Frostpunk and This War of Mine developer 11 Bit Studios is heading to space for its next new IP: The Alters. We caught a brief look at this quirky project last year when its announcement trailer showed a man coming face to face with, well, himself. Lots of himself, actually.
This initial CGI trailer gave fans lots to think about as it also revealed a Ferris wheel of a base that can roam an alien planet as it hauls around the troop of clones. However, at the time of its reveal, 11 Bit didn’t go as far as to share exactly what kind of game it is outside of promising a game that allows players to live out ‘what if?’ fantasies. Thanks to a hands-off opportunity provided to The Escapist, I got to see around 40 minutes of The Alters gameplay. I’m not completely sold on its concept as a whole, but I am undeniably intrigued.
The Alters sees you play as Jan Dolski, a simple man who falls into a pit of bad luck that sees him stranded on an alien planet. If that wasn’t bad enough, this planet is slowly turning and will eventually see Jan faced with a massive sun that threatens to raise the surface’s radiation to lethal levels. One second of real-world time equals about one minute in-game, and the sun is set to rise in 10 days, so you’ll need to work overtime to build your way to survival. My presentation began with Jan suited up and exploring the planet for resources to increase the chances of survival.
While out on these excursions, you’ll be mining away for crystals, enriched metals, and other materials that can help expand your base with crucial additions. To do this, Jan will first need to scan surfaces with grids that reveal resources hiding in the earth below. The best way to excavate your newfound goodies is to use a drill, and although you won’t always need tools to mine resources, mining locations can be used as fast-travel destinations down the line. Balancing energy and time is important, so it seems like you’ll be rewarded for careful planning.
It’s pretty clear that we only saw a very small slice of what the resource-collecting part of the game will look like, but so far, nothing about this portion of The Alters grabbed my attention. I’ll admit that exploring the planet itself seems fun and engaging, with new areas able to be discovered as Jan becomes more capable. Maybe time management will prove to be engaging, however, I’m worried that it won’t take long for the mining and resource gathering to become tedious and bog down the overall experience.
Related: The Alters Trailer Introduces Clones & Base-Building Gameplay
If I had to put The Alters in a box, I would describe it as a story-driven, base-building survival game, but even that doesn’t quite do it justice. When you return to your base, you’ll be greeted by Jan’s clones. If you’ve been keeping up with 11 Bit’s marketing for the project, then you’ll no doubt know Jan’s alternate-reality counterparts have been given the spotlight – and for good reason. These clones, called Alters, have all been created by Jan, and are physical manifestations of ‘what if?’ scenarios from his life.
As the original Jan, you have the freedom to explore these different branching moments from his life through what 11 Bit calls the Tree of Life. This in-game system is a visual representation of our character’s history, with the player able to choose which Alters to bring to life based on their needs. For example, let’s say you require an especially intelligent crew member to perform tasks around the base. In the Tree of Life, you can find and create a version of Jan who left dating behind, focused on school, and became a scientist. On the other side of the coin is a version of Jan that focused on his love life, so if you need an Alter who’s a romance expert, you can bring him into your world, too.
You will need resources, such as a crystal called Rapidium, to create Alters, so you can’t just endlessly spawn other yous to solve every problem. That said, if properly executed, a system like this could have a long list of fascinating possibilities. Alters, as a mechanic, open the door for so much potential, so I spoke with lead designer Rafał Włosek to learn more about how 11 Bit balanced them.
“(I can’t confirm) how many different Alters the player can create or what the limit is,” Włosek said. “I can, however, say that there is a maximum number of Alters we can have at once, and it grows as the game progresses. The total base of Alters we can create also grows during the game, and there are more alters than the limit, so the player will have to decide with which Alters he will go through the game. As developers, when designing more alters we focus primarily on quality rather than quantity, as their stories are one of the most important tools for presenting the ‘meaningfulness’ of the game.”
Alters are more than just talking tools. These characters have their own feelings about how you steer the crew to survival, and they might occasionally cause problems if left unattended. You can keep up with their feelings by simply speaking to them, and thanks to an indicator that communicates their emotions, it doesn’t seem too difficult to get a read on their thoughts. Not every Alter will be easy to get along with, and sometimes, they might even fight amongst themselves.
My presentation saw original Jan building a dormitory, effectively easing tensions among the crew of Jans. Not much longer after that, one of the Jans sawed his arm off because of other decisions the player made earlier. It is chaos, and I need more of it. Of course, 11 Bit wants players to have some control over which Alters are created, so with enough foresight, you might be able to avoid any self-inflicted amputations.
“The majority of the Alters created by the player depends only on the player,” Włosek added. The player independently decides who to create and when.”
With so much freedom to create the cast, one might wonder how Alters impact the narrative. Włosek admits that these systems can be complex but was happy to explain how they weave together:
“The game has a complex storyline structure consisting of three layers: the Main Story, Stories of the Alters, and Emergent Systems. The main storyline is branching and its ending is made up of multiple segments, each of which has many versions and depends on decisions or strategies chosen by the player. On top of this are the stories of the Alters which allow us to look at the main storyline from different perspectives (from which perspective depends on the Alters we have chosen), and finally there are the Emergent Systems, which generate events in the game and can sometimes affect the success of the main storyline or Storylines of the Alters.”
As for that Ferris wheel-like base you’ll be living for 10 days, you’ll have a number of options when it comes to how you expand it. Some buildable modules include what appeared to be storage rooms with adjustable sizes, a captain’s cabin, a communication room, and a social room. There’s also a kitchen, infirmary, research lab, and surely more, with some menus teasing that players will be able to increase the base’s overall size.
The base-building and clone-focused parts of The Alters look like a killer one-two punch, but they are only two-thirds of what my presentation showed. It’s hard to say if exploration-focused resource gathering will fit in quite as nicely when it all comes together. Hopefully, 11 Bit will eventually convince me that its alien world has something more unique to offer, but even if it doesn’t, I’m still looking forward to seeing how Jan, Jan, Jan, and, of course, Jan’s story is going to play out.
The Alters comes to PC, PlayStation 5 (PS5), and Xbox Series X | S sometime in 2024.
