This upcoming survival-style game has an unusual twist. You are an alien botanist that crashed on Earth 300,000 year ago.

In most survival games you are cast naked and alone, with only a rock or a stick as your only means of survival. Astrobotanica, the upcoming game, promises to be different. Instead of playing as an alien trying to survive in a hostile environment, you will play as a human who is attempting to survive on Earth in a distant past.

You are Xel and you are a botanist on a distant world. Your homeworld is in a downward spiral due to "irresponsible technology adoption". So, you have set out to find lush worlds to harvest seeds and plant material that you can bring home and use to help turn things around. You're in this particular galactic neighborhood because your ship blows up and crashes.

Earth is not perfect, even during the Pleistocene period. There are some wild animals that are not friendly and, more importantly, Xel doesn't breathe oxygen. This is a situation which will need to be addressed fairly quickly and on a regular basis.

The local neanderthals will be friendly or at least reasonable. You can learn some of their language, help them with injuries and diseases, and they may even give you tools, building materials and other useful resources for survival.

It's also interesting to hear that the Astrobotanica Steam page claims that players will be able to create their own unique characters by using a six-branch system of progression consisting of planetary information, research, investigation and management, as well as learning. It's anagrammatically "primal" - it spells out "planetary knowledge".

Space Goblin Studio, the developer of the game, said: "Form and navigate a unique path by leveraging habits and obsessions to master the challenges in a personal way."

I could be mistaken here, it happens, but the more I look into Astrobotanica the more I wonder if Subnautica is hidden there. That is, I think that a game which appears to be a fairly straightforward sci-fi game is anything but when you dig deeper. Subnautica was a videogame surprise that I found to be one of the most exciting and unexpected I've ever experienced. Astrobotanica, with its promise of "uncovering secret places and solving fascinating mysteries", has me a little more intrigued than I would have otherwise been.

Astrobotanica, even if it does not have this kind of hidden magic or secret abilities, looks like a fun twist to the survival formula. I like that the Steam page describes it as "relaxed Survival." Call me casual, if you like, but I prefer exploration-based survival games that focus more on exploration and less on "actively trying" to kill me.

Astrobotanica will be released in early access on Steam around 2025. You can always stay up to date on Discord.