11 bit studios
The Alters: surviving space with your other selves
The latest from 11 bit studios brings us an adventure of science fiction and alternate lives.
Throughout our lives, there are moments and decisions that not only mark us but also define the person we become. Some of these events have been our choices; others, circumstances that surrounded us. But what if we could find all those points on a timeline and see what we could have become? What would we have done? What other skills would we have learned? What different traumas would we carry?
These kinds of questions are at the core of an adventure that mixes science fiction, emotional storytelling, and space survival. This is The Alters.
In space, only you can help yourself
The Alters is a survival game developed by 11 bit studios where you control Jan Dolski, a builder on a space mission to collect one of the strangest and most valuable materials for mankind: Rapidium. However, when he arrives on the planet, he encounters several problems. He is the only survivor of the entire crew and faces a hostile environment: a planet where the sun is so radioactive that he must constantly avoid its sunrise.
On top of that, the company he works for is more interested in obtaining the Rapidium than in organizing his rescue. But upon discovering that one of his ship’s modules has a quantum computer capable of analyzing his timeline, Jan discovers that he can create clones called Alters. These are alternate versions of himself who made different choices in life. For example, the Jan who did go to college and became a scientist, or the one who followed his wife and learned botany.
Each Alter has unique abilities, but also their own emotions and opinions about the mission. As the crew multiplies, so do resource consumption and coexistence challenges.
Survival, exploration, and management
In terms of gameplay, we can divide The Alters into three stages. The first is exploration and survival. Your base starts with limited resources, and it is important to get to know everything around you. Exploring will allow you to find resources ranging from organic materials with which you can create food and metals to the famous Rapidium and other elements that will be unlocked throughout the game. To obtain these elements, you can find them either on your walk or by setting up mining posts. The game will give you the tools to locate the deposits and extract their resources and then connect through posts to the ship, allowing you to obtain the resources. In addition to the resources, if we are curious enough, we will have the opportunity to find some personal items along the map. From movies or objects that can be delivered to certain specific Alters.
Of course, exploration will not be so easy. The first challenge to overcome is managing your time. The period we can be on the surface is defined by the amount of radiation that exists, having schedules that, as dawn approaches, will limit our activities outside the ship. Also, as we progress, we will find elements of the topography, such as stones that block our path or large cliffs that initially we will not be able to overcome until we have developed some new technology. Also, along the journey we will come across some natural elements, as well as anomalies, which will put our lives at risk.
Everything fits in a base... if you know how to organize it
The base is your center of operations and carries all the weight of the administrative component of the game. At the beginning it has the basics: your room, a kitchen, storage modules, the quantum computer, and so on. But by collecting materials, you will be able to build new spaces: from extra bedrooms or a gym to a laboratory, an infirmary, or a greenhouse.
Expanding is not enough. You will have to keep an eye on the radiation shield, food production, or module maintenance. To do this, you can assign tasks to your Alters: one could work cultivating in the greenhouse, while another goes out to harvest. Although the management system may seem tedious at first, it becomes more fluid over time, and even the Alters will act proactively if you allow them to.
And as a good game with an administrative factor, you will have your moments of crisis. If there is no maintenance soon in the modules, accidents may occur that lower the performance of some of our Alters. Or sometimes there will be thunderstorms that will put everyone in a state of maximum alert and repair, consuming more resources as you create more objects, causing stress and micromanaging to be put to the test.
The multiplicity of the self
But the great strength of The Alters is not in exploration or management, but in its narrative depth. Getting to know Jan through her alternate lives is one of the most powerful aspects of the game. Each Alter represents what might have been: not just as a resource for survival, but as an intimate look at life’s turning points.
Interactions revolve around past decisions, common traumas, and paths that diverged. Two different versions of Jan can connect through similar, but not shared, memories. The story changes with each choice, and what you say or do can affect the Alters emotionally, altering their disposition and even their stability.
On the visual side, we came across a game that looks amazing. Each of the sections of the planet looks impressive. There were a few frame drops at some points in the exploration, especially when you were running. But other than that, the experience holds up very well.
The Alters is not only a game; it is an experience of how you can view life that cleverly blends science fiction, introspection, and strategic management. Its experience mixes both demanding survival and management with a narrative that sometimes feels like it speaks to you. It has its minor technical glitches, but nothing that ruins the experience. The exploration of alternate identities, as well as the mystery of the planet we arrive on, not only enriches the story but also raises emotional questions about the choices that define us as people.
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