensible mood progression/deterioration. Give "mood rooms" (gym, social, etc.) bigger effect. Gate fewer research upgrades behind "planetary samples", at least critical economy upgrades. Maybe prune off some of the less useful ones. I feel like I made "bad choices" not knowing future events and am suffering for it. IMPROVE STORAGE. It's very constrained and swings between empty and full on a dime. Frequently I have zero storage space remaining, but also somehow not enough resources to make stuff. Half my base is storage! I would cut "enriched metals" entirely. It's like an anti-resource. TL;DR? Game needs rebalancing. I said this before but I absolutely hate the voice acting and writing for every character (except Maxwell). Every line is delivered with such awkward pacing and inflection. Did the actor get ANY direction? Did they ever try a second take? I know they can't/won't fix something like that. I know that's harsh and it's sold at indie game pricing. But man, it's just unpleasant. I tried switching to the native Polish only to discover THERE ISN'T ANY. The English VA's are what you get. [spoiler]I need you to hear me on this. If I have to listen to the Botanist's cloying, simping drone for ONE MORE MINUTE I will turn this base around and drive straight into the sun.[/spoiler]

The game only saves after you wake up from sleep and start a new day. No auto save, no manual save. Game crashes and you lose a lot of progress. I don't like having my time wasted. There is zero reason to have such a restricted save file system. Needs bug fixes, especially crashes and an auto save or manual save. Won't be playing again until updated.

i'm not really into survival games but i really loved this one, the dynamics between the protagonist (Jan) and its alters are amazing and the real gem in this game, the gameplay it is indeed fun, but the story is the best part. i'm on my way to 100% it

As much as I enjoyed the demo, the story & the idea, I cannot recommend this game at this point. I got stuck in textures while climbing three times in a row. If you don't allow manual saving, make sure if your game is bug-free.

Great concept but game crashes frequently on steam deck and due to how the saving is implemented ive lost a lot of progress on each crash

If you like the story of this game, I would like to take this chance to recommend a science fiction to all of you, "Dark Matter by Blake Crouch", brilliant and mindblowing and its also about Alters. Love how a good Sci-fi story, actions, resources management, base building all blend into one game. And everything is well made to a certain degree. That said i am one those casual players that play game for happiness. i dont really feel good when i have to make tough decisions like Frostpunk or This war of mine. Its funny i found for the mixing genre and gameplay, this is actually a grim version "Dave the diver".

Great idea but poor execution Too stressful with over the top micro management and time limits Tutorial leaves out a lot of very important game mechanics like the assignment function Unless you read every page of the manual, then good luck to you. Only way to improve is to die a lot and learn, just wasn't fun. First area was great, slow, nothing much to worry about , got to explore but the next area the game just had me failing all the time ( again , assignment function was never explained ) This game needs some refinement, perhaps an easier playing level for those of us with family commitments who don't enjoy getting wiped out while still learning to play. I loved the game at the start but a few poor time sensitive choices and its game over left me frustrated and not wanting to play. I will come back in a month and check how the updates I already have kids, a family, a mortgage, I don't need a steep learning curve and tons of stress. If this game was a bit more chilled out it would be fantastic. Sorry cant recommend, it just left me in a foul mood

Good game. But I wish the endings were more unique, they’re just way too similar. Another thing I didn’t like was the dialogue, most of it felt pretty childish, which kind of ruined the immersion a bit.

I came into this game somewhat blind expecting: - The usual 11 Bit studios colony management sim. - Resource grinding and optimization using the clone gimmick. - Choices that matters, because otherwise numbers won't go up. What i got: - Slice of life of a not-so-lonely man named Jan Dolski, the Builder. - Relationship simulator with other people named Jan Dolski. - Choices that matters, because I ended up caring too much for the story. This game would honestly be somewhat disappointing if you're expecting hardcore management simulator like Frostpunk or Oxygen Not Included(for being a 'colony sim' with clones), but if what you're looking for is a very story-driven narrative game with ASPECTS of a colony sim, then this game would probably be up your alley. And i know I'm underselling the management sim part a bit too much at this point, but it's actually pretty decent. There are still dangers from anomalies during explorations, certain choices can HEAVILY affect colony's optimization, and being too under-prepared might seriously affect the colony's moods if you fail to provide proper radiation protection and repairs during times of crisis. It's no Frostpunk, but they still used the "choice matters" really well to affect your gameplay experience. So... maybe a 7/10 from the colony sim angle, and about 8.5/10 from a story perspective? Doubt this is winning any GOTY but the game truly picked on my heartstrings during the twists and turns. Really recommend if you're looking for a good thriller with a decent gameplay.

