Depths of Sanity
I was introduced to Depths of Sanity at PAX East in 2018, and tried it twice more at two more PAXes prior to this early access release. The handful of devs I spoke with made their inspirations and intentions very clear with their game, and I was immediately interested. They also gave me a couple of small plush sea creatures. :D I saw no issue picking up the game as soon as it was available.
For those unfamiliar, DoS is a metroidvania set in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, and tells the story of oceanographer Abe Douglas. Following an event known as “the bloop”, a real-life event involving an ultra-low frequency subsonic vibration, the crew of the submarine Baroness are sent to investigate, and subsequently disappear with only garbled distress calls for clues. Abe, who personally assembled that team, including his own son Clay, feels personally responsible for the situation and takes an armed, one-man submersible to investigate. What he finds and learns from the Baroness' crew logs defies his understanding of the world and history in ways that might feel very familiar to certain fans like myself.
– Real player with 19.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Lovecraftian Games.
While this game is in early development, I have to say it was fun to experience! Too bad I finished all three available chapters st the moment. It is hard to put the game down since it really hooks you in. I’m surprised it isn’t more known. I really hope this game continues it’s development because I genuinely enjoyed playing it. So please keep up the good work and for the viewers of this comment, please give the developers your support in any way you can!
– Real player with 7.8 hrs in game
Secret of Sardinia
Secret of Sardinia is an open-world adventure game full of mystery and mythology. Swim, translate, explore, and discover!
Ancient Mythology
Locate magical bottles that contain the voices of departed souls. Collect stone fragments to rebuild the Tablets of Ages – ancient writings which tell the forgotten lore of Sardinia. Examine the Tablets’ cryptic markings and identify hieroglyphics to translate its legends.
Fish-Fantasy
Control Sam the Sardine using a carefully-crafted swimming mechanic that lets you move with 360 degrees of freedom. Test your skills with trials scattered throughout the ocean to attain union with the sea herself and unlock new abilities. Master these techniques to avoid the gaze of the unliving, lest you decay.
Open Seas
The Sacred Basin. The Giants’ Grave. The Cursed Cavern. The Undercurrent.
Swim through four connected realms to find the answers you seek – and then travel beyond. Unlock entrances to hidden caverns revealed by the Tablets of Ages.
Features
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Fluid and customizable swim controls
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Four haunting realms to explore
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Hand-drawn, fully translatable hieroglyphic language
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Hundreds of collectible bottles and fragments
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Original mythology communicated through immersive voice acting
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Beautiful, original soundtrack
Copyright attribution for “Secret of Sardinia” can be found here .
Read More: Best Mystery Atmospheric Games.
Abyss: The Wraiths of Eden
This time, the protagonist has to locate and retrieve her lost partner, who is employed in an underwater city, called Eden, made by mankind. Some sort of strange happenings have occured in Eden. Up to the player to find out and piece the puzzle together.
Compared to other Artifex Mundi hidden object games, this installment focuses more on storyline. With significantly more cutscenes and NPC animations, the developers really made an effort to immerse the player.
Overall, the locations are colorful and rather busy & a bit overwhelming, with more than enough backtracking between them. The elevator used to reach the 3 different niveaus, has a animation which can’t be skipped and gets very tedious towards the end of the game. Especially when you complete the game twice or more, which is needed to complete all achievements.
– Real player with 12.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Singleplayer Games.
This is one of Artifex Mundi’s mid-tier games. It’s got a tight story, with a variety of characters, featuring a woman with a unique skill set (scuba diving and adventuring related skills like knowledge of machinery), saving her fiance? boyfriend? from certain doom. With a Lovecraftian threat in the form of wraiths and a Cthulhuoid deity, a good mix of beautiful art and horrific gross art, and a tight storyline, this game offers both hidden object puzzles, regular puzzles, and domino puzzles for people who want to skip the hidden object sections.
– Real player with 10.5 hrs in game
Narcosis
Introduction
Narcosis represents another fine example of independent game development. Even though it is the Steam debut of Honor Code, Inc. just by looking at their first game, you realize that this is far from the shy or clumsy work of a newcomer or a team whose inexperience seeps through their project’s “pores”. Indeed, I found few flaws to Narcosis and have enjoyed it thoroughly. I’d say it’s the perfect mix between a walking and a deep diving simulator.
