Submerged

A break from uncertainty and stress, a great palate cleanser.
Submerged plays differently than your typical game. It removes every variable of exploration and lets you enjoy the simplistic gameplay and the extremely interesting environment around you. You can't drown, you can't fall, you can't run, and you can't jump. There's no danger posed against you. There's no dialogue, and the story is told through drawings. Every point of interest is marked automatically on your map whenever you find one through your telescope.
Your objective is to free climb abandoned buildings in search of anything that can help your brother get back on his feet. The climbing is as linear as it gets, although there are some extra paths you can take to collect "secrets," but ultimately it makes you go back to the main path. It's a short experience with no progression. Everything you do to climb the first building is everything necessary to climb the last one.
The visuals are good. The lighting and moving parts are not this game's strongest points, but the very interesting small world shown leaves you craving for more and wanting to discover more about its origins and backstory. It would benefit a lot from more content.
The plot is generic but works.
It's not going to change your life. You probably won't even remember this game the day after you finish it. But if you are ever in need of a relaxing and short one-handed experience, give it a try.

Submerged is a short - 4ish hour - game, with a beautiful sound track, and nearly wordless story. Your character seems to be (as there isn't any time limit within the game) racing against the clock, to save her younger brother who is badly injured. Miku, has to scale buildings, searching for supplies to aid her in caring for her brother, with secrets along the way that hint toward what has happened, to the world around you.
The game involves no combat, but lots of climbing. With beautiful scenery, unique creatures - as I am not entirely sure if those are still the standard animals I thought they might be - and a sound track that both soothes and left me curious. If you enjoy games that leave most of the story (not all) to your interpretation, mixed with sailing around in a fishing boat and climbing decaying buildings, I definitely recommend Submerged for you.

Simple and relaxing game with good controls and a nice story. Collecting all the items was also really satisfying. If you enjoy getting all the achievements in games, this is a good one for that. They are quite easy to get.
But I don't know is this worth with the full price, maybe a little bit too much. The game lasts around 4-5 hours if you collect everything like I did. So wait for the discounts.
7/10 <3

A nice story, simple puzzles, and 60 items to find
Don't expect any action, any combat, or else
Just enjoy a sunken city and the atmosphere

A very wonderful game. I really like the style and the open world aspect of it. The world and the non lingual story is really nice. I also really like the little secret in the end that is layed out like a little treasure hunt. I will totally play the sequell of the game. I can really highly recommend this game.

Gorgeous exploration game. No stress, just good music and steering your boat around while mutated (but beautiful) sea creatures accompany you on your journey. Save your brother at the same time, but there's no rush.

Great for people who want a brain break in a beautiful environment. Looking forward to the sequel!

Submerged, developed and published by Uppercut Games Pty Ltd, is a serene and melancholic adventure that trades action for atmosphere and conflict for contemplation. It is set in a hauntingly beautiful post-apocalyptic world where the remnants of civilization lie half-buried beneath the ocean’s surface. You play as Miku, a young girl who arrives by boat with her wounded brother, Taku, seeking shelter and survival among the drowned ruins of a once-great city. From the opening sequence, the game establishes a tone of quiet urgency—there is no dialogue, no combat, and no conventional danger. Instead, you are guided by the ebb and flow of the tides, the whisper of the wind, and the soft hum of a world long reclaimed by nature. Submerged is an exercise in minimalist storytelling and environmental immersion, designed less to challenge the player’s reflexes and more to invite reflection on loss, endurance, and the beauty that can emerge from decay.
The central gameplay loop revolves around exploration. Miku must navigate the flooded city in her small motorboat, scouting for supply crates that will help heal her brother. Using a telescope, you can scan the horizon to mark potential landmarks and climbable structures, many of which rise like broken monuments above the waterline. Once a target is found, you guide the boat through calm waters, occasionally encountering sea life—whales, dolphins, and birds—that breathe a sense of continuity into the empty world. Upon reaching a structure, Miku disembarks to scale its façade through a network of vines, pipes, and ladders. Each ascent reveals new vantage points, bits of environmental storytelling, and hidden collectibles that gradually piece together the fate of the city’s former inhabitants. The act of climbing is smooth and meditative rather than challenging; you cannot fall or die, and the absence of failure creates a rhythm that feels closer to discovery than survival. The gameplay becomes a gentle ritual of traversal and observation, mirroring the game’s themes of perseverance and healing.
The world itself is the true protagonist of Submerged. Uppercut Games has crafted a breathtaking environment where decay and rebirth coexist in delicate harmony. The architecture of the submerged metropolis evokes echoes of modern urban life—skyscrapers, billboards, and churches—now softened by vines and coral growth. Light glimmers across the water, waves lap gently against crumbling concrete, and the horizon glows with perpetual sunset hues. Each building tells a story through its ruin, suggesting the fragility of human ambition against the power of nature. The art direction is painterly and expressive, relying on warm colors and soft textures to evoke both nostalgia and melancholy. Even as you navigate desolation, there is a profound sense of peace, as if the world has accepted its fate and found beauty in its own stillness. The sound design complements this perfectly: the gentle hum of the motorboat, the rustling wind, and the distant cries of seabirds blend with Jeff van Dyck’s tranquil score, creating an auditory landscape that lulls the player into quiet reflection.
Narratively, Submerged communicates almost entirely through visuals and symbols. Miku’s journey is punctuated by short, wordless cutscenes rendered in a hand-drawn style that recount fragments of her past. These scenes reveal the hardships she and her brother endured before finding the city, while murals and pictographs scattered throughout the environment hint at the catastrophe that led to its flooding. The story is open to interpretation, with no spoken words or text to guide you explicitly. Instead, the narrative is emotional rather than expository—it’s about feeling rather than knowing. Each successful delivery of supplies to Taku triggers another dreamlike flashback, blurring the line between memory and myth. This subtle approach allows players to engage with the narrative on their own terms, building empathy through curiosity and observation rather than scripted exposition.
While the experience is undeniably beautiful, it is also deliberately limited. The game can be completed in just a few hours, and its lack of danger or mechanical complexity means that repetition can set in quickly. Sailing, climbing, and collecting follow a predictable rhythm, and once you’ve experienced the loop a few times, the sense of discovery may begin to wane. Some players may find this simplicity meditative, while others may perceive it as shallow. The controls are functional but occasionally imprecise; guiding the boat through tight spaces or adjusting to climbing surfaces can feel clunky at times. Yet, in its own quiet way, these imperfections reinforce the handmade quality of the world—it feels less like a polished product and more like an artistic meditation, a deliberate attempt to create calm in a medium often dominated by chaos.
The emotional strength of Submerged lies in its atmosphere rather than its plot. It evokes feelings of solitude, wonder, and hope without resorting to dialogue or traditional storytelling techniques. The bond between Miku and Taku, though simple, grounds the experience in humanity; every supply crate retrieved feels like an act of love and endurance. The flooded city, though ruined, is not a place of despair—it is a space of renewal, where nature reclaims what was lost and where silence speaks louder than words. The player’s reward is not victory or progress but immersion, a sense of having drifted through a world where every ripple and reflection tells a story.
In the end, Submerged stands as a quiet rebellion against the conventions of modern gaming. It asks nothing more than your patience and attention, rewarding you not with spectacle but with serenity. It is a game for those who find beauty in desolation, who value the act of exploration for its own sake, and who believe that even in ruin, life persists. It may not offer complexity or challenge, but it offers something rarer: a meditative escape into a world that has ended yet continues to breathe, inviting you to drift a little longer in its calm, sunlit waters.
Rating: 7/10