[h1]The diary of my doppelgangers and me about searching for life on another planet[/h1] I liked the game after thoroughly testing it, and I can conclude that it is well made, with a reasonable and rigorous storyline. The game itself is not particularly remarkable; as an action game, it is not outstanding, and one could even say that it is quite boring. However, the excellent script hides many of the flaws in the gameplay, and one could even say that the flaws in the gameplay serve the plot to some extent. First, the pros: the narrative is extremely good, each doppelganger has their own unique character and experience, and thanks to the fact that the quantum computer tells about the characters' past, it is possible to predict and understand the character of the doppelganger to some extent, and the brief description of the doppelganger's life undoubtedly greatly enhances the immersion effect of the game. In addition, many minor details of the characters' personalities and thoughts are revealed at certain moments in the base. For example, when the main character is faced with an important choice, the duplicates sometimes express their position, and if you make an effort to observe and reflect, the development of many events is actually predictable to a certain extent. [b]However, this game, like others, has flaws that can even be called fatal[/b] first, as a game in which you need to plan the development of your own base, you cannot “reveal the plot” without triggering certain events, and you can have no more than six duplicates, of which only three or four are available at the beginning of the game. There are not many types of resources in the game, but the high-quality metal you extract requires additional processing, all mines need maintenance, and the base sometimes breaks down and requires repairs. These features are not very significant in themselves, but it is extremely strange that in this game, as in any game devoted to planning, a single duplicate can only be associated with one task, and scientists can only free up labor for work towards the end of the game, which is equivalent to a constant reduction in the workforce by one person. At the beginning of the game, when there is no labor or energy to keep the radiation shield constantly on, the radiation level will constantly rise. As a result, I had to constantly open a special panel and transfer people to other tasks, and sometimes even treat them for radiation sickness. At the beginning of the game, I had to constantly filter radiation manually and turn the shield on and off manually. If the game had the ability to assign priority tasks and add the ability to remotely turn the radiation shield on and off, it would undoubtedly greatly improve the gaming experience. Secondly, what bothers me the most and what I cannot accept: as a story-driven game, the idea of running away from the sun's rays is quite acceptable in itself, but the story events with duplicates seem somewhat random. For example, even after completing the game, I never once saw a guard tell me anything valuable to the plot, let alone complete his storyline. And the scientist only started talking to me in the last chapter, when the sun was already about to burn him, and there was no time left to complete the storyline. In addition, under normal conditions, only six doppelgangers can be summoned, making it impossible to complete all the game content in one go. However, the content of the game itself is very repetitive and completely lacking in randomness, which makes me have absolutely no desire or enthusiasm to play the game a second time. All I can say is that the gameplay, which is impossible to complete in one go, does not support multiple playthroughs at all, which is a shame. Many of the doppelganger stories I wanted to know about were completely lost in the boredom of the game itself. Overall, the content of the game is impressive at the beginning and in the middle, but it cannot sustain too much content at the end. Due to the presence of an automatic mine, I basically just slept to wait for events, and I had no shortage of resources. However, the narrative is excellent, the characters are voluminous and easy to empathize with, the story is logical, and for me personally, this is the second most important game of the year after Expedition 33. If you are interested in the game and are thinking about buying it, don't watch any walkthrough videos, but rather buy it and play it right away, because after watching the walkthrough videos, you will most likely find it difficult to enjoy the game. After all, the resource planning part of the game itself is nothing special. It's better to start the game and experience the unique, multifaceted life that belongs only to you. [spoiler](For those who want to write that I'm reviewing the game without having spent enough hours in it, I want to say that I played it as soon as it came out on Game Pass).[/spoiler]

The game's not bad, but failed at translating the gameplay loop on its steam page. The story and sound design is great, but unless you're a fan of games that run on a permanent timer and focus on stress gameplay, this likely won't be for you.

