If enjoy sci-fi games that mix corporate dystopia with hands-on mining and base building, like StarRupture and Satisfactory, then Aethus is worth keeping an eye on. It’s got an interesting art style, that seems to ooze fun and chill vibes, something like My Time at Portia. No horses here though, this is the new frontier, so make sure you put on a space suite before diving in.

The main character is Maeve, a former mining engineer for the Astral Resource Corporation, a powerful megacorp known for stripping planets of their resources. After breaking away, Maeve claims her own mining site and begins exploring the remains of a failed science expedition. Along the way, she investigates a mysterious new element and a wider corporate conspiracy.

All the staples of a survival game are here, crafting, harvesting even growing crops and fishing. The game emphasizes story, customizable difficulty settings, all without the usual bloat of using or needing things like AI tools, early access, or microtransactions.

The game is developed by Alex Kane, a solo indie developer with seven years at studios like Rockstar. Recently, Alex answered player questions in the Gameoneer community.

When asked what inspired him to create the game, the developer explained that “I think the themes inevitably trace back to my own experiences in life and particularly in my AAA career,” adding that “The themes are also inherently relateable to everyone these days, the world is in a weird place and we all yearn for that ability to fight back a bit, make something for yourself and be less subject to the whims of those more powerful than us.” He highlighted how going indie offered “simply the ability to make my own decisions – no committee of designers, no incompetent executives who think they’re geniuses, just my own instincts and learnings from my own experience and playing so many of these games!” This independence influenced Aethus’s base building as well.

Alex describes his game as “Underground Subnautica”, with a fully voiced narrative that pushes exploration, gathering, crafting, and base building across three biomes. The game clocks in at least 30 hours of gameplay. Base building will be modular with snapping habitats and collision-free interiors for machinery, seats, lights, or any item as decor. Players can expect skipping early access for a more gamer friendly and complete experience.

Gamers won’t need to spend their day micromanaging the bases infrastructure either. Drones will handle resource production and delivery, there won’t be complex factories though. Players can expect corpse runs, as items drop upon death, but they’re always recoverable. Hopefully no enemies “corps camping” your remains. Also, multiple endings can be found, but gameplay will continue afterward. Which I can appreciate, I enjoy coming back to a round of survival just to see what’s new. Kane noted that multiplayer’s unlikely due to singleplayer experience focus.

Aethus is available worldwide on Steam at a discounted price of $15.99, £13.20, or €15.99. This introductory pricing is set to last for two weeks, after which the standard price will rise to $19.99, £16.50, or €19.99. The developer also revealed that launch discount will not exceed 20% during the first year.