This is Niche Spotlight. In this column, we regularly introduce new games to our fans, so please leave feedback and let us know if there’s a game you want us to cover!
Today’s Spotlight is In Other Waters, an atmospheric exploration game by Jump Over The Age and Fellow Traveller.
You play as an AI inside the diving suit of Ellery Vas, a xenobiologist stranded on the oceanic world of Gliese 677Cc. Keep Ellery safe as you help her explore the depths of an alien ocean, cataloging strange new species, and trying to uncover the secrets behind what happened to the researchers assigned to the planet.
You can find the release date trailer for the game below.
In Other Waters is available on Windows PC, Mac (both via GOG, and Steam), and Nintendo Switch for $14.99.
You can find a rundown of the game (via Steam) below:
IN OTHER WATERS TELLS THE STORY OF ELLERY VAS,
a xenobiologist who discovers extraterrestrial life while searching for her missing partner.
When Ellery is called to planet Gliese 677Cc by Minae Nomura, only to arrive at an abandoned base, she finds herself adrift in an ocean of secrets, with little more than a malfunctioning diving suit and a strange AI to guide her. You are this AI.
Guide Ellery—and keep her safe—as you dive deeper and explore an underwater alien landscape. The planet’s unique life, and its dark history, are yours to uncover and the bond between you and Ellery will be tested by the secrets you learn. Through this shifting narrative, In Other Waters asks questions about the nature of “natural” and “artificial” life, and investigates what it means to be a human in an epoch of extreme environmental destruction. For life to continue, it must change.
EXPLORE AN ALIEN OCEAN
Freely dive into an expansive section of seafloor, from shimmering reefs to inky depths. Unlock upgrades and make discoveries that allow you to open up new paths, uncovering strange creatures and environments as you do.
SEE THE WORLD THROUGH AN AI LENS
Navigate an elegant, intuitive UI via gamepad or mouse controls. Interpret signals, set headings, and map the ocean through experimentation and intuition.
BECOME A XENOBIOLOGIST
Discover and catalogue species through observation, scanning, taking samples, and interacting with alien life. Read Ellery’s notes, look at her sketches, and help her classify an entirely new ecosystem.
PLAN YOUR DIVES
Choose whether to study creatures, investigate secrets or dive new areas, then come back to your base to study samples in the lab, chat to Ellery or read her journals to understand more about this world.
BUILD AN EVERLASTING RELATIONSHIP
Through limited communication learn more about the person whose suit you inhabit, and help guide her towards a terrible truth. What you experience together will bring you closer.
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Image: Steam