Sunless Sea

Three pressures shape a voyage. Fuel runs the engine, supplies feed the crew, and terror rises when a trip becomes frightening or lonely. Your hull can also be damaged in combat. The top-left corner of the screenshots holds the ship's status dials and bars. The bottom of the screen has the main controls; at Fallen London there is a clear Launch button. The gallery shows that dock, a remote island, a named sea zone and a dangerous encounter. Ports are not just backgrounds: they contain the story choices and reports that make a return trip worth planning. A first captain should make a short voyage, visit a nearby port, then come back before supplies are nearly gone.

Failbetter Games released Sunless Sea on February 6, 2015 after an Early Access period. Windows, Mac and Linux were part of the desktop release; the developer also lists later iPad, Xbox One, Switch and PlayStation 4 versions. The original game is a single-player mix of exploration, survival and written storytelling set in the same universe as Fallen London. Your first captain can die, and later captains may inherit progress through the legacy system. Zubmariner is a separate expansion that adds undersea travel; its screenshots and mechanics should not be mistaken for the base game's opening voyage. If the interface looks crowded, start with the dock, the status gauges and one short route rather than trying to understand the whole world at once.