Fathom

The lantern lights a few feet of black water. Everything past that belongs to the fog.

Fathom is a short first-person survival horror game set entirely on a small wooden rowboat. You play as Henry, a soldier home from the Great War, rowing alone across a fogbound sea at night. You never leave the boat: everything you need is within reach of your seat, and the whole game is played from it.

Rowing and navigation Take the oars and row through the fog. Steering works like a real rowboat: pull harder on one oar to turn the other way. Visibility is only a few meters, so you find your way with a compass mounted in front of you, marker poles, lit buoys and the sound of bells in the distance. Rocks are hidden in the fog; hitting them at speed damages the boat and injures Henry, so slowing down near them matters.

Keeping the boat afloat Collisions open leaks in the hull. Water slowly fills the boat, making it heavier and slower, and if it fills completely the boat sinks. Plug leaks with cloth or nail them shut with planks and scrap, then bail the water out with a tin bucket. You can’t row and bail at the same time, so every leak is a choice between moving and saving the boat.

Light and the mind Your lantern burns oil. When the light goes out, the dark starts to work on Henry: he begins to hear and see things in the fog that may not be there. Keep the lantern fueled, light a cigarette to steady your nerves, and learn which threats are real.

Salvage and upgrades Supplies drift past the boat: planks, scrap metal, lamp oil, cloth. Harpoon them from the water and fit them into your crate, a grid inventory where space is limited. Stop at shipwrecks along the way to search them for more. Use what you find at your toolbox to repair the hull or upgrade the boat: a bow lamp, stronger oars, iron-plated sides, a bigger fuel tank and more storage. You can’t afford everything, so each run is shaped by what you choose to build.

Story Letters, photographs and keepsakes float up from the water. Read them to piece together what happened in Henry’s home town before he pushed off from the shore, and why he can’t remember all of it.