Barotrauma

Drowning is fun, especially after you kill the captain, are stripped of all items including clothing, handcuffed, and sent out into the sea with a diving suit with only a quarter of oxygen left, made to kill the fishes with a knife, really fun 10/10, would kill the captain again.

i love the vibe of this game, also the challenge and the aesthetic, it is beautyfull!

First time playing
blew up my reactor before we even left the port
10/10 game would play again

Played Baro a lot with friends and it was always an enjoyable experiance

100% too tedious to play Solo. Great game with friends, but solo is an exercise in manually clicking through the clunky UI elements to accomplish the feat of wasting your time. There's baseline QOL features flat out missing from a solo experience that would seem to be trivial to code in - the foremost of which is some kind of unified inventory for crafting.

There's a lot of powerful and efficient stuff in the crafting system, but solo will have you wasting an unacceptable amount of time running around playing inventory management. Multiplayer these kinds of logistics hurdles are fine. For solo, it's baffling how the game fails to account for this basic QOL feature that would save hours of time during a playthrough.

Bots and AI are capable in some respects, but near useless when it comes to logistics which is a massive part of the game. The game of course takes inspo from Space Station 13 when it should take the tiniest hint from Rimworld and allow me to set up conditional rules for my Doc's medicine use on certain crew, or set up the most basic of inventory management or crafting management to always try to keep X stock of Y good, or hauling rules to deposit X item type into Y storage locker. Seems really straightforward, right?

The result is that some missions are just too bothersome to even care about. Salvage or Outpost missions take ages to do, since the best the bots can do is follow you and you have to manually pause members of the squad so they don't go running off while you tab through them. Looting monsters is an absolute joke since you have to manually stop the boat, take control of the diver, go through the airlock, swim out, loot, return, and do this with a single diver since there's no way to order anyone to loot anything and return. A lot of mechanics are fine with a multiplayer crew but are just a lost cause solo.

Unless it's on a strong sale, honestly you're better off watching unless you have an existing group of people to play with.

8/10, Pretty fun game. There is a single player story mode but the game is way more fun with friends. the only thing that counts against it is the net code is a bit wonky some times

I tried this game out for the trial and fell in love. The game style is perfect with a mix of engineering weapons medicinial drugs and helmenship, this game is great if you like building games or PVE style games. This game has tons of content and really good learning curve.

I like it
Its fun single player
Its really fun with a friend
And if you can get more on for a campaign or missions it will be an experience of all time

The only thing that I don't like that much are the bots, but they still are functional

I have nothing to say, except that you should really try this game out if you have a group of friends. (please)

Or going solo also works, at least for me, the game is incredibly fun, but it's the best with a party.

This can be the funniest game with silly friends or... probably somehow the scariest at certain times when you're by yourself.

Too many memories, honestly a great experience if you give it a chance.

Probably one of the best role-playing, cosmic horror games out there. TONS of replayability. Deep lore to sink your teeth into. I find myself coming back to this game over and over.

Great Game, atmosphere is great, must play with in game voice tho
Also, might break friendships

I was just mindings my businesses as usuals..... until suddenly:
"Hellos", said the giant 30-foot-long sea monster before monstering me

Imagine this. You have 3 engineer with room temprature Iq, 1 pacifist captain, a medic with organ harvesting fetishes and one security officer with last stage ptsd. This is the crew you gonna sail in the submarine either your mentality or the game ends. Your captain wont move an inch from his seat. Your doctor will constantly dreaming about harvesting organs of your when you are about to die and repeating this procedure everytime when you respawn so your doctor have a questionable amount of organs. Your security will scream from top of his lungs when he sees a mudraptor charging towards your ship. And constantly pressure anyone around him to reload the gun. And he is right to do so. Cuz if you dont next 1p minutes everyone in the sub will die in unimaginable ways. Your engineers(slave labor) will go back and forth between recycling stuff and fixing shit around the sub. Plus handling the nuclear reactor of the ship. And here it is your crew. You gonna scream, cry, curse, hit, rage all the time. But in the end you will get the best enjoyment you can ever get. Like they always said.
"Monkey strong together."

hours in: 700+ havent yet still made it to the second biome. Amazingly complicated yet simple point and click mechanics. The amount of chaos that can go awry is insane.

