The Altersis one of the most thought-provoking games of 2025, delving into a number of complex philosophical and psychological subjects without offering many clear conclusions. This makes it an easy fit for those who love high-concept, cerebral video gamestories likeD&D’sPlanescape: TormentandDisco Elysium, but it stands apart from these sorts of games by virtue of the difficult choices it thrusts the player’s way.
Major spoilers forThe Altersahead.
One of the hardest decisions players have to make inThe Altersis the choice between Tabula Rasa and the implants—two solutions that can cure the Alters of a deadly disease. Ally Corp Mining Head Terrence Maxwell pitches the Tabula Rasa solution, presenting it as the obvious magic bullet: Tabula Rasa is an Alter of Jan’s whose nervous system is suppressed, and who lacks any higher cognitive function. As Maxwell puts it, Tabula Rasa has no “soul,” so there should be no moral qualms about harvesting his brain to engineer a cure. On the other hand, no one has to die if players research and build the implants, but this solution will result in the Alters being easily traceable by Ally Corp, which could lead to a fatal outcome for them all.
Why The Alters' Tabula Rasa Decision Is So Difficult
Tabula Rasa Keys into Difficult Questions About the Nature of Humanity
If it was simply flesh that determined what made someone a human being, then people would consider dead bodies to be on the same level as the living—most people can agree that it takes more than flesh and blood for something to truly be human. Someone could reasonably make the argument that brain activity constitutes humanity: intellectuals argue that what spiritualists call the soul is no more than neurons firing in the brain, so such an answer should satisfy both camps, theoretically. ButThe Alters' Tabula Rasathrows a wrench into this falsely simple definition of humanity.
Tabula Rasa has a living brain, but no higher cognitive function. According tocharacters likeThe Alters' Terrence Maxwelland Jan Scientist, he is a mere vessel that functions on the mechanical, practical level, but without self-awareness, so it should be ethical to operate on him. But it is arrogant, in a uniquely human way, to assert that something is not worthy of life, to create a new organism just to kill it in the name of utilitarianism. It is the hubris of Jan Scientist and Terrence Maxwell that leads them to believe that they hold such power over life and death.
Moreover, it’s hubristic to believe that one can truly define, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what constitutes consciousness and humanity. It’s easy to throw around terms like “higher cognitive function” and feel exonerated, but the truth is that there’s no consensus regarding what defines intelligent, conscious life.
Consciousness is something that philosophers and scientists have been trying to pin down for decades, to no avail; every theory of consciousness has some kind of shortcoming, even if it’s the mere fact that self-awareness can’t be completely proven. Tabula Rasa isThe Alters' philosophical wayof engaging with this age-old quagmire.
Another interesting aspect of Tabula Rasa is how he underscores the more pervasive ethical problems withinThe Alters' story. From the perspective of many of the Alters, they can either create Tabula Rasa or die themselves—the same conundrum Jan Dolski struggled with before creating Jan Technician. Thus, Tabula Rasa highlights the severe ethical issues associated with cloning and its many applications, suggesting that perhaps humans are ill-equipped to handle such decisions.
WHERE TO PLAY
The Alters is an ambitious sci-fi survival game with a unique twist. You play as Jan Dolski, the lone survivor of a crash-landed expedition on a hostile planet. To survive, you must form a new crew for your mobile base.
Using a substance called Rapidium, you create alternative versions of Jan - THE ALTERS - each one shaped by a different crucial decision from the protagonist’s past.
