The Alters is a sci-fi survival saga with a twist of self.
11 Bit Studios has long established itself as a pioneer of emotionally charged, mechanically innovative games. With standout titles like This War of Mine and Frostpunk, the studio carved a niche for itself in blending deep narrative with grueling survival mechanics.
Where This War of Mine asked what civilians do in wartime, and Frostpunk forced players to be both savior and dictator in a frozen apocalypse, The Alters marks a bold new direction—both familiar and alien. It is a game that takes 11 Bit’s signature storytelling grit and pivots it toward science fiction, offering a deeply introspective experience that asks players one daunting question: What if you had to rely on different versions of yourself to survive?
Venturing away from dystopian cities and ruined homesteads, The Alters plunges into the vast, desolate expanse of an alien planet, weaving a narrative around identity, trauma, morality, and the fragility of the human psyche, rather than simply surviving against hostile weather and dwindling food, the game forces you to grapple with the psychological toll of splintering yourself—literally—into different life paths. It is a game as much about who you are as it is about what you do.
At the heart of The Alters is Jan Dolski, a lone employee of the monolithic Ally Corp who crash-lands on a remote, volatile planet. His crew is gone—dead under mysterious circumstances—and he’s stranded amid relentless rains, molten rivers, and gravitational anomalies that seem to hint at realities colliding.
The planet holds Rapidium, a rare and dangerous resource at the center of both Jan’s mission and Ally Corp’s corporate agenda. But extracting it won’t be possible alone. Using a quantum computer within his mobile base, Jan creates “Alters”—alternate versions of himself born from divergent life choices.
These Alters are not just clones or tools; they are fully sentient individuals shaped by “what if” scenarios: what if Jan had chosen to stay with his wife, Lena? What if he had pursued engineering instead of chemistry? What if he had never joined Ally Corp at all?
This is where The Alters rises above conventional survival storytelling. Each Alter brings a new emotional lens to Jan’s story and introduces interpersonal dynamics that feel as complex as managing real-world relationships.
These personalities are not easily tamed. While some Alters are loyal and pragmatic, others come with baggage, agendas, or unresolved emotional conflicts. While some Alters may view the struggle for survival as an individual undertaking and actively oppose Jan’s leadership, others may wish to mend fences with Lena.
An already grim struggle for existence is made even more unsettling by these opposing identities, as well as Jan’s own developing ambivalence regarding the question of reality and the corporation’s true objectives. The game smartly uses branching dialogues and player choices to allow the player to mold relationships and shape how the Alters evolve.
Crucially, choices matter. Whether you decide to tell Earth authorities about the Alters, put resource exploitation ahead of your emotional health, or favor one Alter’s ideology over another, every choice you make has an impact on the plot and leads it in radically diverse directions.
There’s a deeply personal layer to the plot as Jan slowly uncovers the cause of the crash, the fate of his crew, and the ethical cost of creating and commanding versions of himself. The narrative is tightly paced and complex without ever becoming overwhelming, supported by smart writing and well-acted dialogues that lend credibility to the sci-fi premise.
On a mechanical level, The Alters is a genre hybrid, marrying survival and base-building with light exploration and relationship simulation. The gameplay alternates between two main perspectives: a third-person view when exploring the surface of the planet and a 2.5D side-scrolling view within the modular interior of Jan’s mobile base. This shift helps differentiate tasks and environments, though it can initially feel a bit jarring until the systems start to mesh.
Your central loop revolves around keeping both Jan and the base operational. That means resource collection, crafting, upgrading facilities, and managing the physical and emotional needs of the Alters. You’ll scour the environment for vital resources like metals, organic materials, and Rapidium.
These are used for everything from powering your base to feeding your crew. Exploration is time-limited—at 8:00 p.m., the outside environment becomes too dangerous, forcing you to return. Every minute counts, creating an undercurrent of tension that drives strategic planning.
Base expansion requires smart placement of rooms—dormitories, trauma centers, kitchens, greenhouses, and research labs—all while managing the mobile structure’s weight and energy usage.
Expanding unlocks new functionality, but it also increases the resource drain, meaning that every upgrade comes with added risk. A pylon network transports materials from drilling rigs back to the base, but setting them up eats valuable time, and you must carefully plot your expansion routes.
