Dead In Antares

About

Dead In Antares is a single player survival role playing game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Ishtar Games and was released on February 19, 2026. It received positive reviews from players.

Dead in Antares is a turn-based survival management game with RPG elements, set on an alien planet. Lead a crew of survivors sent on a mission to save humanity. Manage their needs, strengthen their teamwork, and explore this mysterious world to find a way back home.

Skip User Reviews

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 120 reviews

story13 positive mentions

grinding5 negative mentions

Improved mechanics and polish over previous Dead in series entries, with less RNG and more transparency in resource and stat management.
Depth in tactical turn-based combat with meaningful character traits and abilities, offering strategic complexity and satisfying progression.
Engaging survival and resource management gameplay loop that is addictive and appeals to players who enjoy micromanagement and tactical planning.

The story is perceived as somewhat linear, railroaded, and lacking in meaningful player choice or replayability, with weaker character development compared to predecessors.
UI and quality of life features are often criticized as clunky, unintuitive, and cumbersome, leading to tedious management and navigation.
Endgame pacing and grind can become tedious and slow, with combat feeling repetitive and some mechanics (e.g., tribute demands, knowledge system) feeling restrictive and unbalanced.

story
74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
78%
4%
The story receives mixed reviews, praised for well-developed characters and intriguing sci-fi setting but criticized for being somewhat linear, confusing, and poorly connected to player choices, which dampens replayability. While the narrative and character interactions are engaging for many, issues with pacing, clarity, and a lack of meaningful branching limit its impact compared to previous series entries like Dead in Vinland. Overall, the story is considered decent but not the game's strongest aspect.
- “The story, characters, and interactions are really well thought out.”
- “It's very similar to the previous one 'Dead in Vinland' but the change of universe from Viking to sci-fi planet with the focus on telling a story through characters and plot makes it unique and very engaging.”
- “Great story, solid characters, 20 hours in and I actually care what happens to all 10 of them, good writing, all 10 folks seem different and not clichéd.”
- “After about 40 hours and finishing my run, the story is all over the place, and based on some of the big choices you can make, it's not clear what results trigger which part of the ending, reducing my desire for replayability. If you focus on how the story affects the ending, this game needs a lot of explaining to motivate a second or third run.”
- “Yet the game doesn't let you make any choices nor affect the story in any way. There's the threat of a big decision at the end, but with everything else story-related offering only surface-level options, I doubt you can actually change the story.”
- “This game feels like it should have been made before Dead in Vinland for the amount of story and depth it was lacking in comparison.”
gameplay
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
67%
5%
The gameplay is praised for building on and improving the mechanics of its predecessor, offering a strategic and addictive resource and survival management loop that feels polished and well-integrated. However, some find the mechanics shallow or tedious, with slow pacing and repetitive tasks that can diminish challenge and replayability. Overall, it delivers a satisfying and relaxing experience for fans of the series, though it may struggle to engage players seeking deeper complexity or meaningful branching gameplay.
- “Dead in Antares is a rare example of a studio using their own tried and true game systems and mechanics but with a complete, massive upgrade to everything surrounding the basics.”
- “Balancing the different ailments and stats and the 'one more turn' style gameplay really kept me hooked.”
- “The gameplay is a lot of fun, strategic but not overwhelming, and the difficulty is very well balanced.”
- “The mechanics in general are on the weaker side, which is fine for this type of game… but why does everything take so long?”
- “To me, nothing ever felt like a real challenge, and the mechanics are pretty shallow.”
- “The gameplay was made for the early game, the UI makes you painfully repeat things and requires you to have perfect recall, and the story, while a good setting, doesn't actually branch anywhere, so it is very tame with nothing for the player to take charge of outside of game mechanics.”
replayability
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
Replayability in the game receives mixed feedback: while some appreciate the gripping story and the potential for multiple endings and difficulty levels, others find the unclear impact of choices and tedious mechanics reduce motivation for subsequent playthroughs. Compared to previous series entries like Dead in Vinland, this title feels less dynamic and offers fewer meaningful player-driven variations, which diminishes its overall replay value.
- “I found it a bit gripping, story is great, lots of replayability.”
- “That's somewhat unfortunate because the eclectic group of various newcomers from Dead in Vinland gave a lot of replayability and dynamism as the existing colony members either meshed well or poorly with new members, and rivalries and romances would shape much of how the colony evolved.”
- “There is replay value if you want to try higher difficulties or explore alternate endings.”
- “After some 40ish hours and finishing my run, based on playing the previous Dead in series, this game polishes a lot of pain points while keeping the same flavor but with a different story context. However, after my first run, the story is all over the place, and it is not clear how the big choices affect the ending. This significantly reduces the desire for replayability. If you are a gamer focused on how the story impacts the ending, this game needs a lot of explaining to motivate a second or third playthrough.”
- “…here is where the game’s biggest weakness comes into play: the combination of tedious mechanics paired with the obvious intention of replayability.”
