A very simple yet incredibly detailed survival game centered around exploration and cartography rather than hunting and gathering.

You wake up as a man who has crashed onto a deserted island, only to immediately find abandoned huts and makeshift laboratories riddled with research notes and corpses, all of which is directly related to a plague that has ravaged the fictional home country of the island's former inhabitants experiencing a nationalist take-over.

The player-character is apparently infected with this same plague and begins the game incredibly weak and fragile, not being able to swim for any length of time, only able to sprint for a few seconds, and easily able to slip and fall down hills and slopes, weakening the character until they die.

The goal of the game is to explore the island, collect as many notes and maps as you can, and eventually find many medicial plants that will allow you to synthesize the cure for the plague. Along the way you will find notes for other medicines and stimulants that allow you to temporarily and eventually permanently swim, run faster and for longer periods, and climb steeper hills and control yourself better to avoid slipping or falling.

Most of the games mechanics are simple, but they are used effectively and everything comes together very naturally.

The game requires good situational awareness and memory in order to track your own location and avoid getting lost, though there is a map and a triangulation mechanic that allows you to use landmarks to fill it in. There is a dehydration mechanic, so being able to find safe sources of water is important, as becoming dehydrated will cause you to periodcally lose some control of your character, making it easier to slip and fall when climbing, as well as accelerating the rate at which you develop a fever and start to lose health.

You keep a journal that keeps record of all the plants you find and study, as well as a collection of the various medicines you'll create with them. Creating medicines is very simple, only requiring you to collect one or two plants and then combining them by placing them on a lab table. You can hold one of each type of medicine, as well as stock up to six plants of any type in a storage bin that carries between labs.

Other than simply picking plants, there isn't much interaction with the environment, as the few objects you can pick up aren't particularly useful. There is a strange creature that can stalk and attack you randomly as you explore the island, but there is no way to damage it, forcing you to run, hide, or escape to terrain it can't cross. Simply running as fast and far as you can is the easiest way to escape it, though there is a light stealth mechanic where you can sense the creature and know when it can see you when you create one of the permanent medicines.

Though it might not be terribly pretty, and there are some long load times and technical hiccups, the sheer scope and level of detail in the environment and the tension throughout the game is nothing short of brilliant, and being a fan of survival games in general, it's great to see one that has unique gameplay. For a project between only two people it is truly impressive and a great experience.