The Alters

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PCs (Steam Deck: “Playable”)
Current goal: Escape the planet

Don’t be fooled by The Alters’ box art which looks like something you might see for an asset-flip dating gameshow game made of AI-slop art in Unreal. It is actually a very compelling management sim from 11Bit Studios, maker of Frostpunk. You play as the lone survivor of a mysterious space expedition trying to survive by using clones of himself to build a functioning base. Think Mickey 17 if instead of each copy being killed, they got to run a Fallout shelter together. 11Bit Studios management sims have never just been about resource gathering and min-maxing to survive, however, and what really makes Alters special is how it puts these meaty systems in service of telling a carefully crafted story based around social interactions between the clones. Come for the survival crafting, stay to gaze into a mirror of flawed humanity and existential regret. I’m still just a few hours in but it already has its hooks in me. If you want a narrative adventure but found yourself bouncing off of the esoteric strands of Blue Prince this might be the one to check out. — Ethan Gach