If I were to choose four words to describe Sunless Sea, they would be 'roguelike, lovecraftian, gaslamp adventure'.

This is an early access game, so quite a bit of the content has not been implemented. What content there is, though. Oh my. Around every corner lurks some new and ever weirder sight. From fortresses of militant nuns to island chains swarming with spiders, to great, demonic clockwork mechanisms, the waters of Sunless Sea are populated with extraordinary things.

You get a ship, a captain, a handful of crew, and are set free on the darkened waters to seek your fortune. You can play it safe, sculling across the coast making trading runs to refuel and resupply, but the game is at it's best when you push the limits of your vessel and crew, sailing ever further into the subterranean caverns until your fuel and food runs perilously low. Perhaps you will have to resort to running your ship on cooking oil until you crew starves and resorts to cannibalism. Perhaps you will be destroyed by pirates or the horrors of the deep. But on the way, such adventures you'll have! Death means the end of the game, but you can carry over your current map, one of your crew, or one of your captains abilities. There are also options in place to ensure that if you progress far enough, you can carry over more of your possessions to a new captain, creating a lineage of reckless adventurers.

The combat needs work. Even with the recent 'Steel' update, you can back away from most enemies, plugging away at them while you keep them at the edge of your gun range. The map is beautifully rendered but sparse on actual ports and content, and enemies rarely feel like a serious threat since your can avoid most of them if you don't feel like a fight, but this is probably my favorite release of the year, even in it's current state. I really hope the soundtrack is released seperately, since it is one of the most atmospheric I've ever encountered.

Altogether, if you want a finished game, hold off until the official release. I'm glad I bought this on early accesss, though, since it makes it all the more rewarding being able to set sail on a new update and find new islands, quests, and eldritch horrors. I'm looking forward to the future path of the game--especially the late development rollout of Zubmarines, which will add a whole new layer to the game world.