11 bit studios is set to drop the narrative expansion pack 'Last Variable' for their mystery sci-fi adventure game 'The Alters' on July 13th, worldwide. This expansion will be available on both PC and console platforms. The new content follows the journey of Jan Scientist, who finds himself stranded alone on an alien planet, along with his clones, the Alters.

The Alters: Last Variable boasts roughly 20 hours of gameplay, introducing fresh mechanics and an underground base-building system. You'll be tasked with terraforming parts of the planet into lush, oasis-like biomes. It’s a bit of a management nightmare, as you’ll be directing these clones—all identical to you in appearance but wildly different in their thoughts and emotions. Whether they are geologists, biologists, chemists, or physicists, these specialists bring their own scientific biases to the table, leading to plenty of internal friction.

The gameplay gets a significant overhaul too. Every time you terraform, the landscape shifts, yielding new resources but also triggering the planet's defensive mechanisms like earthquakes and radioactive waves. You’ll need to expand your underground base, crafting new parts and research modules to survive the shifting terrain. During the cooling periods when the planet's heat dies down, you must venture out to scout the surface, develop new tech, and set up field labs to keep the science going.

Then there's the new hibernation chamber, which plays with the flow of time in a rather cheeky way. While you snooze away in the depths to escape the heat, your clones continue their work on the surface—actually aging and changing in the harsh environment. Once you wake up, you’re forced to face the long-term consequences of your scientific choices and the stark reality of the time gap. You can find more gritty details on the official website.