Abyss Brood

Somewhere under a lagoon, a blue hole drops into the dark. You go down on a cable, in a small sub, with a sonar and a lamp. Something lives down there, and it hunts by sound and light. DIVE BY SONAR The trench is black. Ping, and the rock answers in echoes that fade behind you. Stop the engine and listen: you hear what moves around you. Everything you do can be heard. HARVEST THE ABYSS'S EGGS Nests cling to the walls, rarer and richer the deeper you go. Fill your hold and bring it up before the air runs out. Your cable is the way home. BREED THEM AT H2 LABS Up on the ship, the lab studies what you bring: reports, genes, grades. Breed the best lines, hatch creatures to escort you, and complete the H2 Labs collection, every creature on its own card. BUILD OUTPOSTS IN THE DEEP Carve stations into the rock, fence them with electric gates and store your eggs there. The more you keep, the more the brood comes for them. FACE THE THING It wraps the hull in its arms and does not let go. Flares, charges, repel pulses and the creatures you raised are all you have. Lower the lure from the ship, and see what answers. TWO SUBS, TWO CREWS The Matador, with an old skipper on the radio, or the Kettle, heavy and slow, with its engineer aboard. ATMOSPHERE Play it with headphones. Your own heartbeat, a picture that breaks up like an old set when it attacks, and a film look you can switch off in the pause menu.

• Its own bestiary: eight creatures with 3D bodies; two new subs, Saucer and Kettle • New rock and living walls at every depth; some plants reach for you • Worm swarms that flow like a shoal; the sub fights back with electricity • Charges tear swarms apart; flares burn eggs and worms • Currents you can see and feel • A controls lesson, a calmer screen, a lamp you can aim Abyss Brood is an experiment, not a finished game.