Subnautica

Subnautica is a crafting and survival game where the player gathers resources, crafts larger items, then repeats the cycle until content is exhausted.

The major difference from typical survival games is that the entire map consists of water.

The ocean is vast and genuinely frightens the player, despite a relatively safe map with harmless or extremely rare enemies.

The player's brain perceives the lack of visibility, strange sounds, and inability to see where danger comes from, creating visceral fear independent of actual threat.

Developers thoughtfully designed ambient music to help the player immerse themselves in the experience of descending into the depths.

Descending into darkness to search for resources while hearing a low rhythm that intensifies creates a profoundly immersive experience.

Specific music randomly triggers at a certain depth without immediately signaling real danger.

Even if danger occurs only 1% of the time, encountering this music prompts the player to flee quickly and discourages redescending for a long time.

• Kelp forests that glow at night • Lights in the depths revealing a luminescent ecosystem • Cavern bathed in pink light • Giant mushroom forests with a galaxy of colors viewed from below

The game is stunningly beautiful, allowing you to build an observation post anywhere on the map and get an animated wallpaper more stylish than 90% of what you'd find online.

Each expedition returns to base drenched in cold sweat but also with incredible images filling your mind, balancing horror and wonder.

• Rocks that appear weightless because they're lifted by gelatinous creatures • Floating islands carried by adult creatures • Revelation that these islands have shrunk through erosion since the surface

The player starts in a miserable rescue pod, trying not to die of thirst and fleeing from creatures, then gradually gains access to an immense underwater complex.

The player first builds a cute small submarine, then a second much larger one 50 meters long with rear camera, sonar, and color-changing capability.

Within minutes at game start, the player transitions from basic survival to owning a complex with three-story aquariums and indoor gardens.

The player watches the sun rise from their base and thinks life wouldn't be so bad if they didn't regularly come within inches of being eaten.

The game offers far more than expected for a twenty-dollar game on Steam.

A horn exists on a planet where there's nobody else, just for the unique moment when the player first enters the Cyclops and realizes the horn is there.

This level of love and attention to detail is characteristic of Subnautica and sets the game apart from the survival game category.

• A fascinating story told from beginning to end largely thanks to the wonderful map • Strange elements in the environment probably not placed by accident • Incredible final chapter utilizing all technology accessible to the player

The game avoids the sad dead-end of survival games where you permanently close the game because you've crafted everything and have nothing left to do.

After accessing the incredible final chapter of the story, the player can finally close Subnautica with satisfaction.

At game's end, you can leave a capsule containing a message and items to be found by another player exploring the planet.

The reviewer leaves a message acknowledging the game's beauty despite the curse and frustration felt during exploration, ultimately expressing a desire to stay on the planet.