Barotrauma (video game)

Lore & Background

Barotrauma is a side-scrolling game that takes place in the distant future, on a submarine traversing the oceans of Europa. Players are assigned jobs such as Captain, Engineer, Mechanic, Medical Doctor, Security Officer, or Assistant, each with specialized traits and equipment. The crew is given missions—hauling cargo, hunting hostile wildlife, or recovering alien artifacts—and then acts at their own discretion. Outposts at the end of levels offer services but become rarer as players progress. The game features a faction system with four playable factions: the Europa Coalition, the Jovian Separatists, the Children of the Honkmother, and the Church of the Husk.

Reader's Guide

Barotrauma's significance lies in its complex simulation of submarine systems—oxygen, power, weapons, and hull integrity—and its emphasis on emergent gameplay through human interaction. Lead developer Joonas Rikkonen, previously known for SCP – Containment Breach, cited Space Station 13 as the biggest inspiration, aiming to smooth its rough edges while preserving emergent gameplay. The game's core loop revolves around crisis management: players must cooperate to handle hazards like hostile fauna, pirates, parasite outbreaks, and player-controlled traitors, as well as player incompetence that can render the submarine inoperable. Barotrauma was voted 'Best Hardcore Game' at Game Connection Europe 2018. Its legacy includes a dedicated modding community enabled by a publicly released source code, and a planned expansion, Barotrauma: Home & Harbor, announced in June 2025 for a 2026 release, introducing outpost ownership and a new faction.

Did You Know?

• Barotrauma's first major expansion is 'Barotrauma: Home & Harbor', not 'The Abyss'.

The World of Europa

Barotrauma casts its story in a far-off future where humanity has pushed its reach into the outer solar system. The action unfolds beneath the inhospitable waters of Europa, a moon orbiting Jupiter, where the oceans are home to hostile undersea wildlife and other dangers. Players find themselves aboard a submarine, assigned a specific job and thrust into a crew of fellow workers who must cooperate to survive. The world is not a single static environment; outposts dot the early biomes and grow scarcer the deeper players venture, though activating a beacon station can summon new stations into otherwise empty regions. The broader political landscape is shaped by four factions: the Europa Coalition and the Jovian Separatists stand as major powers, while the Children of the Honkmother and the Church of the Husk operate as minor groups. Reputation with these factions shifts as missions are completed, adding a layer of consequence to every voyage. The campaign's ultimate goal is to reach the enigmatic Eye of Europa, a destination that looms over the entire narrative arc.

Crisis Management and Survival Mechanics

At its core, Barotrauma is a 2D side-scrolling simulator that demands constant vigilance. The submarine's survival depends on a web of interlocking systems—oxygen levels, power generation, weapons, and hull integrity—all of which must be monitored and maintained in real time. Disasters can originate from external threats such as hostile fauna, pirate attacks, parasite outbreaks, or a hidden traitor aboard, but the game also makes player error a genuine source of catastrophe. A neglected nuclear reactor or a failing oxygen generator can render the vessel inoperable almost instantly. When the hull is breached, water floods the interior, damaging structures and severely restricting movement. A crew member trapped in a flooded compartment risks suffocation, or, in high-pressure zones, death by barotrauma. Because the submarine is effectively the crew's only lifeline, an irreparably damaged vessel typically ends the round. To survive, players rely on a deep crafting system to fabricate equipment and upgrade their vessel, turning cooperation into the central gameplay loop.

Crew Roles and Specialized Cooperation

Every voyage in Barotrauma is structured around a set of distinct crew roles, each carrying its own responsibilities. The Captain charts the course through Europa's treacherous waters, issues orders, and keeps crew morale steady. The Engineer oversees power systems and the nuclear reactor, ensuring output is balanced without overload while maintaining structural integrity. The Mechanic keeps engines, pumps, and doors operational, welds hull breaches shut, and fabricates advanced mechanical devices using tools like plasma cutters. The Medical Doctor monitors vital signs, treats injuries and illness, and manages the stock of medical supplies and toxins. The Security Officer mans the ship's external weapons against hostile creatures and watches for suspicious behavior that might reveal a traitor. The Assistant fills gaps wherever the crew is stretched thin, ready to step into any other role as needed. In multiplayer sessions, each player can commit to a single specialty, making coordinated teamwork the key to completing missions and staying alive.

Development and Creative Lineage

Barotrauma is the product of Finnish studio Undertow Games, with publishing handled by Daedalic Entertainment. The project entered an early access beta phase in 2019 before its full release across Windows, macOS, and Linux in March 2023. Lead developer Joonas Rikkonen, who had previously created the horror game SCP – Containment Breach, has pointed to the online role-playing game Space Station 13 as the single greatest source of inspiration behind Barotrauma. He specifically praised its capacity for emergent gameplay, where player interactions and system failures combine to produce unpredictable, story-like moments without any scripted direction. This philosophical influence is visible throughout Barotrauma's design: rather than handing players a rigid checklist of objectives, the game assigns a broad mission and then steps back, letting the interplay of crew roles, environmental hazards, and mechanical systems generate tension organically. The result is a survival-horror experience in which no two runs feel identical, and the most memorable moments often arise from the crew's own decisions or their mistakes.

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