Also great workshop ecosystem for different subs to try out.

the electrical components allow you to make some really fun logical circuits.

An all-round relaxing travelling experience with easy sightseeing through the waters of an alien planet, even better if you play with friends as each character will have a different division of labour, and with enough friends it can be played as both a tense and exciting survival adventure game and a tense and exciting game of werewolf on the go, preferably praying not to have the captain as the werewolf of course.

Barotrauma is an exciting, cooperative resource management game that is
also captivating in Singleplayer thanks to its deep atmosphere.

Look I genuinely would love to give a professional formatted and clean looking review, but I'm too busy playing this game.
It's phenomenal. It's just silly enough that you don't take it TOO seriously but creepy and atmospheric in ALL the right ways so that you can get the most out of the experience if you truly desire to. Solo it's playable but play this with a crew and it goes from a solid 8 or 9 out of 10 into the stratosphere. The game FEEDS off of roleplay and holy cow you can turn this game into a hell crawl if you desire. The modding scene is amazing, the developers have made sure it's all open source for the community. There's seriously nothing in this that doesn't get glowing approval from me, save perhaps that combat early on feels a bit worthless, and crafting really should be available on every ship. It's just too tedious otherwise. I know you can store things in a container, carry it up to fabs on stations and do things that way, but it shouldn't require that. That's a bit TOO much. The game is amazing. Buy it, now.

I’m generally not a huge fan of anything related to aliens or the ocean, but Barotrauma is one of those games you simply can’t pass up. There’s something about it that grabs you right from the start, even before you fully understand what that something is. This isn’t the kind of game you dive into for a quick evening of play and forget about. It demands time, attention, and patience, but in return, it offers an experience unlike any other. Barotrauma doesn’t forgive mistakes, but strangely enough, there’s always a place for newcomers — if you’re willing to listen and understand the core mechanics. If you don’t know where to start, just ask someone, and they’ll guide you. Starting as a mechanic, engineer, or assistant is usually the best way to learn without disrupting the team's efforts.

Basically, Barotrauma is a survival simulator set on a submarine, stranded deep in the hostile waters of Europa — one of Jupiter’s moons, where death can strike from anywhere: reactor malfunctions, oxygen leaks, grenade-wielding clowns, or an open hatch at the wrong moment. Every mission is a struggle for survival, set against the backdrop of technical failures and internal chaos. It’s less about action and more about managing constant disorder, where teamwork is your only chance to stay afloat. Sometimes it feels less like commanding a submarine and more like desperately trying to keep it from falling apart. And that's where its charm lies. You don’t return to Barotrauma because it’s easy, but because it’s endlessly interesting. Every session is a new story, a new disaster, a new “almost made it, but…”

Visually, the game is more intriguing than frightening. It doesn’t push you away; rather, it charms you with its muted color palette and clean, minimalist art style. The simple yet expressive 2D graphics work perfectly with the sound design. There is music in Barotrauma, with each outpost having its own unique track depending on its specialization. This creates an atmosphere that makes you want to linger there just a little longer before embarking on your next dive. Outside these areas, there’s almost no music, but the game’s tense atmosphere is maintained through sounds — muffled thuds, creaking hulls, footsteps — each contributing to a feeling of unease without ever drawing too much attention to itself.

This is one of the few games where, even after hundreds of hours, you can still stumble upon something new — a mechanic, an event, or a bug you didn’t know about before. And that’s a rare and valuable thing. This unpredictability keeps every run feeling fresh and prevents the game from becoming stale.

Each role is an invitation to experience something different. Not only does each new profession provide a reason to learn new mechanics, but I often found myself choosing the more attractive initial branches in the skill tree at the expense of overall efficiency. The game leaves room for improvisation, and no one is afraid of making mistakes—those are just part of the learning process. Sometimes you’ll be patched up by others, sometimes you’ll figure things out on your own, but it always gets more exciting as you progress.

