Barotrauma (video game)

Barotrauma is a survival-horror role-playing submarine simulator from Finnish developer Undertow Games, published by Daedalic Entertainment. It launched in March 2023 for Windows, macOS, and Linux after an early access beta phase that started in 2019. The game is a side-scroller set in the distant future, aboard a submarine exploring the harsh oceans of Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Players take on a job within the crew and must coexist with others on the vessel. Some game modes include a traitor role, which adds tension.

Gameplay mostly occurs inside submarines submerged beneath Europa’s ocean. At the start of a game, each player gets a job, granting specialized traits and equipment. The crew receives a mission—such as hauling cargo between outposts, hunting hostile sea creatures, recovering alien artifacts, exploring or scuttling abandoned outposts, or reactivating beacon stations. After that, players act freely for the round, with few additional objectives given by the game. Outposts at the end of a level provide downtime and services, common in early biomes but rarer as players progress, though new stations can appear if a nearby beacon is activated.

The game has a faction system where completed missions raise or lower reputation with relevant groups. There are four factions: two major ones—the Europa Coalition and the Jovian Separatists—and two minor ones—the Children of the Honkmother and the Church of the Husk. The 2D side-view perspective includes a complex simulation of submarine systems like oxygen levels, power, weapons, hull integrity, and realistic water and flooding physics. Hazards such as hostile fauna, pirates, parasite outbreaks, and player-controlled traitors frequently threaten the voyage. Player incompetence can also cause disaster, as poorly maintained equipment like nuclear reactors or oxygen generators can quickly disable the sub. Crisis management is central, with players encouraged to use their job skills to avoid and mitigate problems.

If the hull is damaged, water floods the vessel, damaging structures and slowing movement; without proper gear, a player in a flooded area may suffocate or be crushed by pressure (barotrauma). Since the sub is the crew’s lifeline, an irreparable vessel usually ends the round. The game offers single-player and multiplayer modes, letting players connect online or use an AI crew.