Install or Uninstall: Is The Alters on PC Game Pass Worth Playing?

I gave 11 Bit Studios’ The Alters a shot through PC Game Pass—a game centered around one man trapped on a hazardous planet, pushed to the brink and forced to clone himself just to survive the mission. It’s a narrative-driven experience layered with survival and base management mechanics, where time is a precious and limited resource. Once I booted it up, I found myself pulled into the mystery surrounding Jan Dolski, the game’s protagonist, and I couldn’t stop playing.

Should You Install or Uninstall The Alters on PC Game Pass?

For this series, I usually give a game five hours before deciding if it’s worth the install. With The Alters, those five hours flew by. It’s absolutely worth your time. As of writing, I’m already 20 hours in and heading into the game’s final act. I’m even planning multiple playthroughs as there are meaningful choices in what you say and how you interact with the clones you create, all of which can significantly steer the narrative.

The game has three core components: base management, exploration outside your base, and narrative choices that can shift the story in surprising ways.

Time Management Is Key

Exploration may not be the most exciting part of the game, but it’s essential. You’ll need to venture outside to establish mining nodes that fuel your base with the materials it needs to function. Since time is always ticking, every decision matters. I found myself constantly evaluating how to spend each moment by assigning tasks to the right clone, accelerating progress, and ensuring no time was wasted. Overworking the original Jan means less productivity the next day, so you’re always juggling short-term needs with long-term planning.

Clones have needs, personalities, and emotions. if you’re not careful, one minute they’re working with you, the next, they might be questioning your leadership and be on the verge of leaving. Layer that with the looming threat of the sun creeping toward your base as it was implied early on that the crew and the base wouldn’t survive direct sunlight by this planet’s sun, so each major part of the game is you working towards making sure you can move forward as the base is mobile but always hit a specific roadblock.

That pressure reminded me of the kind of addictiveness you get from games like Civilization or even 11 Bit Studios’ own Frostpunk.

Narrative beats fuel replayability

When you’re not managing the base or handling outside tasks, you’re deep in conversation. These dialogues aren’t just filler (thanfully) as they subtly influence the story and add emotional weight to your decisions.

Each clone (or “Alter”) of Jan Dolski brings not just a job specialization (scientist, miner, doctor) but also a unique backstory. One Alter may be a logical, calculated version of Jan. Another shows more humanity, and another is a gym buff. One had a difficult childhood with a broken family; another lived a relatively stable life. One is divorced, the other happily married. All of them are Jan, but molded by different life paths diverged by the original’s current life path, generated by an AI using a rare resource found only on this planet.

This concept creates some fascinating dynamics. The conversations between the different versions of Jan explore identity, regret, and simply answering many of his doubts and ‘what ifs’ in key moments of his life. I haven't even encountered every possible clone yet, and I’m already looking forward to new playthroughs just to see those new perspectives play out.

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The Turning Point

I can’t pinpoint the exact moment it clicked for me, but one night with the game was all it took. Once I created my first Alter, I was all in. From there, the gameplay and base systems grew more complex. I had to manage food supplies, build radiation filters, and expand the base with new rooms, as these actions help push the game forward. It never felt like busywork, but the tension and pressure that time was running out was always present.

Verdict – Install

The Alters is a fantastic sci-fi survival base management game wrapped in a unique setting with an engaging, flexible narrative. It doesn’t overwhelm with complexity, but it’s filled with hard choices and systems that make every in-game day feel meaningful. If you’re on Game Pass, this is an easy install with a small file size of less than 50 GB. In fact, based on what I’ve played so far, I’d even recommend this at full price.

Interested in the latest offers on Xbox and PC Game Pass? Here’s what was released during its first wave of games for July 2025, and Wave 2, which was revealed just recently.