Do you have any pivotal moments in your life? Times when things could have gone either way and, if they had gone the way they didn’t go, how different would your life be? The Alters is a sci-fi survival management sim that wants to answer that very question. What if things had been different? Who or what would I be?
I feel like you’d have to live a pretty carefree life not to wonder occasionally what would have happened if things were different. Lacking that type of introspection is something I can’t relate to, but that comes with all the neurosis I have and also makes me wonder, what if I didn’t have them? Where would I be then? Jan Dolski is the sole survivor of an ill-fated space expedition. He needs to survive, and he can’t do it alone so he does what anyone stranded in a giant mobile space base would do: he creates clones of himself to manage the space station. The only problem is, each version of Jan is unique and comes with the emotional baggage that any person would bring with them. These are your alters.
I am so glad that this was brought to my attention because it’s such a cool idea. A game about reflection, life’s choices, and having that shape the world and people around you. I was a little worried with the Joss Whedon style beginning of the trailer, but I’m glad it didn’t lean into it or stick with it. If you dipped at the beginning, I urge you to continue watching, what a treat. I cannot wait to find out more. Let’s dig into it.
Stranded on a hostile planet and racing against a deadly sunrise, Jan Dolski’s only chance of survival is to create “alters”—alternate versions of himself shaped by roads not taken. Each Jan comes with unique skills, personalities, and memories tied to a different life choice. But they also come with conflict, doubt, and emotional baggage.
The deadly sunrise might be a good enough hook on its own but the cloning, holy shit. Regrettably, the resource Jan uses to create his alters is called Rapidium, but I’m willing to look past that.
And as a new element the trailer leans into, The Alters reveals the hardships of exploring the planet’s unique biomes, where deadly anomalies stand in your way. Levitating rocks and eerie distortions of reality catch your attention immediately, while other singularities remain invisible to the naked eye and require special tools to uncover. In every case, without a careful approach, you risk instant death, radiation-induced injuries, or even the disintegration of time and space itself. And you may want to avoid exploring at night, as the heightened radioactivity can eat right through your suit. These dangers add yet another layer to the survival experience, turning every expedition into a high-stakes puzzle.
The Alters Key Features
- Create Your Alters – Use the quantum computer onboard your base to simulate alternate outcomes of your past choices and uncoverJan’s different life paths. Each Alter brought to life thanks to the remarkable properties of Rapidium comes with unique skills and emotional depths. These variantions offer both opportunities and challenges as you navigate personal struggles and manage the fragile dynamics of your crew.
- Survival Mechanics – To operate the mobile base, you’ll need to explore the planet’s surface in search of precious resources, like metals and organics. Yet venturing outside the safe haven comes with the risk of exposing you and your Alters to various deadly anomalies as well as the ever-present radiation of the sun. That’s why you must pay attention to the in-game day and night cycle and plan your daily activities wisely!
- Branching Storylines – Navigate a narrative rich with moral dilemmas and branching paths. Your choices will shape Jan’s relations with his Alters which then will impact their journey and lead you to multiple outcomes and endings.
- Expand Your Base – Gathered resources can be used in different ways – create necessary items or develop your base with additional modules like Research Lab or Social Room. Sometimes you will have to choose between creating items specially for your Alters and ones that could push the mission forward, like Anomaly Detectors or Radiation Filters. The burden of every decision lies solely on your shoulders as you will never be able to satisfy everyone’s needs.
- Exploration – The planet features unique biomes and secrets waiting to be found, but deadly anomalies stand in your way. Levitating rocks and eerie distortions of reality attract attention immediately, while other singularities remain invisible to the naked eye and require special tools to uncover. In all cases, you must be extra careful – or face the risk of instant death, radiation-induced injuries, and even disintegration of time and space. Also, you may want to avoid exploring the planet during hours when intense radioactivity can eat right through your suit. Happy travels!
I’m geekin’ out over here with the heavy narrative in a management sim stuff, that’s so much my jam. The Alters has an official release date of June 13, 2025, and will release on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S with Day One Xbox and PC Game Pass. If you simply cannot wait to play or want to check it out ahead of time there is a demo on the Steam page as well as one up on the PlayStation store. And if you just want to support the devs before the game release you can always give the game a wishlist add. I’ll be anticipating this release, so keep an eye on the front page for more information about The Alters.
