Developed By: Nautilus Games
Published By: Ysbryd Games
Category: Adventure
Release Date: 07.10.25
Price: $19.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review
I love games that have a lot of good story and that’s exactly how Everdeep Aurora begins. The game takes place in a world that’s on the verge of becoming post apocalyptic as deadly meteor showers force people to find shelter underground.
You play as a character who wakes up to find that her mother had left her behind on the surface and had already fled underground. Your goal is to find out where she is and figure out the many mysteries of the world. All that happens in the first few minutes and then behind a grand adventure underground.
How do you get underground? By digging of course. A frog you meet on the surface gives you his drill and that’s used to dig tiles of dirt, similar to Steamworld Dig.
It’s tough at first because there’s no real map and the drill you begin with constantly needs to be recharged. But I thought it was pretty satisfying, carving out your own tunnels and paths. In place of a map is a little radar that shows you where dirt is and where it isn’t.
But that’s all it shows. It doesn’t highlight points if interest like NPC’s and doors, and it’s very easy to get lost. Early on, I was worried that I would dig myself into a hole that I couldn’t get out of. Fortunately that wasn’t the case because your frog friend can teleport you to the surface, and you can manually reset all the tiles as a last resort.
There were a few times where the gameplay infuriated me because of navigation or drill issues, but the game was surprisingly chill for a game that’s very dark and emotional. For instance, I really liked the art style and how the color palette was constantly changing. The music was great as well.
Do I think it’s a fun game? Not entirely. The gameplay angered me at times with how slow it was at the start and figuring out where to go was a pain. But gameplay was never really the focus for me. This is a slow burn game that relies on characters, story, and occasional puzzle solving. Those were the main draws for me, and it’s more than enough to keep people invested.
7/10
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