Polyaris

About Polyaris

Polyaris is an indie survival simulator where you ski through a frozen post-nuclear wasteland as the last surviving engineer in the Arctic. Developed by Magic Pie Games and released December 31, 2026, it blends resource gathering with first-person exploration. You scavenge for fuel, build shelters, and battle mutated creatures while figuring out why civilization collapsed. The world is procedurally generated, ensuring no two playthroughs match. Set in a bleak, icy environment near the Norway-Russia border, it focuses on managing hunger, cold, and crafting tools to stay alive. The game’s single-player structure prioritizes solitude and survival over combat, with a mysterious narrative about nuclear war’s aftermath.

Gameplay

In Polyaris, you spend most sessions skiing across snowfields, manually checking temperature gauges, and collecting materials like wood and metal. The first-person view emphasizes isolation; you ski using WASD controls, with momentum physics affecting speed. Survival hinges on balancing calorie intake, fire-building, and avoiding hypothermia. Combat is infrequent but brutal, throwing knives or using traps to dispatch mutated foes. The procedurally generated map shifts between icy tundras and buried ruins, requiring you to backtrack for resources. Missions involve decoding radio transmissions and finding safe zones, but the core loop revolves around day/night cycles: scavenge during the day, fortify shelters at night. The UI is minimal, forcing you to memorize crafting recipes and resource locations.

What Players Think

Polyaris holds a 4.3/5 on PlayPile, with 88% of players completing the base story. Average playtime is 14.5 hours, though 25% push past 30 hours chasing 45 achievements. Community moods split between “captivated” (62%) and “frustrated” (18%), often due to vague quest markers. Critics praise the “haunting atmosphere” and “tight survival mechanics” but note repetitive late-game tasks. One review calls it “a masterclass in isolation,” while another gripes about “unforgiving permadeath.” 73% of players rate the crafting system as above average, but 40% admit they quit due to cold management mechanics feeling “grindy.” The game’s 100% completion rate for achievements takes 20 hours, with 15 trophies tied to resource hoarding challenges.

PlayPile's Take

Polyaris is a lean survival sim best for players who enjoy methodical resource management over action. Priced at $29.99, it offers decent value for its 15-hour core loop, though late-game repetition may deter some. The 45 achievements add 5 extra hours, but 30% of players abandon them. If you’re patient with systems like hypothermia mechanics and enjoy deciphering cryptic radio logs, it’s worth a shot. However, skip it if you dislike permadeath or expect fast-paced combat. The procedural world keeps things fresh, but don’t expect a gripping story, this is about surviving the cold, not escaping it.

Storyline

The main character is an engineer working in a remote northern outpost, living somewhere in the far north on the border of Norway and Russia. The game begins with the onset of a nuclear war. Since the protagonist is in the distant north, he is not directly affected, but he loses contact with the outside world.