Stirring Abyss on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
Stirring Abyss is an indie tactical squad-based game with strong RPG elements in which you uncover the ancient mysteries of the depths depicted in the classic vein of Lovecraftian horror.
Stirring Abyss is a lovecraftian, underwater and rpg game
developed by Sleepy Sentry and K-Project
and published by Slitherine Ltd..
Released on October 29th 2020 is available only on Windows
in 6 languages: English, German, Spanish - Spain, Russian, Simplified Chinese and French.
It has received 409 reviews of which 363 were positive and 46 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.2 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 9.80€ on Steam with a 60% discount.
The Steam community has classified Stirring Abyss into these genres:
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows 8
- Processor: 2 GHz Processor or Equivalent
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: OpenGL 4.5-compatible, 512 MB video memory
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX compatible
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Nice, not too complicated but strategic and good sense of progress and time pressure.
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A simple turn-based tactical game with a Cthulhu theme. In Story-mode it is rather easy. The basic game loop is 1. go on mission 2. improve characters 3. build your base 4. research 5. go to 1. The missions are short, maybe 15 minutes each. Story missions can be longer, maybe up to 30 minutes. During the missions you move your crew over a battle map in turns. Stirring Abyss employs a system not unlike XCOM, two action points. Most actions use one point, some actions use all remaining action points, e.g. firing a spear gun. During missions you complete objectives and gather resources for base building and research. Your crew is made up of three classes: sailor (melee), officer (melee/ranged and buffs), and scientists (ranged and different buffs). The skill trees for each class are different and random for the individual character. However, diversity is low, so expect the same builds over and over again. Early in the game you gain access to mutations, which are random (get two or three, pick one) and range from very useful over useless to just bad. Based on my single playthrough I'd say you can probably do without mutations, but since they are essentially for free, why would you? You have a base, your submarine, the USS Salem. You build up the base between missions, there are four very useful rooms available, the other seem a mixed back. Unlike the tutorial I suggest postponing building the control room and build an infirmary first. The control room allows you to use special abilities on missions and on the map (later more) and to do research on the "enigma board". The enigma board is your research. During missions you collect clues and between missions you can use them to beef up your party. Depending on your strategy you can research better fighting abilities, bonuses to your team's stats or improve your eldritch powers. You get eldritch powers on missions by investigating altars. I have hardly used them and I'd say you can do without them, but since they use a free resource (invocation points), again, why would you? There is a map where you pick missions, which are also not very diverse. Once you realize you have to walk towards the yellow cross, it becomes almost braindead. The story missions are a liitle bit different (with timers, waypoints and stuff) but the scenery does not change very much over the game. There are only three or four sets. Same is true for the monsters. I think there are 11 different ones and it quickly beomes kind of repetitive. Once you know them, they hardly pose a challenge. On the plus side, the game does not annoy you with the staple of "just send more" Now, this all sounds pretty boring, but I still recommend the game. The graphics are cute, the ambient sound is spooky, the story is solid (and mostly told through logbook entries), and the low difficulty makes it easy to just fire Stirring Abyss up and run a mission for a short break. I enjoyed it and it runs flawlessly out of the box on Linux. It has a launcher, and I don't know why ;)
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Overall: 8/10 Stirring Abyss is a tactical game ambient in a Lovecraftian nightmare where you accompany stranded divers trying to survive the depths of the sea and return to their families. Music: 7/10 I really enjoyed the music and sound effects, plus the VA of the introduction and ending are great. A shame that there aren’t more moments like that. Visuals: 7.5/10 It won’t get any prizes here, but it is good. Visually, the divers are the most distinguishing of all, and when they get some mutations, they visually change to match them (though I wished this would have applied to all mutations). Monsters are different, but their character art is probably more stunning than the game designs in itself. The maps are very similar, with small changes as you go deeper and deeper. This is probably one of the weakest points. And your ship, as you make upgrades and repurpose rooms, I did enjoy seeing the changes that occurred. Gameplay: 8/10 I would say this is a lite-tactical game. The game itself isn’t long, and the gameplay is repetitive like X-Com. Go into a mission, kill enemies, find something, get back to base, improve/upgrade, repeat. What makes it interesting is that there is a lot of variety for the amount of missions in the game, and that the skills you can choose from when leveling up are random even in the same classes. The enigma board, which would be the equivalent of a technology tree/research, is interesting, though a bit more information about what to expect at the different levels might have made it easier to know where to risk the clues you get to unlock the rewards. Story: 9/10 Trapped beneath the sea, just looking to get back home, the divers find themself drawn into the maws of hell. Now, how deep will they go to try and save the world. That’s basically the premise, and it works really well. Most of the main missions expand on the world, and you can even find notes of other divers trapped there (russians for example). I did enjoy the story a lot, and my only gripe is that I wished for more to explore.
