The Alters: Branching Narrative Explained – IGN First

ign.com:

We are our choices. It may be a cliche, but it’s true. Our choices define us: where we go, what we do, who we meet, how we handle problems, and why we are, ultimately, who we are. Imagine all the key decisions of your life laid out before you. How many would have to change to turn you into a different person? Two? Three? Or just one, in the right place, at the right time? What choice would that be for you? And who would you have become if you’d chosen differently?

Those are the questions at the core of The Alters, a narrative survival game from 11 bit Studios, the team behind This War of Mine. In The Alters, you take on the role of Jan Dolski, a simple worker on a mining mission gone horribly wrong. Stranded and alone on a strange planet after his ship crashes, Jan must figure out a way home. But he can’t do it by himself. He’ll need the help of alters, alternative versions of himself who made different choices in life and have the skills and expertise Jan needs. But alters aren’t just another body and set of skills; they’re entirely different people with unique personalities, hopes, dreams, traumas, and ambitions. To get home, Jan will need to not only get along with his alters, but make some hard choices - and come to terms with some of the choices he made in the past.

To better understand The Alters and how this unique set-up affects the many branching story paths you’ll encounter as you play, we sat down with game director Tomasz Kisilewicz and lead designer Rafał Włosek. The interview that follows has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

IGN: One of the most interesting things about The Alters is, well, the alters themselves, and the branching narratives that are going to come out of the possible lives of Jan Dolski, but to understand the branches, I think we have to start with the tree. Can you tell us a little about Jan, and this predicament he finds himself in?

Tomasz Kisilewicz: So Jan, the main character of our game, he's got many regrets in his