- “If I could give the developers one piece of advice, it would be this: don’t design games around replayability if the mechanics themselves are tedious.”
graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The graphics receive mixed feedback, with some users appreciating the beautiful and stylistic art style and atmospheric details, while others find it unmemorable or problematic for performance on older machines. Overall, the visuals are considered good but not standout, with some comparing the art style to similar games.
- “Like most of these types of games, they spent a fair bit on the visuals and usually have subdued but somewhat catchy background music.”
- “The art style and planet details remind me so much of 'I Was a Teenage Exocolonist' that they feel like they're almost made by the same team.”
- “The art style is beautiful and the soundtrack is a good combination of relaxing and unobtrusive while still enhancing the setting's atmosphere.”
- “It's pretty interesting as a game but the art style and characters' personalities are so bad.”
- “The graphics are stylistic but not memorable.”
- “The graphics also make the game really sluggish on my machine even though it is only 10 years old.”
music
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The music in the game is generally praised for fitting the mood and enhancing the atmosphere with a relaxing and unobtrusive soundtrack, though some find it repetitive. Overall, it represents a notable improvement and complements the visuals well.
- “If you've played Dead In Vinland, the art, audio, soundtrack, and UI are a massive leap forward, almost like SNES to N64.”
- “The art style is beautiful and the soundtrack is a good combination of relaxing and unobtrusive while still enhancing the setting's atmosphere.”
- “The soundtrack completely fits the mood, though it can be repetitive.”
- “The soundtrack completely fits the mood but is repetitive.”
- “Like most of these types of games, they spent a fair bit on the visuals and have usually subdued but somewhat catchy background music.”
- “Music: fair.”
grinding
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game becomes tedious after the initial survival phase, as resource management loses challenge and repetitive mechanics dominate. This dullness is exacerbated by a focus on replayability despite unengaging core gameplay, making the late game especially monotonous.
- “This game is great at the beginning but then becomes tedious after the survival element dries off and you build some upgrades.”
- “…and here is where the game’s biggest weakness comes into play: the combination of tedious mechanics paired with the obvious intention of replayability.”
- “If I could give the developers one piece of advice, it would be this: don’t design games around replayability if the mechanics themselves are tedious.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Character development is described as intimate and compelling, with unique and distinctive character designs that lean toward a stylized, vtuber-like aesthetic. While the art direction and world design are praised, some character elements may feel unusual or inconsistent.
- “The art direction is great, love the world and character designs.”
- “Character development is so intimate.”
- “The character design is a little out there as well; everyone looks like a vtuber instead of a normal human.”
- “Once Captain Rosebud's relationship with the good doctor progresses for the first time, she hallucinates about having to fetch the wood (which is not a resource in this game altogether), and that you can't blame on the head trauma, unless it's the character designer's one.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game demonstrates well-optimized mechanics and story, enhancing the overall experience particularly for fans of worker placement optimization. Improvements over similar titles have refined gameplay, making it more streamlined and enjoyable after a few hours of play.
- “The randomized yields, lack of a queue setting, etc. from Dead in Vinland... they're all much more optimized now.”
- “This game should be enjoyable for those that love worker placement optimization.”
- “Once you're a few hours into gameplay, though, you can see that the mechanics and story are both well-optimized for this particular party of ten.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The atmosphere is characterized by a beautiful art style and a fitting, unobtrusive soundtrack that enhances the setting, but some users find it less immersive overall, with elements like the rain feeling artificial and the "alien" theme somewhat overused.
- “The art style is beautiful and the soundtrack is a good combination of relaxing and unobtrusive while still enhancing the setting's atmosphere.”
- “I understand it’s meant to give the game an “alien” atmosphere, but it feels heavily overused.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is described as decent, funny, and light-hearted, offering thoughtful and meaningful dialogue, though it is less overtly comedic compared to titles like Dead in Vinland.
- “This game features decent, funny, and light-hearted conversations.”
- “Dead in Vinland has more sense of humor, while this one offers deeper thinking and meaning.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is generally stable and well-polished compared to many modern releases, but its camp activity interface has buggy and incomplete warnings. This results in extra micromanagement and potential critical mistakes early on.
- “The camp activity interface shows where crew are assigned, and it does include a couple warnings - but even those warnings are buggy, and some more important warnings aren't included in that overview for the player. It can be fiddly and requires more micromanagement than necessary to review everything and make sure you aren't making mistakes you'll regret, sometimes big ones, as many things are critical early in the game.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a compelling emotional experience by blending a thoughtful sci-fi narrative with heartfelt, genuine personal moments, avoiding typical clichés. It effectively balances grand, complex themes with intimate character interactions, enhancing player engagement.
- “If you haven't played a previous Ishtar game, it's a mashup of turn-based colony building/survival and JRPG battle game, with a quite solid narrative framework including galaxy brain-sized sci-fi interspersed with heartfelt and gloriously uncheesy personal moments and interactions.”