The game doesn’t forgive mistakes, but surprisingly, there’s always a place for newcomers—as long as you’re willing to listen and learn the mechanics. One of the best features is that, before starting a campaign, the settings go well beyond the standard "Easy-Abyssal" difficulty scale. Every parameter can be adjusted individually, allowing you to truly customise the gameplay experience to your style.

The AI won’t fully replace a real player, but it performs admirably in most of its duties— especially considering the developers are continually improving it. Solo campaigns aren’t as vibrant as multiplayer, but they provide a safe space to learn the ropes and experiment. It’s convenient to switch between roles and gradually familiarize yourself with each of them. On moderate difficulty, bots are generally adequate, but they do have their limits, especially in more complex scenarios.

However, it’s the multiplayer that really makes Barotrauma shine. This is where the game truly comes into its own. Every role — from engineer to medic — is vital, and teamwork isn’t something forced upon you, it’s simply necessary for survival. Each session with a new team feels like a fresh playthrough. Sometimes you’ll be with veterans, other times with beginners, and each time, the experience will unfold differently.

The replayability of Barotrauma is exceptional. Even after dozens of runs, you’ll want to come back — try a new role, a different submarine, or a different way of interacting with the world. It’s not about grinding and forgetting; it’s about continuous evolution. Some professions are better suited for solo play, while others truly shine in a well-coordinated team. But regardless of what you choose, there’s always room for growth and discovery. As you grow, the game becomes more enjoyable.

The emotions of victory and defeat are especially vivid in this game. The joy of surviving against the odds, the fear of decompression, the nervous laughter during an accident — these moments stick with you. You never quite know how things will end, and yet, you return. PvP in Barotrauma isn’t the main draw, and personally, I didn’t find it especially exciting, but as a break from the main campaign, it’s perfectly fine.

The Barotrauma community is generally more calm than in other co-op or competitive games. Sure, there are a few trolls, but they don’t stick around for long. Finding a server with the right playstyle and pace can be tricky, but when you find the right one, it feels like a perfect fit. It’s convenient that you can read the server description beforehand to see if it suits your playstyle — this makes finding a comfortable spot much easier.

And of course, for those who decide not to stick with the vanilla game, the modding community is always active. The workshop is full of addons and mods that can radically alter gameplay, add new mechanics, maps, characters, and much more. This allows you to tailor the game to your liking, beyond the original design. Modders have significantly expanded and diversified the game, adding everything from new gameplay features to creative content that can refresh the entire experience.

Barotrauma is a game open to creativity, and this is reflected in its wide variety of components, including the ability to create custom submarines, characters, or even monsters directly within the game. This level of customization encourages players to create something unique and share it with others. The modding options broaden the horizons, letting players put their own spin on the game.

Every hour spent in this game has been worth the money, and while there’s still room for improvement, it undoubtedly deserves a positive review.

funny submarine game, i love it
just be careful of husks.

I play primarily single player, and it's a LOT of fun that way. To have to manage the entire sub via different bots is a VASTLY different experience than MP (which is also a ton of fun). Having to do your job while everyone else fucks up theirs AND have to deal with traitors is pretty awesome!

Definitely recommend if you're into Lovecraftian existential horror stuff that isn't about jump scares, but actual dread.

I've had more fun playing this game in single player than I have with other people if I'm doing a campaign
Also for the love of fuck do not load the Coilgun closest to the reactor with explosive rounds

So GOOD. submarine part of it even if you have a fear of the ocean causes so much traumatic fun! the tension of dying anytime and managing submarine and crew adds the perfect amount of difficulty to the gameplay, don't even mention the difficulty of medical emergency's when your medic. overall, it is so much fun, action, tension, drama, and great gameplay. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. (the name is clever too.)

Enjoy this game made a good number of submarines in it too. I play solo for testing my subs and the bots are alright at most things but they`ll need orders for most. If you have to hand to hand combat something you can only bring one bot or your gonna have a lot of you getting shot by your bots. In multi-player though it`s a lot more enjoyable your not 24/7 captain just driving or buying and crafting items. Item crafting is something thats best to get used to ealier then later as it`s a key part of your survival. You`ll go from buying everything to buying the stuff to make those things. Combat system is a bit funny for me and the medical system can be cut down to 5 basic items. Although the tutorials will have you beleive the game is impossible to learn it`s not nearly as bad when you just hop into a run with some randoms (unless you get griefed quickly) and come back to the tutorials after like 10 hours.