Story
If SOMA has taught me one thing, it’s that the Abyss can be just as fascinating as a Sci-Fi setting, as Outer Space can be. It’s actually ironic how humanity prides itself as a space exploring (if not quite faring yet) species, yet Earth’s ocean floors have been mapped and reached far less than some of the planets in our Solar System. So the seabed can be as mysterious and dangerous, as many other exotic settings. And yet Narcosis does not feature a “big bad”. No sinister forces which the players must battle and defeat in their ultimate quest for survival. It’s just Man versus Nature. A lone diver against both fauna & flora which are hostile in their own way.
– Real player with 8.1 hrs in game
Premise: You are a deep sea diver outside in a heavy pressure suit when earthquake shockwaves strike your installation. Now you have to fight to stay oxygenated and escape.
I very much liked the atmosphere and graphics. You might sometimes forget the fact that it’s deep sea and not deep space because of the suit aesthetics, but it all works out, and is nice to look at, even when you’re a little lost.
The story was nice, and worth reviewing a second time once I’d gotten through it, to see how it overlaid what I saw and maybe was more focused on than the narration at the time.
– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game
Call Me Under
Dive into the 1950s and explore an eldritch-horror-infested world soaked in dark magic, mystery, and romance. Call Me Under takes place in the mysterious underwater city of Styx, a haven inhabited by humans, sirens, and a host of unknown otherworldly entities.
Play as a choice of two different faceless protagonists from The Surface seeking to leave their past behind and start fresh in a new city, even if it is one only rumored to exist at the bottom of the ocean. They do say there’s nothing like a clean slate…
But maybe not if you find yourself thrown into the middle of a brewing fight between the Shadows and the Light; two ancient, otherworldly entities embroiled in a centuries-long battle for power.
Our two demos (demo two can be found on lunarisgames.itch.io/callmeunder) ) are a very early example of what you will see in the final game, with many elements and features still a work in progress. We created this preview with the intent of introducing you to the characters and giving you a peek into the world of Styx, and we look forward to bringing you an incredible game when completed! Blue is the only character that is voiced in the demos, but all seven of our main characters will be in the completed game. The game will be available on PC, Mac, and Nintendo Switch upon release.
Archie (he/him) - Voiced by Stephen Fu
Eve (they/them) - Voiced by Farah Naz Rishi
Callie (she/her) - Voiced by Tracy Ifeachor
Penny (she/her) - Voiced by Allegra Clark
Blue (he/him) - Voiced by Robbie Daymond
Adrien (they/he) - Voiced by Noshir Dalal
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Two playable (faceless) protagonists
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Six individual, diverse romances
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Two additional polyamorous romances
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Choose your pronouns
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Investigative elements
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Keepsakes and collectibles
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Multiple ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Endings
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CG Gallery
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Voice acting
Plasticalypse - Submarine Adventures
This early access game has a huge map and amazing sountrack. The combat is pretty simple, you have torpedos and a lazer gun, that shoots more rapidly, but deals less damage. In this underwater game, there are several enemies. You are going to mainly fight huge fishes and pirates. Some are harder to kill than others because of their small size and quick movement. This game also has ship improvement and diplomatic relationship mechanics. To upgrade your ship, you need to find resaurces on the map, that may take a while to do. The map is huge and dark and from time to time I found myelft lost in mountains while searching for resources. I hope that this game is going to be updated regulary, adding new mechanics and more stuff to do in this massive world.
– Real player with 5.2 hrs in game
Awesome atmosphere and has great potential to become a thrilling post apocalyptic game with original idea.
Very stable for an early release. I can’t wait for improved NPC’s and other exiting news. For this price it is almost a steal!
– Real player with 2.6 hrs in game
Search for the Titanic
The search for the Titanic, the greatest ship to ever fall to the grip of the elements, captivated the world for decades while its wreckage lay undisturbed at the bottom of the sea. As an inexperienced oceanographer, you must build your skills, reputation, crew, and resources along your journey to mount an expedition to find the lost Titanic.
This meticulous simulation by Capstone Software was reviewed for authenticity by the staff of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the American organization that first discovered and photographed the Titanic wreck. Experience the challenges, dangers and excitement of scientific underwater exploration!
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Navigate to over 75 underwater wrecks and 47 ports of call using more than 100 navigational maps and charts.
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Use sophisticated sonar, magnetometers, underwater cameras, and mini-subs in your exploration of the ocean floor.