Where The Alters innovates most is in task delegation. Each Alter comes with a specialty: engineers are efficient miners, botanists grow food, scientists manage research, and so on. Assigning jobs based on these traits is essential for survival.
But you also have to handle connections with other people. Alters will remain motivated if they are given nutritious meals, mental health breaks, and stimulating chats. If you ignore them, they can become bitter or even rebel, which would interfere with operations and weaken your authority.
Additionally, the game eventually automates some tasks, such as moving resources or keeping pylons in good condition, so you can concentrate more on strategy and plot development. However, this occurs after a few hours of gaming. Thus, some players may find the early stages to be rather grind-heavy. However, the depth and cooperation between systems start to show as you settle into the rhythm.
Unlike traditional survival games that rely on combat, The Alters places emphasis on environmental problem-solving. The planet itself is the enemy—lava flows, radiation zones and magnetic storms serve as the main antagonists.
Traversing these areas often requires puzzle-solving: clearing rockslides with explosive charges, manipulating generators, or building pathways with limited supplies. These puzzles are usually logical and satisfying, integrated with the survival loop rather than isolated minigames.
This approach keeps tension high but avoids the fatigue of constant enemy encounters. Instead of fighting, you’re racing against time and entropy—repairing what’s broken, salvaging what you can, and keeping everyone alive.
Some players may find that the lack of traditional combat is refreshing, while others may crave more action. There is a risk here: environmental hazards can injure Alters or destroy equipment, creating setbacks that force you to adapt on the fly.
The downside is repetition. Since travel is often slow and fast travel is limited, backtracking becomes common. Resource collection—particularly holding a button to harvest—can get tedious, especially during longer play sessions. But this slow pace is deliberate, reinforcing the emotional and physical weight of survival.
Running on Unreal Engine 5, The Alters boasts impressive environmental design. Both awe and fear are conveyed by the alien planet’s flaming lava fields, unsettling features, and storm-tossed landscapes.
The sense of a decaying world with mysteries hidden beneath its surface is evoked by the handcrafted feel of each area. The base’s cramped hallways and modular quarters give it a mechanical charm similar to that of the Moon or The Martian, and the interiors are equally detailed.
Character models stand out, particularly the diverse Alters. Each one may share Jan’s face, but subtle changes in clothing, posture, or facial expression signal a different personality. It helps that the game uses the likeness of actor Alex Jordan, whose face is digitally scanned and expressive even in routine interactions.
Performance-wise, the game runs beautifully on high-end PCs. At 4K with max settings, you can expect upwards of 120 FPS on systems equipped with a Ryzen 7 5800X and Radeon 7900 XTX. DLSS helps maintain stable performance at 1440p, though occasional frame drops can occur during intense environmental effects. Console players get a steady 30–60 FPS experience depending on settings, which suits the methodical pacing of gameplay.
However, nothing is flawless. Pixelation or low-resolution texturing can occasionally affect close-up interactions, particularly in communication calls or emotionally charged exchanges.
Given how essential those interactions are to the experience, these moments may momentarily disrupt immersion. Although it doesn’t break the game, it is a flaw in an otherwise well-designed visual package.
One of The Alters‘ strongest features is its audio design. Alex Jordan delivers a remarkable performance as Jan—and all his Alters—giving each a distinct voice and emotional cadence.
This is no small feat, considering how many Alters can exist in one playthrough. His performance ranges from confident and assertive to hesitant and broken, making it easy to forget that it’s the same creator behind them all.
The supporting characters are just as good. Emotional reality is enhanced by the human, grounded responses of Lena, Lucas, Maxwell, and others. The discourse feels natural and frequently moving, whether it’s a heated dispute over survival goals or an honest discussion about regrets from the past.
The Alters‘ soundtrack is subdued, with simple melodies and ethereal tones that only slightly increase in intensity during peril or discovery moments. The soundtrack softly improves the gameplay rather than overpowering it.
Although some loops can become monotonous throughout extended periods of base maintenance, environmental effects such as grinding drills, crackling anomalies, and the hum of the base produce a rich, engrossing soundscape.
