I thoroughly enjoyed last year's sci-fi horror game SOMA, however often wondered what exploring PATHOS-II would be like minus its otherworldly adversaries. The Wuss Mode mod which Andy recently got to grips with goes a long way in answering that, and it seems Freesphere Entertainment's debut outing Tether is keen to portray a similar style.

Due in the "third quarter" of 2017 Tether is a first-person horror-adventure game that currently resides on Steam Greenlight. You assume control of Lesleigh Hayes, a biological researcher on her first deep space mission to Mars. Here's the skinny as per the game's site:

"Earth is dying after the collapse of several continents throughout the world following the destruction of the Moon—as natural disasters sweep the planet, the newly formed United Environmental Federation (UEF) accelerate plans to terraform the nearest possible habitable planet, Mars.

"Once aboard the Sonne, Lesleigh's thoughts turn to her children as she re-lives some of their final conversations before leaving. As catastrophic events unfold on the UEF Sonne, Lesleigh is forced to survive the psychological horrors of isolation in deep space. Can she live with the consequences of her choices? How will these affect her children? Is this how motherhood should be?"

And here's some of that in motion:

Taking a more contemplative approach, then, Tether appears to portray its horror through isolation and self-reflection. Admittedly I'm a fan of non-combat exploration games—walking sims if you prefer—but I'm nevertheless intrigued to learn more about Lesleigh's tale and decisions she faces. If you feel the same, you might fancy slinging it a vote on its Greenlight page.