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Battle the elements as you contend with realistic weather patterns and currents.
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Find the Titanic and be rewarded with digitized photographs of the actual wreckage as it lays on the ocean floor today.
SOMA
I replayed this game and it hits me just as hard today as it did back when I purchased it at launch.
Plus, all the bugs I had at the launch (such as crashes during scene switches) have all been fixed.
Don’t want to say anything about the game itself in case I spoil it, but if you enjoy existential and thought provoking science fiction I would highly recommend it. The game drips with thick emotional atmosphere and the occasional cheap jump scares, but it doesn’t diminish the plot or impact.
I also love that the game (like PREY, the 2017 version) gives you several important decisions to make which ultimately do not get resolved as part of the plot; You are left to your own imagination to figure out what impact they had upon the world. That’s the sort of engaging thinking exercises I wish more games would give me.
– Real player with 28.0 hrs in game
Different than thought, different than expected and yet really good!
When I got the game, I assumed it would be a kind of bioshock that was just creepier. Yes, reading helps, at least sometimes 😊
But in this case it played absolutely no role because I didn’t miss the shooter aspect in any way. Soma is a pure adventure game from the first-person point of view.
Nevertheless, the underwater scenario is somewhat reminiscent of Bioshock but with an incredible sound experience. Everywhere it creaks and groans. The game lives from the great soundscape and you should definitely use headphones to play.
– Real player with 22.1 hrs in game
Time Machine VR
This game has been a fantastic introction for me to VR and i am becoming quite a proficiant mini sub pilot. The VR graphics are amazing, a real sense of actually being there with all the vulnerability that would accompany that.
It can also be a great tool for people who suffer from a fear of heights and want a program that de sensitises them.I have discovered that the Time Machine VR game is great for getting the old acrophobia going. When you are at the base station which is sometime in the future there is a building made from steel girders etc with towers supporting satelite dishes. Land the pod at the front or back of the building then get out of the pod by simply standing up ( for this game you are seated) then take a step forward. From then on it feels like you are standing outside. Then using the controls on the X Box controller move straight up slowly to the roof of the building, it feels like you are on an elevator platform and totally exposed. If you have a fear of heights i guarantee this will get your palms sweating. When you are on the roof do a simulated walk around the perimeter of the building and if you dare have a look down. I could hardly do it to start with and the feeling i get is exactly the same as if i was really on top of a building. Iv just tried it today and i am just starting to get used to the feeling. I am going to do this for around one hour per day then when i can eventually do it without fear i will put the de sensitisation theory to the test by walking around somewher high in the real world.
– Real player with 18.3 hrs in game
I read a lot of whines about this game and so didn’t buy it until there was a fairly low sale price. The Quest 2 support is non-existent; you have to use Emulate Gamepad to play at all. So that’s a strike against it. OTOH, I found I liked it much better than the reviews led me to expect.
I’m a sucker for underwater exploration, and the water model is not bad (the surface high above is quite realistic, “blue gloom” lighting is nice, etc). The world could be a little more richly dressed (more marine plants for example) but rock formations are quite nice and the playing areas, if a little small, are pleasingly complex. It’s an environment that’s fun to visit and just loaf around in.
– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game
In Other Waters
Sublime underwater sci-fi experience! Fuelled by a great story, great UI presentation, and your own imagination!
Story
On a desolated planet a female scientist asks your help to control her diving suit, in order to investigate what happened to her colleagues who did studies on this planet decades ago. A friend xenobiologist of hers arrived long after after they vanished to find out what happened to her mother, this friend also disappeared. She left bits of research behind, but she didn’t leave clear logs behind. What was the reason for this? Together with Ellery, our companion, we slowly but surely find out what happened to this underwater planet!
– Real player with 14.1 hrs in game
Exploring the unknown, In Other Waters places the player from the perspective of an AI helping to guide xenobiologist Ellery Vas after she was called to planet Gliese 677Cc by her colleague, Minae Nomura. What she discovers is for the player to find out. The game is minimalistic yet beautiful, stowed away in a world that rests entirely in the imagination of the player, aside from some of Ellery’s research sketches, a topographic map that you explore, and also simplistic representations of the life within the oceans of this planet. Moving around within restricted vector points on the map, you will uncover the story in bits and pieces, every bit driving you to try to find out some more.
– Real player with 13.3 hrs in game