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The Alters launched last year and immediately became one of 2025’s best games — and one of its most stressful. The strategy game build around tough choices received a free update in December that added a fun mystery to solve and some quality-of-life improvements. But 11 Bit Studios had always planned on more, and during Saturday’s Future Games Show the developer announced a major expansion for The Alters, one so large it sounds like it could be its own game.
Taking place after the main game, The Alters: Last Variable stars Jan Scientist, who chose to stay behind while the other Jan Dolskis escape the hostile alien world they were trapped on. Jan Scientist intends to explore and research the hidden Oasis, an area that’s fertile with beautiful flora. True to game’s core mechanic, Jan Scientist won’t be studying alone — new scientifically inclined alters include the Geologist, Biologist, Chemist, and Physicist.
You work to terraform parts of the planet, which in turn creates new resources and threats. Because this world is very hostile, you will have to build a new Cryosleep Chamber to sleep through the dangers. Though, by the way the news release describes that chamber, it sounds like only Jan Scientist will be taking naps while the other alters continue to work and grow old. Can’t see that going poorly!
The Alters: Last Variable has a 20-hour campaign. As the base game is about 25 hours long, Last Variable seems less like a minor add-on and more like a full game in and of itself.
Players won’t need an end-game save file to access The Alters: Last Variable. It will be accessible from the start menu. However, it is recommended to at least play through some of the base game first, as Last Variable won’t have any tutorials for established game mechanics.
The Alters finds space miner Jan Dolski stranded on a dangerous world. He has to create clones of himself — all voiced by the same man, Alex Jordan — and work with them to survive and get off this rock alive. The Alters wound up on Polygon’s list of the 50 best games of 2025. “Choosing which alters to create and how to handle their issues, all while reflecting on OG Jan’s troublesome past and the questionable ethics of cloning, is what makes The Alters such a gem,” Polygon’s Marloes Valentina Stella wrote.
The Alters: Last Variable will be released July 13, and its price will be announced closer to launch.
I can’t stop playing The Alters even though it’s stressing me out
Those pesky Alters are going to make me go gray prematurely
