The Alters, coming from Frostpunk developer 11 Bit Studios, is an interesting blend of disparate genre styles and narrative techniques, making for a decidedly refreshing gaming experience. But while The Alters is, in many ways, a wholly unique artistic project, it has clear roots in other, similar games, and parallels can also be drawn between it and some unexpected titles.
Of course, The Alters is similar to prior 11 Bit survival games like Frostpunk, as well as other notable games in the management sphere. But the ways in which it deviates from these obvious contemporaries are arguably far more interesting than the ways in which it is akin. One particularly unexpected parallel can be drawn between The Alters and Fallout Shelter, a mobile spin-off game released over a decade ago. In some ways, The Alters even improves upon some of the design elements of Fallout Shelter, making the comparison between the two interesting indeed.
The Alters Proves That the Survival and Social Sim Genres Are a Match Made in Heaven
The Alters is a survival game first and foremost, but its unique social-sim framework makes for a surprisingly effective complement.
The Alters Is a Great Chaser for Fallout Shelter
The Alters and Fallout Shelter Have Similar Base-Building and Management Mechanics
At a glance, it's easy to see the similarities between The Alters and a game like Fallout Shelter: they share a remarkably similar, grid-like building system, requiring players to construct a number of specialized modules to provide upkeep as their community's population grows. In The Alters, instead of constructing a falsely alluring post-apocalyptic dystopia, players are burdened with the much more stressful task of escaping a planet in a time crunch, but the basic Fallout Shelter formula is still a clear parallel.
Fallout Shelter asks that players monitor the health and well-being of their vault-dwellers, just like how The Alters encourages NPC happiness for the best gameplay results. And while Fallout Shelter might be more expansive and infinitely replayable than The Alters (its ten-year relevance is proof enough of that), there's a case to be made that the latter is actually a more robust and engaging take on the same formula. In other words, Fallout Shelter fans could very well find The Alters superior in a number of key ways.
How The Alters Improves Upon Fallout Shelter's Basics
It should go without saying that Fallout Shelter and The Alters aren't 1:1 copies of each other, but in the areas where they overlap, The Alters demonstrates clear superiority. Take the mechanics of base-building, for instance: Fallout Shelter has players building new modules however they see fit—if there's space and a reason to use the module, then it can be constructed—but The Alters requires a more thoughtful touch. Not only do players have to make sure that their new modules fit in a Tetris-like minigame that hearkens back to the survival horror titles of old, but they also have to ensure that their base's weight limit isn't exceeded, which can be a tricky balancing act.
Then there's NPC management, which is also far more detailed in The Alters compared to Fallout Shelter. Happiness in Fallout Shelter mostly boils down to having NPCs' basic needs met, and keeping each character on an appropriate task, but The Alters asks that players really understand their in-game allies, completing specific quests for them, aligning with their values, and learning about their background to perform better during dialogue exchanges.
None of this is to say that The Alters is inherently or ubiquitously better than Fallout Shelter—they're markedly different experiences, at the end of the day. But the ways in which 11 Bit Studios plays with the same mechanics of Fallout Shelter, expanding them through a unique narrative framework, makes The Alters an easy recommendation for Fallout Shelter fans, and vice-versa.
The Alters
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 86 /100 Critics Rec: 94%
- Released
- June 13, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Violence
- Developer(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
- Publisher(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
The Alters is an ambitious sci-fi survival game with a unique twist. You play as Jan Dolski, the lone survivor of a crash-landed expedition on a hostile planet. To survive, you must form a new crew for your mobile base.
Using a substance called Rapidium, you create alternative versions of Jan - THE ALTERS - each one shaped by a different crucial decision from the protagonist’s past.
As you navigate through survival and moral dilemmas, you will explore a branching narrative filled with captivating character dynamics and challenging decisions.
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- PC Release Date
- June 13, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- June 13, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- June 13, 2025
- Genre(s)
- Survival, Strategy, Management
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
