Juggling clones and chaos in a race against the sun
By Paul Hunter
You awake on a hostile planet, shadowed by your own regrets. That’s the starting point in The Alters, a sci-fi survival game from developer and publisher 11 Bit Studios. It’s not just about staying alive—though managing power, food, and time will keep you busy. It’s also about confronting yourself. Literally. Using a rare resource called Rapidium, you create alternate versions of your character, Jan Dolski. These ‘Alters’ represent lives Jan might have lived instead. They’re not just copies—they remember their pasts, and some aren’t happy to be here.
The planet itself is lethal. The sun alone is enough to kill you if you’re caught in its rays. To stay alive, you move across the planet in a massive mobile base. It’s not about building the best outpost; it’s about staying ahead of the sunrise. That forward momentum creates constant urgency without relying on enemies or jump scares. The threat is time constraints—and your own limits.
Where most survival games focus on systems, The Alters blends those systems with personal history. Each Alter brings not just skills, but baggage. The scientist who stayed in school. The engineer who resents you. The artist who failed. They’re part of your survival plan, but they’re also a reflection of who you could have been. And that can be hard to manage.
So the question becomes: is this unusual mix of survival mechanics and personal reflection worth checking out? Let’s find out!
In The Alters, you play as Jan Dolski, a space miner who crash-lands alone on a planet with a deadly sun. After crashing on the planet, Jan quickly discovers that survival depends on staying inside the shadow of a massive mobile base. As the sun rises, anything exposed is instantly destroyed. With no time to settle, Jan has to keep moving—and think fast.
Jan’s only real chance of survival comes from Rapidium, a rare material that powers the base’s cloning system. This isn’t a typical sci-fi cloning setup, though. Instead of creating blank copies, Jan generates alternate versions of himself—each based on pivotal different life choices. Some stayed in school. Some took risks. Some suffered more than he did. These are the Alters, and they each come with their own personalities, skills, and perspectives.
You don’t just issue commands, you hold conversations—sometimes difficult ones—with versions of yourself. One Alter may be bitter, feeling you wasted his potential. Another might be withdrawn, shaped by trauma you avoided. These interactions aren’t optional flavour text. They’re central to the story and your survival. Each Alter can be helpful, but they also require care. Ignoring their emotional needs can lead to friction—or worse, failure.
The heart of the narrative lies in the “Tree of Life,” a branching system that shows crucial choices from Jan’s past. Choosing an Alter isn’t just about picking a skillset. It’s about selecting a version of Jan shaped by a path not taken. These decisions affect not only what the Alter can do, but how they connect with others in the base. From shared hobbies to personal resentments, each interaction builds out a larger picture of who Jan is—or could have been.
The writing doesn’t overreach, but it stays grounded and effective. Quiet conversations offer small, memorable moments. A shared love of model trains. A confession about avoiding a reactor. These human touches keep the story from becoming abstract or overdone. Rather than grand twists or fate, The Alters tells a story about choices—and what it means to live with them.
At its core, The Alters is a survival management game where time works against you. Your base is constantly on the move, not to explore, but to outrun the sun. You’re always planning your next step—sometimes while scrambling to fix the last one. There’s no settling in; every decision matters, and there’s never quite enough minutes in a day to do it all.
The game unfolds inside a massive multi-floor base. You build modules like workshops, kitchens, dorms, and social spaces. Every module needs energy, maintenance, and someone to run it. That’s where the Alters come in. These alternate versions of Jan each bring specific skills—one might be a technician, another a botanist, another trained in psychology. You can’t survive alone, and each Alter takes on key responsibilities to keep the base running.
But there’s a catch: each task costs time, and each Alter has limited stamina. Movement across the base isn’t instant—if a job requires someone to walk across several floors, that eats into your schedule. I remember losing track of the clock waiting for an engineer Jan to finish eating, only to have him burn out before finishing repairs. I subbed in a less qualified Alter, and he botched the job. That small choice caused a chain reaction that nearly left the base dead in the sun’s path.
