The Alters

In The Alters, the player assumes control of Jan Dolski, a builder working on the Project Dolly space expedition. Jan needs to pilot a massive, wheel-shaped base along the planet surface to stay out of the range of the sun, which can kill him due to lethal radiation. It is a survival game in which players need to explore the planet and mine for resources and materials, which is essential for maintaining and expanding the base. Infrastructure, such as electricity pylons, must be built to provide power for mining equipment.

Base expansion is similar to games such as Fallout Shelter and XCOM, with players being tasked to attach new rooms and modules to the base, advancing its capabilities and keeping its crew content. Each segment of the game is timed, as the sun will rise and obliterate the player's entire crew. One second of real-world time is equivalent to one in-game minute.

Jan Dolski (Alex Jordan) is an unremarkable builder aboard an Ally Corp mining ship en route to a hostile, rare, triple-star world in search of the rare, newly-discovered element Rapidium, which has time-accelerating properties. Dolski accepted the mission to escape Earth, haunted by his mother's death, an abusive father, and a failed marriage to his ex-wife Lena, ruined by his insecurities and obsession with his regrets.

The ship crashlands on the planet for unknown reasons, leaving Jan the sole survivor on the distant, isolated and desolate planet, riddled with dangerous gravitational anomalies, environmental hazards, and an encroaching, scorching sun, with the wheel-shaped base serving as his only sanctuary.

The Alters was developed by Polish game developer 11 Bit Studios, which had previously worked on This War of Mine and Frostpunk. The game was revealed by 11 Bit Studios in June 2022 during the PC Gaming Show 2022. It was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 13 June 2025. The game was made available at launch to PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers at no additional cost. The game is developed using Unreal Engine 5.

Lead artist Tomasz Kisilewicz explained to the press that the game was influenced by psychological thrillers, and went on to describe The Alters as a "weird game". While he described collecting resources as "the very base" of the game's economy, time was the game's most precious resource. While there are multiple ways for players to solve a certain problem, they would not have time to perform every task and therefore, must think strategically and prioritize their goals. The game play was inspired by Satisfactory.

The Alters received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. OpenCritic determined that 95% of critics recommended the game.

Eurogamer noted in their review that The Alters requires "perseverance", but sticking with it pays off. They praised the game's merging of ideas as original. IGN praised the simple resource and management mechanics.