The Alters — Come Together
Preview
11 bit studios have come a long way since This War of Mine. They are now a consolidated publisher of top-shelf indie games with several acclaimed releases, such as The Thaumaturge, INDIKA, and The Invincible. As a developer, their last release was the seminal Frostpunk, which I reviewed very positively in 2018 for a defunct outlet. The Alters is currently slated to release in 2024, after Frostpunk 2.
There is a distinctive design in 11 bit studios games; not a template so much as a core set of design choices. Even with a different UI and art direction, you can feel the genes of this design culture in their games. The Alters feels like an 11 bit game, with all that entails in terms of survival gameplay mechanics, gripping narrative design, and unique worldbuilding. The demo (briefly available on Steam in June) left me hungry for more with its meaty blend of gameplay and narrative.
Social Survival Skills
Survival in 11 bit games is not a matter of carving your path alone in the jungle or the desert, hacking away through a resource extraction system. It is a social practice where the characters depend on each other to survive as a collective, not as only individuals. When players activate this mutual aid between characters, only then can they narrowly escape, or at least postpone their demise for a while.
The Alters starts out as one character trying to survive as a stranger in a strange land. By the end of the demo, it felt like the game was setting up for that kind of collaborative experience between the alters (clones) as they learn to work together to escape the alien planet before a star destroys it. Each alter you create will have a part to play; and if they can’t find a way to work together—they’re done for.
Cloning and Mad Science
Moon (2009) is one of my favourite science fiction films. Cloning as a trope is somewhat underused in science fiction; the possibilities are overwhelming. The branching life paths for cloning experiments are perhaps the most interesting narrative concept in The Alters that I could tell from the demo. The idea that a person’s choices in life could dictate who they become and that it can be accessed in DNA seems quite unrealistic, but it makes sense in a science fiction game.
As I was writing this preview, I wanted to remember what 11 bit games played like, as it had been a couple of years since I played them. It’s amazing how This War of Mine can still break my heart. It broke my heart even harder this time, with one of the child characters losing her father and weeping for days on end. Frostpunk does not have that kind of emotional reach, but it does give the player a similar feeling of tension.
Alter Superego
The demo did not feel like a Sims game or any kind of simulation, more like an adventure with survival elements. Those who hope for full-blown simulation systems with science fiction tropes and gizmos will be disappointed. The game seems handcrafted for the cinematic experience and the relationships between the alters. The survival and resource management elements are there to keep the tension, but they will likely not take precedence in terms of complex gameplay.
The Alters might be one of the most original science fiction games in a while. Having published The Invincible last year, 11 bit studios now put out their own take on the survival adventure in a remote planet, drawing from their own development culture style. Barring a catastrophic launch, which I find highly unlikely, this should be one of the highlights coming out in the remaining quarters of 2024.
Disclosure: The Alters was previewed on PC with the public Steam demo. The game is currently slated to release in 2024 on Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, PlayStation, and Xbox. More information is available on the official website.