Barotrauma

Barotrauma PC is a 2D co-op submarine survival simulator with survival horror, simulation, strategy, and RPG elements. The current Steam listing and official game channels continue to use the name Barotrauma; no verified rebrand, replacement edition, or renamed storefront version was found. Developed by FakeFish and Undertow Games and published by Daedalic Entertainment, it places a crew beneath the ice of Jupiter's moon Europa, where every mission can become a systems failure, monster attack, or internal crisis.

A submarine crew is the real protagonist

Barotrauma uses a side-on 2D perspective, but it is not a simple arcade submarine game. Players move through a multi-room vessel, operate machinery, repair damage, treat injuries, load weapons, and coordinate tasks while the submarine continues moving through dangerous water.

The core loop combines navigation, mission selection, resource management, exploration, combat, and emergency response. A crew may be asked to transport cargo, hunt an alien creature, investigate a wreck, recover an artifact, or reach a new location. On the way, hull breaches, electrical faults, reactor problems, flooding, pressure, fires, and hostile creatures can turn routine travel into a desperate rescue operation.

Barotrauma is deliberately built around interdependence. The captain handles navigation and orders, while engineers manage the reactor and electrical systems, mechanics repair the hull and machinery, medics handle injuries and medical supplies, and security officers protect the vessel. Assistants can support any department and learn the ship by doing.

Systems, roles, and the pressure of failure

The submarine is a working machine rather than a background prop. Players interact with sonar, nuclear reactors, engines, pumps, oxygen systems, doors, weapons, fabricators, deconstructors, and electrical junctions. Wiring is a genuine gameplay system, so a damaged or badly configured network can disable important equipment at the worst possible moment.

Survival also depends on crafting and resource preparation. Materials gathered during missions can become ammunition, tools, medicines, weapons, diving equipment, fuel, and other supplies. Medical treatment has its own depth, with injuries, illnesses, drugs, and medical procedures making the medic role more than a simple healing class.

Character progression adds talent trees to the crew structure. The six classes each have their own skills and specialization paths, allowing characters to improve as a campaign continues. Faction reputation also affects the wider journey, giving crews reasons to choose allies, complete jobs, and consider the consequences of their decisions between missions.

Campaigns, sandbox play, and traitor rules

The main long-form experience is the campaign, where the submarine travels through a procedurally generated version of Europa. Missions, locations, encounters, resources, and threats create a changing route rather than a fixed sequence of identical stages. Progress is tied to earning money, improving the vessel, developing the crew, and reaching more dangerous regions.

Single-player campaigns are possible with an AI-controlled crew, while multiplayer lets human players divide responsibilities across the submarine. The game also includes sandbox mode, single missions, and competitive options. These modes are useful when players want to test a custom submarine, practice a role, or create a shorter scenario instead of committing to a full campaign.

Multiplayer can remain cooperative, but Barotrauma also supports traitor gameplay and PvP-oriented rules. A traitor may receive objectives that conflict with the crew's interests, creating suspicion and social deduction inside an already unstable vessel. This is not a minor cosmetic variation: communication, access control, security checks, and trust become part of the actual strategy.

Modding and submarine creation

Barotrauma is unusually open-ended for a commercial survival game. Its built-in Submarine Editor allows players to design custom vessels with rooms, doors, machinery, weapons, wiring, ballast systems, and other components. The Character Editor and additional procedural, animation, sprite, and particle tools expand the creation side beyond simple cosmetic changes.

Steam Workshop integration makes it possible to discover and install community content directly through the PC version. The official FAQ also confirms that the game's source code is publicly available for modding, while the game's licensing rules still require players to own the commercial game rather than distributing a standalone version.

This creation ecosystem gives Barotrauma a second progression path. Some players focus on reaching deeper parts of a campaign, while others spend their time balancing a submarine design, building a custom scenario, or modifying the rules that shape crew survival.

Base game, editions, and paid content

The standard paid game contains the main campaign, single-player support, online co-op, online PvP, procedural missions, the class and talent systems, crafting, submarine operation, and the editor tools. The current Steam catalog lists optional add-ons rather than replacing the base product with a separate definitive edition.