Management extends beyond tasks. You also have to watch your crew’s mental state. Alters can become distant, uncooperative, or burned out if ignored. Each has needs, and the longer they’re neglected, the worse things get. You’re constantly juggling logistics, emotions, and emergencies. It’s a lot to manage—but that’s the point. You’re meant to feel the strain. You’re not building a perfect system; you’re trying to keep it from collapsing.
There are a few rough edges. The base’s layout can be hard to navigate, especially when trying to find specific Alters. The UI occasionally fails to clearly show where someone is or what they’re doing. And yes, the elevators take just long enough to be mildly annoying. But these small frustrations don’t break the loop. If anything, they make the experience feel more grounded—like everything takes real effort, just as it should when survival is on the line.
The Alters presents its story and world through a third-person perspective that grounds you in Jan Dolski’s precarious situation. The visuals focus on the mobile base’s interior and the hostile planet outside, creating a clear contrast between the claustrophobic living quarters and the dangerous environment. The sprawling base with its vertical and horizontal modules feels like a small, self-contained ecosystem where every room and corridor matters.
Voice acting plays a major role in bringing the characters to life. Alex Jordan gives distinct personalities to each Alter, from the bitter engineer to the withdrawn botanist. Their conversations feel natural and help build the relationships that are crucial for your survival. This adds emotional weight, making you care about these alternate selves beyond just their skills.
The writing balances philosophical questions about identity and choices with practical survival concerns. Dialogue often reflects the Alters’ mixed feelings about their situation and their creator. This honesty keeps the story grounded, steering clear of melodrama for quieter, believable scenes.
The combination of solid voice work, thoughtful writing, and a practical, focused visual style makes the presentation feel consistent and purposeful. It’s clear that every element serves to underline the tension and emotional complexity of surviving with multiple versions of yourself.
Final Score: 9/10 - Amazing
Developer: 11 Bit Studios
Publisher: 11 Bit Studios
Genre: Survival
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
You awake on a hostile planet, shadowed by your own regrets. That’s the starting point in The Alters, a sci-fi survival game from developer and publisher 11 Bit Studios. It’s not just about staying alive—though managing power, food, and time will keep you busy. It’s also about confronting yourself. Literally. Using a rare resource called Rapidium, you create alternate versions of your character, Jan Dolski. These ‘Alters’ represent lives Jan might have lived instead. They’re not just copies—they remember their pasts, and some aren’t happy to be here.
The planet itself is lethal. The sun alone is enough to kill you if you’re caught in its rays. To stay alive, you move across the planet in a massive mobile base. It’s not about building the best outpost; it’s about staying ahead of the sunrise. That forward momentum creates constant urgency without relying on enemies or jump scares. The threat is time constraints—and your own limits.
Where most survival games focus on systems, The Alters blends those systems with personal history. Each Alter brings not just skills, but baggage. The scientist who stayed in school. The engineer who resents you. The artist who failed. They’re part of your survival plan, but they’re also a reflection of who you could have been. And that can be hard to manage.
So the question becomes: is this unusual mix of survival mechanics and personal reflection worth checking out? Let’s find out!
In The Alters, you play as Jan Dolski, a space miner who crash-lands alone on a planet with a deadly sun. After crashing on the planet, Jan quickly discovers that survival depends on staying inside the shadow of a massive mobile base. As the sun rises, anything exposed is instantly destroyed. With no time to settle, Jan has to keep moving—and think fast.
Jan’s only real chance of survival comes from Rapidium, a rare material that powers the base’s cloning system. This isn’t a typical sci-fi cloning setup, though. Instead of creating blank copies, Jan generates alternate versions of himself—each based on pivotal different life choices. Some stayed in school. Some took risks. Some suffered more than he did. These are the Alters, and they each come with their own personalities, skills, and perspectives.
You don’t just issue commands, you hold conversations—sometimes difficult ones—with versions of yourself. One Alter may be bitter, feeling you wasted his potential. Another might be withdrawn, shaped by trauma you avoided. These interactions aren’t optional flavour text. They’re central to the story and your survival. Each Alter can be helpful, but they also require care. Ignoring their emotional needs can lead to friction—or worse, failure.