Ugh Captain,

I'm trying to weld the sub, but I'm dummy thicc and the clap of my ass keeps alerting the moloch.

Very Good game, its really fun Playing Campaign with friends just to see one of them put 4 Fuel Rods in the Reactor to Nuke the whole ship into Oblivion

Good game I can only recommend

Started with a team of 7, lost a few in a battle and then the rest died to implosion. 10/10 wonderful experience

Very good game, though reliant on your crew. Multiplayer shines considerably brighter than the singleplayer, though that may still be fun. Modding takes it even further - though certain overhauls definitely add more depth that I feel lacks from the basegame, but this is purely for difficulty.

Barotrauma is not a game. It’s a psychological experiment designed to see how fast a group of friends can descend into panic, betrayal, and screaming as your submarine becomes a flaming, flooding metal coffin full of clown suits and husk parasites...
First five minutes? I electrocute myself trying to turn on the lights. Ten minutes in? Ethan screams “FULL SPEED AHEAD” and crashes us into an iceberg and breaches the hull. Twenty minutes in? Brent is welding doors shut “for safety,” I'm addicted morphine, (we don't have any left for actual emergencies), and Ethan is growing a husk out of his mouth.

I think one time Brent yelled “I’M FIXING THE REACTOR” and then we all exploded.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. In fact, I haven’t stopped. My friends and I now only communicate in panicked Barotrauma callouts. We haven’t spoken about anything else in weeks. I haven’t slept much, but when I do, all I can hear are sonar pings.

Very fun and good game and its even better with friends.

The price should not be $50 CAD, it is insane. It is already difficult enough to get people to play and enjoy because it is so niche. I am aware the game goes on sale a lot but when it does I feel its what price the base game should be. Does this have
$50 CAD worth of content to some people? Yes! Does it to everyone? No.

My first time playing, I ate some eggs I found. They belonged to a parasite, so my character then turned into a mutant. All I could do was observe this monster use my body to hunt down the rest of the crew like some messed up Alien Isolation RP. 10/10

active players are getting lesser than ever, please consider to lower the sale price about 5$ less to make this game alive like it used to in early access, the game are so fun and polished as masterpiece, support many languages and new contents added frequently but its hard to find a suitable server with good ping and full of players especially to find an English server in Asia.

very fun game with friends, however to be fair, singleplayer sucks really bad.
they could change a lot about singleplayer (mainly with you juggling the roles), however the real good about the game is the multiplayer. being able to have everyone play their own role creates for some rather funny gameplay and makes it highly entertaining.

Honestly one of the best multiplayer games, both with friends and random people. Having fun even after 250 hours, even though it can be sometimes repetitive. One of the greatest things about this game are the mods

+ modding community
+ the developers keep updating the game and adding content
+ not hardware heavy

- sometimes buggy (can be a positive --> funny seeing bugs with friends)

Watched my friends get penetrated roughly with no warm-up or lubrication by a spineling...10/10

I have a friend that has recommended several games to me, Barotrauma being one of them.
This is usually how it goes,

>be me
>Gamer leprechaun recommends some obscure game I know nothing about
>I drag my feet but eventually get it
>I get distracted, forget about game for awhile
>eventually download and play it
>HOLY$#!*.jpg
>"this game is phenomenal!!"
>I sink the next 50 to 100 hours of my life into game before coming up for air
>Gamer leprechaun says "I told you so"

Barotrauma is a blast with friends, can be scaled appropriately for size of group and skill level, has a lot of lore and stuff to discover, and has a rewarding skill / class system. In the simplest terms possible this game is pretty great, especially if you enjoy working with friends to make money and destroy monsters so you can get bigger guns to destroy bigger monsters.
I grade my games on a simple dollar/hours of fun ratio. At 17.49 USD I have already got 87.9 hours of fun for .19 cents an hour and am not really slowing down with a regular weekly game.
Barotrauma is a good investment

my friend injected lethal amounts of morphine into my neck before giving me cpr until my chest caved in. 10/10 game

either get left behind by teamates, ripped open by creatures at the depths of the ocean, or get smacked with a toy hammer and explode

Ive been playing this games for several years now and honestly its one of the best games I've ever played
The people here are amazing and the thriving modding community means theres never a lack of things to do if you ever get tired of the base game.