The storefront currently identifies the Home & Harbor Expansion, the Supporter Pack, and the soundtrack as separate content. Home & Harbor is the gameplay-focused expansion, while the Supporter Pack and soundtrack serve different purposes. Players buying the base game should not assume that every optional add-on is included in the standard package.

Who should play Barotrauma?

Barotrauma is a strong fit for PC players who enjoy co-op survival, complex machines, emergent disasters, role-based teamwork, and games where communication matters as much as reflexes. It is particularly effective with a regular group because each player can own a department and develop a recognizable role aboard the vessel.

It is less suitable for players who want a relaxed submarine adventure, a conventional linear campaign, or a game that explains every system immediately. Solo play is available, but managing a full vessel with bots is a different experience from coordinating several human crew members. The learning curve is part of the design, and mistakes often become memorable stories rather than cleanly recoverable setbacks.

Players who prefer a colony-management view of resource pressure can compare it with systems-heavy 2D survival simulations like Oxygen Not Included. The games differ in control and structure, but both turn air, machinery, resource chains, and cascading failures into the central challenge.

PC features and practical platform details

The PC version is distributed through Steam and lists Steam Workshop, Steam Cloud, achievements, trading cards, Family Sharing, online co-op, online PvP, and an included level editor. Official support information also documents player-hosted server setup, so multiplayer depends on the host or server operator rather than a single centralized matchmaking campaign.

The current storefront lists interface and subtitle support for English, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish from Spain, Polish, Spanish from Latin America, Turkish, Japanese, and Korean. Full voice acting is not advertised in the language table. The store also does not advertise full controller support, so keyboard and mouse should be treated as the primary PC input combination for inventory, wiring, machinery, combat, and communication.

The result is a PC game with a particularly strong editor and community ecosystem. Players can approach it as a campaign survival simulator, a social multiplayer sandbox, a technical submarine builder, or a rules-driven horror experiment.

Similar games on PC

Barotrauma's closest comparisons depend on which part of the design matters most. Its combination of crew management, emergent disasters, and hostile environments is more specific than a standard survival game.

For players who want survival systems, crafting, and procedural danger with direct character control, punishing 2D survival sandboxes such as Don't Starve offer a related emphasis on preparation and learning through failure. Barotrauma is more cooperative and machine-focused, while Don't Starve is built around individual exploration and survival knowledge.

Those seeking a more indirect colony-management experience can also consider real-time survival strategy games such as Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation. The overlap is in resource pressure and crisis management, but Barotrauma shifts that pressure into a confined submarine where the crew itself becomes part of the machinery.

Barotrauma FAQ

Is Barotrauma still the official PC name?

Yes. The current Steam listing and official Barotrauma channels use the name Barotrauma. No verified rebrand or replacement PC edition was found.

Is Barotrauma single-player or multiplayer?

Both. It supports a single-player campaign with bots, online co-op, and online PvP. Multiplayer can support up to 16 players aboard one submarine, with bots available when needed.

What is the main gameplay structure?

The main structure is a procedural campaign across Europa. Players choose missions, travel between locations, repair and upgrade the submarine, manage supplies, develop class talents, and survive increasingly dangerous encounters. Sandbox and single-mission options provide shorter or more experimental sessions.

Does Barotrauma have traitors?

Yes. Traitor rules can assign hidden objectives to players in multiplayer, turning a cooperative mission into a social deduction scenario. The host can configure traitor-related settings, and traitor events can also be used in campaign play when enabled.

Does Barotrauma support mods?

Yes. The game includes submarine, character, and other creation tools, Steam Workshop integration, and publicly available source code for modding. Players must still own the commercial game to use it as intended.

Is a controller recommended on PC?

The current Steam feature list does not advertise full controller support. Because the game relies on precise mouse interaction, keyboard shortcuts, inventory handling, wiring, and machine interfaces, keyboard and mouse are the safer choice.

What content is sold separately?

The current storefront lists the base game separately from the Home & Harbor Expansion, Supporter Pack, and soundtrack. The standard game already includes the campaign, multiplayer modes, procedural content, crafting, class progression, and editor tools.