Game profile
Subnautica
After crashing on an ocean planet, you must gather resources, build bases and explore ever deeper, more dangerous waters. It creates a unique mix of wonder and dread through the vastness underwater.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Survival / Adventure, set in a science fiction world. Visually it is deliberately stylised rather than photorealistic, and the overall tone stays somewhere between light and heavy. The world is open, so wandering off and ignoring the main path is part of the deal. It rewards long uninterrupted stretches more than quick check-ins.
The difficulty is moderate and fair, demanding attention without punishing you for it. The story matters and gives the mechanics a frame, without taking over. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available broadly, on 5 platforms. It sits in the mid price bracket.
What stands out
- Fascinating underwater world
- Deep sea base building
- Unsettling deep sea exploration
This fits you if
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- you actually want to be scared
- you can sit down for a proper long stretch without interruptions
- you like getting lost and ignoring the main objective for hours
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
Look elsewhere if
- you only ever get short bursts of play time
- you want to play it side by side with someone
- you want either a pure challenge or pure relaxation, not the middle
How long is Subnautica?
About 30 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 5 weeks, or 15 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 84 out of 100, which puts it above 52 percent of the 1276 games here and at rank 604 overall. That is mid-table for this database. Not a standout at the top, but solidly rated.
For comparison, Survival averages 80 points across the database, so this one sits 4 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 625 collected ratings.
Released in 2018, so it has 8 years behind it. Usually cheap by now and the rough edges are long fixed.
The facts
- Release year
- 2018
- Genres
- Survival, Adventure
- Playtime
- approx. 30 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Moderate, fair
- Story weight
- Present and relevant
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Sci-fi
- Visual style
- Stylised
- Price bracket
- Mid price
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, Mobile
- Critic rating
- 84 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subnautica | 2018 | approx. 30 hrs. | 84 | Mid price |
| Subnautica: Below Zero | 2021 | approx. 22 hrs. | 85 | Mid price |
| Subnautica 2 | 2026 | approx. 45 hrs. | 80 | Full price |
| Rain World | 2017 | approx. 20 hrs. | 62 | Budget |
If you liked this, try these
- 85/100 Subnautica: Below Zero Shared: Survival, Adventure, Sci-fi, rated higher
- 80/100 Subnautica 2 Shared: Survival, Adventure, Sci-fi, longer
- 62/100 Rain World Shared: Survival, Adventure, Sci-fi, shorter
- n/a Voidtrain Shared: Survival, Adventure, Sci-fi, longer
- 76/100 The Sinking City 2 Shared: Survival, Adventure
- 78/100 Routine Shared: Survival, Adventure, Sci-fi, shorter