With frequent updates and an active community discord server theres always something on the Horizon with this game.
I can genuinely recommend playing it, amazing game and a good buy

1/10 cannot fuck the fish

Great game for all of my 237 hours of gameplay i have died to the stupidiest Things that Include: Doors,ramp,plasma cutter,getting blasted bye A railgun cannon. // and many many more. i personally recommend this game.

very fun game with friends and single player. 9/10 would recomend

This game has become my all time favorite game to play! There is nothing better than seeing your captain fly out of the sub from a collision as it is travelling 100km/h while being chased by a monster fish 3 times the size of the sub! 15/10 recommend playing!

I have almost 100 hours in this game. Game is good.How is it good? Something about the character of the game, it feels dangerous, you have to stay vigilant with cheeks clenched. A softcore thriller. Starting the level in your sub and you already feel like death is staring you down. The most mundane tasks feel satisfying, for example, sorting your inventory throughout your ship feels like it really matters. There is a reason for that, as having a sub that is well organized is crucial in times of emergency, if you cant find a crucial item, such as ammo or meds, its over the the whole crew. When sailing trying to remain discreet, there is something to do, make shells, fill shells with uranium, and 5minutes later feel accomplished looking at your stack of 15 nuclear shells. So boring it seems but it really isnt,you need to spend each second of each minute of each depature maximizing your chance of survival, there is always something to do. Even sorting your inventory matters, and it does contribute to your survival as mentioned above. The fights are tense, getting boarded by aliens feels like its gonna cost you an arm and leg, but once you have a shotgun (or nuclear shell),something about the oomph,the firepower,the suprising strength of your arsenal, makes you feel scary, and on europa, that is something terribly alpha. Having a couple dozen brain cells helps, you need to balance your bank account with purchases that dont help in the long term but more often the short term. You mgiht need to sacrifice shotgun ammo purchase for a medic or security officer, you might have to trade morphine for bandages, you really have to be smart, its the main thing to making it to the next outpost. Composure, staying calm in a dangerous situation is also part of the game.If youre boarded by aliens, you MUST remain calm because if youre not,you will stumblearound in your inventory and make many mistakes trying to find the antidote or medicine, or if youre trying to reload your weapon, if youre panicking you will have trouble triyng to reloadyour weapon. Intelligence, composure, inventory management and organizational skills, these are some of the attributes needed to make it to the next city alive.

Buy this game, get on discord with your crew, smoke crack (pipe tobacco), spam the guitar and turn on the subs christmas lights, hours of fun and laughter, inckuding suspense and victory.

GOodgame

Amazing game.
Fun with friends or on your own, great party game, and random lobbies aren't too bad either.

The submarine editor is where I spend the bulk of my time though. Full sandbox intuitive and easy to use.

Also, Linux native.

sooo, 11/10, would play forever.

this game is 100% not worth 50$, i got it for 9.99$ and i would say thats the right price. for sure a fun game but not at the current price

I love playing as medic and having to save the security officer from bleeding out after he rushed into the speratist base without letting anyone know
never gets old <3

Barotrauma is a game that gets repetitive real quick, but despite that gripe, it can be an absolute hoot with friends. The only problem? You need friends—truly the biggest skill issue this game has thrown at me so far. If you don’t have a group to play with, I wouldn’t recommend it at all. But when the stars align and you manage to gather a crew, it’s a total blast fighting for survival together over and over again.

i think a lot of the game is confusing especially when it comes to modding the game but the game is still amazing. highly recommend.

great game, watched my friend get ripped to shreds by an alien chicken

fired a nuclear railgun shell at a thresher right infront of the submarine and got called a slur and kicked