I guess I'll be the bad guy and be the one who gives this the thumbs down. I'm finding this game to be "brutally" linear, I keep running into brick walls that prevent me from advancing simply because I collected too much, or didn't build items in the correct order, or didn't stock enough of item "x". It is very interesting to play but I keep finding that I need to restart and try again to get past some sort of roadblock I somehow created for myself. It's a frustrating learning experience and if there's some mechanic that allows me to recover from whatever decisions or progress I've made just isn't apparent. Oh, and it has way more bugs than a full release should have. I'm not saying don't buy this title, but felt someone needed to say there's some aspect to this game that isn't as fabulous as the ratings are giving it.

The social system between the alters is in desperate need of proper balancing. It's dramatically too easy to get a game over over rebellions that can't be prevented no matter how happy they are, how well they get along, and the quest task that pops up to "prevent the rebellion" cannot be completed. You can't do anything to stop it. It essentially makes the game spontaneously unplayable without any proper explanation or hints. Beyond this fact, it's really good so far. They just need to prevent unexplained rebellions. (Because my entire crew was in a good mood, so there really wasn't any reason for the task to show up in the first place. You can't fix what isn't broken.)

The most interesting and well-developed pure sci-fi concept executed to perfection. This game is beautiful. This game is fascinating. This game is surprising. This game is joyful. Learn something about yourself, and play it!

Very early into the game and I'm hooked. The story is great, the game runs smooth, a huge upgrade from the demo.

The Alters feels almost like a science fiction novel with you as the protagonist. It's a confusing, clever and moving story that makes you feel at home on a planet millions of light years away from Earth. A true revelation with a fresh perspective. The unique blend of exploration, crew management, resource economics and an intriguing plot deserves every gamer's attention. Some mechanics from Death Stranding, This War of Mine, Frostpunk. P.S. In terms of others reviews. I had no problem with timers, played on medium difficulty and finished story with six arks just for fun (19 hours). The game is meant to be replayable, next time I'll play on the hardest difficulty with a different crew.

Just got fucked over by the lack of manual saving. I mistakenly trusted that the auto save feature would work. Turns out the last time it saved was ~10 game days ago. Wonderful. Imagine just letting us save manually so we don't have to deal with bullshit like this.

UPDATE: Good game; wait for additional patches/updates. The latest patch “resolved” the softlock I hit during Act 2... unfortunately, it didn’t retroactively fix my save. I ended up starting a new run and switched up my Alters to keep it fresh. Finally made it to the end and really enjoyed how my choices/story wrapped up. Act 3 was definitely testing my patience near the end though. Nothing breaks the immersion like multiple crashes to the desktop during endgame moments, and having to replay an entire in-game day because the game only saves when you sleep. Not sure what was triggering it exactly (didn't encounter any crashes during Acts 1 & 2 of either playthrough), but hopefully 11 bit can get this issue fixed up soon. ----- The gameplay and writing checked all the boxes for me, but ~20 hours into my save, I ran into a game-breaking bug near the end of Act 2. No way to progress the story because a mission doesn’t register. Since you’re on a constant timer, it just leads to a game over for the entire save.

11 bit studios pulled off something incredible — they've created a game on Unreal Engine that not only avoids feeling like another tech demo, but also runs very well. If you're familiar with that often soulless, sterile, overpolished "Unreal Engine feeling" — where everything looks good but feels empty — you'll be glad to know that The Alters is the complete opposite. It’s not just visually appealing — it's smooth, responsive, and actually feels like a real game from the very first minute The prologue is solid, and the branching stoeirs of the alters are a really cool idea. You can clearly feel the studio's DNA here: elements of This War of Mine and Frostpunk are combined into the survival mechanics, base management, and narrative design, yet the result still feels fresh and unique Super happy about the release. Bought the deluxe edition right away to be ready for future dlcs Grats on the release, 11 bit

What a great game! The story was fantastic, and the dialogue writing was the cherry on top. The survival elements can be frustrating at times, but that is the whole point. The characters, voice actors, music, and atmosphere all contribute to making this a breathtaking game.