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+Immersive survival experience with progression +Sounds great +Lovecraft-aesthetics +Player choice plays a huge role on progression and character development -> feels emergent -No VO in the game -Gets too easy towards the end -Psychiatry-skill is overpowered; charmed enemies should instead target random targets over only enemies (granted few enemies are immune to it) =It's essentially a survival version of XCOM 8/10.
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A hidden gem if the many facets of this game are appealing. - Lovecraftian to the max. The devs nailed the dread, fear, and mental toll that typifies the genre in addition to the ever-present fear of suffocating. The artwork, unpleasant organic sound effects, and music all play into the unnaturally creepy ambiance. - Procedurally-generated maps are utilized, although there can be a sort of sameness of blocks of maps, which still feels overall fresh in each mission. - Three different character archetypes based on abilities, with ranged, melee, and utility emphases, but characters can still effectively perform roles of other classes if spec'd properly. - A slow plotting/plodding push-your-luck tactical system that, in most turns has one reluctant to take just one more step, balancing timers whether intrinsic (running out of air) versus specific countdown missions. Maximizing efficient execution is vital for success. Movement economy is tight, with every step possibly impacting mission success, and yet when out of combat the movement allowance relative to map size feels appropriate and not too slow. The tension of moving, which may expose enemies within the fog of war, and activate them if they can also see you, is heightened by a two-phase movement system, where the initial higher movement point phase still allows for a one-point action, but the second only allows for movement. You will find yourself having unsuccessfully pushed your luck with your last character to move activating 3-4 enemies regretting that you got greedy and wanted to expose just a few more spaces to set up your next turn. - It has a robust combat system of melee, ranged, and qualitative utility abilities, adding to your tactical decision options. - Character leveling-up systems are exciting, especially the mutation mechanisms which feel like a twisted birthday present every time you harvest the weird transmogrifiable material (which can be used during a mission). General party skill tree advancement is present covering offensive, defensive, and utility factors. Objects in the environment also provide skill checks to change character and world states. - There is limited, but crucial, base building enacted by repairing the rooms in your damaged submarine. - Health, sanity, and buffs/debuffs systems affect character performance. - Mission types vary offering different loot, perks, and new characters. - Crafting is present. offering useful items that meaningfully affect missions. In some games picking up a flare is trash loot, but here such items can mean the difference between mission success or a wash. Stirring Abyss is a masterclass in Lovecraftian, as well as general game, design principles. The only criticism I have is Salvage-type missions are too luck-dependent, where one mission allocates the recoverable objectives close by, whereas others have them spread out throughout the map, basically ensuring mission failure. I usually try to avoid such missions, or if put into an unfair mission design, scum-save by hard closing the game which resets it back to start, and then try to more efficiently collect the items. As much as I adore this game, some gamers might not fit well into this slow tactical style of playing, and fast run-and-gun tactics will likely lead to a mission wipe. Also, it can be a tough unforgiving game, and if literal/virtual step-by-step planning feels dull or too time-consuming, then this game will likely not be appealing. This certainly is on my hidden gem list and if my description is mostly appealing it may soon be on yours! ...and yes there are tentacles, just not the Hentai-kind.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 11 April 2025 08:13 |
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| SteamSpy data | 09 April 2025 13:53 |
| Steam price | 13 April 2025 12:25 |
| Steam reviews | 13 April 2025 03:59 |
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Online players
7
Developer
Sleepy Sentry,
K-Project
Publisher
Slitherine Ltd.
Release
29 Oct 2020
Platforms
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