Undercurrent

About the Game

Undercurrent is a narrative sci-fi adventure with elements of psychological horror.

The year is 2250. Humankind has spread among the stars with the help of the Bakhan, an alien civilization slowly dying out from an incurable disease. From the center of the Milky Way, the Bakhan are searching the cosmos for advanced life, gifting technology in return for any medical knowledge that could end the grey death.

Thalas, an ocean planet located within Earth’s reach, may hold the answer. In bioscience, it is known as a synonym for symbiosis, all its lifeforms connected into one whole. In politics, it is a bargaining chip, one of the most politically sensitive postings in known universe.

Its science station has gone dark.

You are Ava Horvat, a diplomatic envoy to the Bakhan. Your younger brother Andrej is a radiologist stationed on Thalas. It has been weeks since you have heard from him. You get sent in to find out what happened. Your intentions were good.

Thalas is dangerous territory. It has no land. Its islands, named centimanes after the mythological Hundred-Hander giants, are enormous root-like structures rising from a poisonous ocean.

With Bakhan holo-tech, you ride a platform of light between the root islands, powered by the planet's electric current. You redirect that current to open paths through its plant structures, and fend off the electric eels hunting from below and above.

It is immediately clear that the science crew abandoned standard protocols. They are erratic. Your training in diplomatic negotiations enables you to handle just about anything under normal circumstances. Uncovering the cause of these anomalies means getting through to them.

Decide how to achieve this.

• Should you try to connect with them?

• Try to make light of the situation?

• Perhaps cold logic and efficiency is best to get through this?

• Stick to your core principles?

Find the truth. Question everything. Where is the radiation coming from? Why do you keep dreaming of butterflies? What have the scientists discovered on Thalas? How to help the crew without becoming one of them? What is happening to you?

All you wanted was to make sure your brother is unharmed. Now you are the only way out of this darkness.

One thing is certain. You can’t stay who you are. 

Our development philosophy

The choices in the branching dialogue are forms of social action. Each choice represents one of four types: emotion and personal connection, tradition and humor, cold logic and efficiency, or values and principles regardless of outcome. The more you act in a certain way, the more entrenched you become in your habits, and narrow down your future choices. This dialogue system is inspired by the work of one of the founders of sociology, Max Weber.