The Alters Reviews
11 Bit Studios delivers its best project to date with The Alters. Become the humble builder Jan Dolski and survive on an extreme planet while fleeing the dawn. Exploration, action, decisions, management, and strategy are the keys to a title that cleverly blends various components, giving the experience a very original touch. Play with the fabric of time, manipulate the universe at quantum levels, and perform scientific magic as you try to keep your crew alive and return home safely
Review in Spanish | Read full review
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with The Alters, especially thanks to its blend of gameplay styles and variety of mysteries throughout. If you relate to the protagonist then it'll be a much better experience for you but keep in mind that not everyone will. 👨🚀
The Alters is a sensational video game that beautifully blends a multitude of genres, mashing them up expertly into a compelling core loop that feels both stressful with a constant timer and threat of peril at your back, but also a philosophically smart and intriguing narrative that really grips and holds onto you throughout as you navigate an uncertain world with an unimaginable crew navigating unlimited possibilities. An absolute must-play!
In short, you will have understood that in The Alters it is necessary to keep an eye on a fair amount of options, parameters, and eventualities. As already mentioned, however, most of these are introduced as the story progresses without ever overwhelming the player. You will have noticed, however, that I wrote “most.” Yes, because on a handful of occasions, I found myself unable to perform an action necessary to save my life without understanding why I couldn't do it. Mind you, the game manual has its own section in the main menu and can be consulted at any time, but leafing through the instructions while you're in imminent danger of death is not a particularly reassuring action, especially when you realize that the information you're looking for is nowhere to be found. Another important factor to note, which could add further stress to players who are not particularly fluent in English, is that in The Alters, the entire experience is completely devoid of Italian. We are certainly not talking about a title with the quantity and complexity of texts found in Disco Elysium, but this absence could be debilitating for some or, if we want to look at it optimistically, make the experience even more survival-oriented. In any case, The Alters is designed to allow the player to partially roll back their run in an agile and extremely granular manner. The system automatically saves progress every time Jan goes to sleep, thus marking the arrival of the next day. Although I, spoiled by Xbox's Quick Resume, found it a bit limiting to have to wait until the end of the day to turn off the console, this system has the advantage of not only allowing for fairly precise reloading within your game timeline, but also triggering the virtuous circle of ‘I'll do another day and then turn off’, thanks to an articulate and extremely satisfying gameplay loop that will keep you playing The Alters for hours on end without ever getting tired of it. Take one part third-person action, two parts management, mix in survival mechanics, and blend it all together with an intriguing but never excessive narrative component. The result is The Alters: a well-balanced cocktail made intriguing by a lingering sense of unease. Sure, the geological detection phases lengthen the overall flavor a bit, and some ingredients may be a little cryptic, but these are almost canceled out by an irresistible fruity, almost cherry-like aftertaste that keeps you coming back for more.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Alters is a daring, intensely reflective game that pushes 11 Bit Studios' narrative goals to new heights. It successfully fuses a philosophical and intimate story with survival mechanics. The main idea of the game—creating several versions of yourself in order to survive—is handled with both mechanical depth and emotional sensitivity.
The Alters immerses us in a unique experience where personal decisions are intertwined with innovative management mechanics and a rich narrative that addresses the existential and ethical dilemmas of cloning. 11 bis Studios does not present a typical management and survival game...
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Alters is an intense survival and resource management game that impresses with its deep sci-fi narrative and morally complex choices. While the unique mechanic of creating alternate versions of protagonist Jan adds a compelling layer to the gameplay, the constant pressure, dwindling resources, and emotional strain make for a demanding experience that left me more relieved than exhilarated—though its thought-provoking story will certainly stick with me.
Review in German | Read full review
"Every Choice Leaves a Mark" The Alters goes beyond the usual survival trope, offering a profound tale of identity, regret, and decision-making under pressure. Its visual design, voice acting, and layered gameplay create an unforgettable experience. Despite some demanding aspects, such as the lack of automation or complex resource management, the game excels at making every move calculated and impactful. It's one of the most human games of 2025, not only in its narrative but also in the questions it poses about self.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
The Alters is a deep, emotionally resonant experience that blends engaging gameplay with sharp writing and rich character work. Despite some rough edges and repetition, it stands out as one of this year's most compelling and successful releases. Its ability to challenge the player’s conscience outweighs its flaws, proving that emotional impact can matter more than mechanical perfection.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Alters is a masterfully crafted experience that elevates survival gaming into something genuinely meaningful and emotionally resonant. While the relentless stress and complexity won't appeal to everyone, those who embrace its philosophical depth will find one of the most thought-provoking games in years. It's 11 Bit Studios firing on all cylinders, creating a rare game that makes you question your own life choices while desperately trying to survive.