The heart of the narrative lies in the “Tree of Life,” a branching system that shows crucial choices from Jan’s past. Choosing an Alter isn’t just about picking a skillset. It’s about selecting a version of Jan shaped by a path not taken. These decisions affect not only what the Alter can do, but how they connect with others in the base. From shared hobbies to personal resentments, each interaction builds out a larger picture of who Jan is—or could have been.
The writing doesn’t overreach, but it stays grounded and effective. Quiet conversations offer small, memorable moments. A shared love of model trains. A confession about avoiding a reactor. These human touches keep the story from becoming abstract or overdone. Rather than grand twists or fate, The Alters tells a story about choices—and what it means to live with them.
At its core, The Alters is a survival management game where time works against you. Your base is constantly on the move, not to explore, but to outrun the sun. You’re always planning your next step—sometimes while scrambling to fix the last one. There’s no settling in; every decision matters, and there’s never quite enough minutes in a day to do it all.
The game unfolds inside a massive multi-floor base. You build modules like workshops, kitchens, dorms, and social spaces. Every module needs energy, maintenance, and someone to run it. That’s where the Alters come in. These alternate versions of Jan each bring specific skills—one might be a technician, another a botanist, another trained in psychology. You can’t survive alone, and each Alter takes on key responsibilities to keep the base running.
But there’s a catch: each task costs time, and each Alter has limited stamina. Movement across the base isn’t instant—if a job requires someone to walk across several floors, that eats into your schedule. I remember losing track of the clock waiting for an engineer Jan to finish eating, only to have him burn out before finishing repairs. I subbed in a less qualified Alter, and he botched the job. That small choice caused a chain reaction that nearly left the base dead in the sun’s path.
Management extends beyond tasks. You also have to watch your crew’s mental state. Alters can become distant, uncooperative, or burned out if ignored. Each has needs, and the longer they’re neglected, the worse things get. You’re constantly juggling logistics, emotions, and emergencies. It’s a lot to manage—but that’s the point. You’re meant to feel the strain. You’re not building a perfect system; you’re trying to keep it from collapsing.
There are a few rough edges. The base’s layout can be hard to navigate, especially when trying to find specific Alters. The UI occasionally fails to clearly show where someone is or what they’re doing. And yes, the elevators take just long enough to be mildly annoying. But these small frustrations don’t break the loop. If anything, they make the experience feel more grounded—like everything takes real effort, just as it should when survival is on the line.
The Alters presents its story and world through a third-person perspective that grounds you in Jan Dolski’s precarious situation. The visuals focus on the mobile base’s interior and the hostile planet outside, creating a clear contrast between the claustrophobic living quarters and the dangerous environment. The sprawling base with its vertical and horizontal modules feels like a small, self-contained ecosystem where every room and corridor matters.
Voice acting plays a major role in bringing the characters to life. Alex Jordan gives distinct personalities to each Alter, from the bitter engineer to the withdrawn botanist. Their conversations feel natural and help build the relationships that are crucial for your survival. This adds emotional weight, making you care about these alternate selves beyond just their skills.
The writing balances philosophical questions about identity and choices with practical survival concerns. Dialogue often reflects the Alters’ mixed feelings about their situation and their creator. This honesty keeps the story grounded, steering clear of melodrama for quieter, believable scenes.
The combination of solid voice work, thoughtful writing, and a practical, focused visual style makes the presentation feel consistent and purposeful. It’s clear that every element serves to underline the tension and emotional complexity of surviving with multiple versions of yourself.
The Verdict
The Alters combines challenging survival mechanics with a personal story about identity and choices, using cloned versions of Jan to explore different life paths. Managing resources and the moods of your Alters adds constant pressure, reflecting the game's themes of responsibility. Strong voice acting and meaningful writing enhance the experience, despite some minor interface issues. All considered, The Alters offers a thoughtful survival game focused on ethical questions and self-reflection, making for a memorable and unique journey.Final Score: 9/10 - Amazing
The Alters details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PCDeveloper: 11 Bit Studios
Publisher: 11 Bit Studios
Genre: Survival
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.