Chernobylite is a science-fiction survival horror RPG which takes you to a 3D scanned recreation of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, including the abandoned city of Pripyat. Free exploration of a disturbing world is complemented by survival RPG mechanics and non-linear storytelling.

Return to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone as Igor, investigating the mysterious disappearance of his beloved Tatyana 30 years ago, at the time of the catastrophe. Your skills as a physicist and ex-employee of the Chernobyl Power Plant will help you survive the threats of the Exclusion Zone — but can you overcome supernatural horrors and the madness lurking in your own mind?

Plan your survival

Surviving Chernobyl’s Exclusion Zone isn’t something you can do on your own. You’ll encounter other stalkers, each with their own motivations — you’ll have to decide whether to team up with them or confront them. They might help you, or betray you. Whatever you do, plan your moves in advance.

There are three basic daily phases in the game when you can set up your next moves and work on your mission, each of them challenging and offering different possibilities: morning, midday, and evening. Every day can bring you closer to finding Tatyana if you play well.

In the morning you’ll make plans for the day and cope with obstacles brought upon by the long night, e.g. a companion’s wound getting worse. At midday, you’ll be out exploring a selected location, collecting the intel and materials necessary to develop your base. Finally, you’ll share the resources and information you obtained earlier with your companions in the evening. You can also use that time to improve your base, making your subsequent missions easier.

You can only visit one place a day, so assign tasks among yourself and your companions carefully. Make sure you find the balance between gathering supplies, searching for clues about Tatyana, and working on the final Heist.

Control your body and mind

Survival in the Exclusion Zone takes a toll not only on your health, but also on your psyche — radiation and stressful situations can affect them both. You can use various substances to heal or reduce radiation influence. If your health drops to zero, you’ll need to face an extra challenge before getting back in action.

When radiation influence is too high, you’ll start losing health and won’t be able to heal until radiation influence is reduced. If radiation reaches a maximum level, it’ll kill you. Then you’ll be given a chance to replay a selected mission.

Low psyche can induce hallucinations and start a chain reaction of peculiar occurrences that will inevitably drive you mad. While it won’t cause your death, the game will be much harder until you soothe your mind with medicine.

Survive in any circumstances

You won’t have access to your base when exploring the Exclusion Zone, so prepare the items you’ll need in advance and learn to craft in the field with raw materials. Sometimes you’ll find abandoned crafting stations, sometimes you’ll need to build one from scratch.

While your choices are limited in the open, there’s a wide range of options in your base. You’ll need everyday furniture, like beds and lamps, as well as a power supply to ensure that the air quality and radiation level are safe.

A variety of crafting tools will allow you to create or upgrade weapons and armor as well as grow herbs that will come in handy. You decide what aspect is the most important to your strategy — just make sure you have enough resources first.

Write your own ending

Depending on the choices you made when preparing for the Heist, the final mission, your results will vary. How many secrets have you discovered? Who’s going to accompany you on your mission? Do you have enough equipment or is your plan for the Heist really a suicide attempt?

Important details may seem trivial at first, but they will determine your future, leading to a good or bad ending. How will your story conclude? Write your own ending in Chernobylite.