Hello, delicious friends

Failbetter’s wistful adventure, in which you assume the role of a succession of ancient mariners, is the most memorable release of 2015. You roam the Unterzee, a twilight archipelago beneath London, choosing a crew, buying rations, plying a trade, and helping out those you come across (or, when you’re lost at sea, eating them). The balance of risk and reward is built into the geography: How far will you stray from your home port, in search of wealth and glory, when, with limited supplies, you can become so easily stranded? The story is broken into discrete chunks and strung together according to your choices. When you die, abruptly or in old age, you bequeath your gains to your offspring, who become the next characters in the generational journey. The result is a collaboration between player, writer, and designer—one that awakens our elemental longing both to explore and to seek home.