Alterum Review Summary

Altered roles are satisfying and easy to learn, with chaotic fun and friendly lobbies, but you need friends who own the game since there is no random matchmaking.

Positive general impressions: The game is widely praised as cool, fun, and engaging despite its simple appearance. Many reviewers immediately liked it or found it became very interesting after initial learning.

Altered role is satisfying: Playing as the altered role is described as enjoyable and even better than finding it, with stabbing people being fun regardless of role.

Chaotic and entertaining situations: The game creates chaotic and entertaining situations on platforms, such as yelling spells into the mic so the traitor hears your location. Yelling adds to the fun.

Positive community and lobbies: Lobbies fill with adequate people who use microphones, so there is always someone to talk to, and players do not need to persuade others to turn on their mic. The community is considered healthy.

Favorable comparisons to competitors: The gameplay is much better than competitors like Deceit and similar to Dread Hunger with quirks. It is seen as a cool Among Us-like game.

Requires many friends who own game: The game effectively requires 8 friends who already own it because the player base is small. Without that group, playing is difficult.

High entry barrier due to social requirement: The need for friends creates a very high entry barrier. Many players do not have the required social group to enjoy the game.

No random matchmaking available: Players cannot use random lobby search, so they must rely on friends to play. This limits access when friends are unavailable.

Long lobby wait times: Players spend about 70% of their time waiting for others to join the lobby. This makes the experience feel slow and frustrating.

Friends needed for full immersion: Playing with friends is considered necessary for the full experience. Without them, the game feels incomplete.

Lobby-based multiplayer sessions: Players join lobbies and wait for others to fill the session, often with random players. The game supports groups of up to 8 players and open lobbies are available.

Traitor and altered roles: The game features a traitor role and an altered role that players can take on. These roles change how the game is played.

Spell system with Kavardak: Spells include Kavardak, which can swap items among all players or just the targeted player. The spell system can reverse game outcomes.

Voice-cast spells via microphone: Players cast spells by yelling into the microphone, but this reveals their location to the traitor. Voice chat is used in lobbies.

Killing and knife combat: Players can kill other players, including from behind, and knife combat is part of the mechanics.

Runs on Old Hardware: The game is reported to run acceptably on a 12-year-old PC build using minimum settings. This indicates low system requirements and reasonable optimization for older hardware.

Best with friends: Multiple reviewers emphasize that the game is best enjoyed with friends, and some say it requires having friends to play. Without friends, the experience may be less enjoyable or not recommended.

Generally recommended: Several reviewers simply recommend buying or trying the game, indicating broad positive sentiment. This includes recommendations for everyone and for those looking to spend an evening with friends or randoms.

Pay attention to tutorial: One reviewer advises going through the tutorial carefully and remembering it, as it will help later in the game.

Compared to Dread Hunger: Reviewers compare the game to Dread Hunger, noting similar quirks. It is also described as a descendant of Dread Hunger, indicating inspiration.

Compared to Among Us: The game is compared to Among Us as a similar style of game. This positions it within the popular social deduction category.

Active mic usage in lobbies: Players note that lobbies have mic-using players, unlike other games where microphones must be encouraged. This indicates a more communicative player base.

Developer Discord for suggestions: The developers maintain a Discord channel where players can submit suggestions. This shows active community engagement and openness to feedback.

Mix of Amogus and DbD: Described as a mix of Amogus and Dead by Daylight. This indicates a blend of social deduction and horror elements.