Hypothermia

Humanity has managed to leave behind a lot of hardships from the past, such as the need to hunt for food in order to avoid starvation, or the fear of dying because of the elements. Granted, even in our advanced society we somehow allow millions of people to die of cold or heat, given the fact that poverty forces people to live on the street.  Hence, nature still has a big impact on our lives, in spite of our fancy spaceships and nuclear reactors.

Hypothermia is a first-person puzzle/survival game in which your main goal is to stay alive, using any means at your disposal. The main enemy is the cold, which has a huge impact on your health, so much so that only a few minutes out there can bring forth the game over screen if you don’t take any measures. On top of that, you also have to accomplish a mission throughout all of this.

You start in a cabin, which happens to be on a lonely island in the middle of the sea. The wind outside is fierce and bone-chilling, but you must face it in order to understand the mystery of the island and maybe find a reason for your presence there. To do so, you have to keep yourself warm and feed, which is no easy task when there’s nothing around.

The only items you can find are food and alcohol, both of which come in handy if your health is low, or if you are about to die of hypothermia. Alcohol increases your cold resistance, but it also affects your health, so it’s not a good idea to abuse it. On top of that, there’s also a sanity bar you have to keep an eye on, although that only comes into effect if you look down when you are crossing shaky bridges at dizzying heights.

The survival elements are very well integrated, on the other hand, because it truly feels like you are going through a hard time. Each step must be calculated, otherwise you find yourself without shelter when you need it the most. You also have to figure out how to use puzzle items in order to explore the island further and unravel its secrets.

When it’s all said and done, Hypothermia is a pretty well-designed game, even if it was realized during a jam competition. There’s the occasional bug you have to watch out for, but everything works nicely in the grand scheme of things, at least if you have the patience to learn how to survive.