The Alters

 PC
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 64 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 58 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 64
  3. Negative: 0 out of 64
  1. Games.cz
    Jun 20, 2025
    70
    A well-executed sci-fi psychological thriller that explores how a single decision can alter the course of your life. Over time, dialogue becomes the main gameplay focus, though the base management system is also solid. The weakest aspect lies in the planetary traversal, which feels too restricted. Still, it’s a powerful and engaging experience, with branching storylines that make it worth revisiting more than once.
  2. Gamer Escape
    Jun 12, 2025
    70
    I like The Alters. It sells its premise in a way I wish more science fiction games would. We need more of them. But the watering down of its gameplay elements makes it hard to recommend. If you’re willing to slog through tedium and gameplay filler there is a wonderfully fun story to experience.
  3. IGN France
    Jun 12, 2025
    70
    We suspect The Alters of having been too ambitious for what it can deliver, and yet the efforts that have been made are plain to see. The result is cool, but only part of the ambition has been mastered.
  5. Eurogamer Germany
    Jun 13, 2025
    60
    The resource management is pleasantly challenging, and the story poses interesting questions. However, the emotional component is crushed by inconsistent, far too pragmatic dialogue and decisions.
  6. Slant Magazine
    Jun 12, 2025
    50
    The Alters may be ambitious in its effort to supplement base-building and survival with a strong narrative, but in doing so, it sands away all the sharp edges of its mechanics, losing the skin-of-your-teeth hardship that defines a great survival game.
  7. PCGamesN
    Jun 12, 2025
    50
    The Alters spreads itself thinly, approaching heady subject matter with little imagination and shallow dialogue. Coupled with irritating resource management, cumbersome traversal, and an ever-ticking clock that harms its narrative pacing, 11 Bit's ambitious survival game is only for those who love deadlines and suffering.
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  1. 3DJuegos
    Sep 13, 2025
    A marvelous (and surprising) mix between survival and strategy games. [Recommended]
  2. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Jun 18, 2025
    The game's need to be a reasonably performant piece of management software means that it can't quite be a fluid and believable third-person action game. The spacebase is sort of a glorified menu (though there are proper menus as well) and menus need to be responsive, so the elevator whips you between levels with what ought to be bone-rupturing speed. The lesser Jans should be scraping Jan Prime off the ceiling every time he uses it, and the fact that this doesn't happen seems appropriate to a story that can't determine whether you're a human being or one among many grades of mass-produced screwdriver.
  3. The Verge
    Jun 12, 2025
    There are exciting, sometimes downright devious decisions to make, like choosing between the unscrupulous company you work for or an unhinged scientist to solve a deadly health issue (goodness knows how long I ummed and ahhed on that one).