The Alters is the title that best showcases 11 bit studios’ narrative strengths. It delivers a compelling and immersive story that explores how countless choices impact the game and lead to meaningful consequences. A well-crafted game where choice, consequence, and survival seamlessly intertwine.
Review in Korean | Read full review
The Alters delivers a phenomenal space survival game with an impressive UI. This helps newbie gamers to gather their thoughts and master the core mechanics. Alongside this, every previous dialogue choice is highlighted. This will impress completionists and those looking for increased longevity, replay value and a straightforward path to each branching storyline. This is a love it or hate it genre. The survival elements can be stressful. Additionally, managing your weird cloned twins is pretty odd. However, combine these mechanics with interesting exploration and base building, and you have yourself a winner. The Alters is unusual but fun. It offers an original take on the genre, and I recommend getting it from the Xbox store.
The Alters lets you recruit alternate versions of yourself to survive on a desolate planet. It’s a unique concept that ties in with the story and makes you curious about what comes next. Figuring out what to do next can be difficult and having to progress to unlock upgrades feels inconvenient. This game has an interesting concept that knocks the premise out of the park.
The Alters is an extremely ambitious game, rich in compelling ideas and executed brilliantly where it truly matters — particularly in its branching narrative, its encouragement to explore the different personalities of the protagonist, and its promise of a unique journey from player to player, or even upon revisiting. Despite some harder-to-endure barriers, largely due to its attempt to merge too many mechanics, The Alters stands out precisely because of this fusion. The result is a tone that feels intense, claustrophobic, and even philosophical, evoking emotions not unlike those of a horror game — where you never know what’s around the next corner — or a survival experience where you’re surrounded by threats and left with “a single bullet”. There are no monsters here, no locked doors — just a ticking clock and the success of an entire mission in your hands.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The Alters is exactly what I needed to experience in a narrative sci-fi game. The idea of being able to have multiple versions of yourself (who remembers the movie Multiplicity with Michael Keaton?), having to manage them in an apocalyptic context while understanding the state of emergency is excellent. The sheer number of possible scenarios, when a normal game should take between 25 and 30 hours, adds a huge amount of replayability. We feel that the choices we make, whether at the very beginning of our adventure or not, have an impact on the story. And having the power to decide whether to sow chaos or not, with the results that follow, is brilliant.
Review in French | Read full review
It's not just about surviving a dying planet—it’s about surviving yourself. The Alters is a triumph of concept, design, and emotion. It may stumble in its systems, but it soars in its soul.
The Alters isn’t for everyone. If you prefer fast-paced action or streamlined resource management, this might feel slow or cumbersome. But if you’re the kind of player who appreciates narrative weight, moral ambiguity, and gameplay that reflects character, this one hits hard. A survival game rarely feels this human. Every decision echoes. Every Alter adds a new layer to the question: “Who are you, really?”
The Alters is a bold experiment that mostly succeeds. It dares to explore questions of identity, regret, and collaboration in a setting that could have easily defaulted to standard survival tropes. Instead, it delivers a deeply personal game about being many people and learning how to live with them. Smart mechanics, emotional stakes, and a strong narrative spine make this one of the more memorable indie titles in recent years.
The Alters may not reinvent base building or survival gameplay, but it masterfully frames both around a fascinating narrative hook. This is a game that asks the player, “What if you could meet who you could’ve been?” and makes that question its core mechanic.
The Alters is an amazing game, and one of the few that I could actually see myself replaying for the story. The combination of survival, gathering, and base building, mixed with a winding, sci-fi story where your choices matter, is a treat and so intriguing that it only gets better the longer you play. Even with some little nuisances later and a slight overwhelming feeling, nothing ever detracted from the gameplay or story, and I was loving it. I was also surprised that it plays as well as it does on the Steam Deck. It isn't perfect, and does have some hitches and slowdowns, but it sticks above 30 FPS for the most part and looks great. It does need a lot of power, but in the end, it will be worthwhile to play on the go.