If you hear the words "multiplayer ocean-based survival," not too many games come to mind. There's something serious like Raft, and that's really it. Nautus aims to be the second game to fit this specific description, and it differs from Redbeet Interactive's game in several different ways. We got a chance to play a recent demo of the game and came away quite impressed with what was on display.

Nautus' narrative feels more in line with an adventure game than standard survival fare. Twenty years ago, your uncle and a small group of scientists went to a mysterious island to explore it and the oceans below. You haven't heard back from him since, so you set out on a journey to that island, help the people who once worked with him to regain their memories, and try to find out what happened to your uncle.

When it comes to the survival part of the game, the title waffles between going against survival norms and abandoning some of the expected mechanics. There are no meters, stamina or otherwise. No hunger or thirst meter means you have nothing artificial holding you back from doing what you want, and there's no need to gather basic resources to replenish said meters or worry about getting sick from bad water or fish. You can go into your tent, but that feels like an optional thing to do, especially in the demo, unless you want to decorate the interior.

The survival game elements that remain are fairly basic. You can gather basic materials like fiber, stone and iron to build things like ladders and straw roofs. You can create specialized workbenches to make more complicated things, like wooden planks and concrete, all of which fall into a loop of helping you expand your crafting abilities to build even more stuff. You're also building upgrades for your sub, which can include torpedoes to scare off aggressive fish and boosters to get away from fish that can't easily be defeated. Depending on your stance on survival games, the narrowed scope of only crafting can be a blessing or a curse.

While the overly simple survival game mechanics may be a disappointment for some, the game makes up for it with exploration. Above-ground exploration is pretty limited, since there are only a few islands to visit, and it feels restrictive since everything is presented from a side-scrolling viewpoint. However, that constricted feeling goes away once you get your own sub and start exploring the ocean. That's because verticality comes into play, and the waters are filled with loads of materials to gather, creatures to fight, and passageways to explore. The upgrade and exploration loop works well, since you need to upgrade your sub to go into deeper waters and overcome obstacles to progress. This is especially true if you get a multiplayer session going, as more players mean more ground to cover.

The presentation matches the game's lighthearted nature quite well. The music is breezy in nature. Even when exploring some of the more dangerous parts of the ocean, the music remains calm and somewhat relaxing. The graphics take on a modern 2D look, so all of the movements feel bouncy. The color scheme is bright but with a variety of different shades to make all of the locales look richer. The whole thing evokes a cozy feeling that feels good but also feels like it was meant for a different game, considering the narrative stakes.

So far, Nautus is loads of fun. The light survival game elements make it accessible for all types of players, while the multiplayer makes the packed world lots of fun to explore. Couple that with an appealing presentation, and you have a game that you can feel good getting lost in. While Nautus doesn't have a solid release date yet, the upcoming closed betas give us hope that it'll come out sometime in early 2027.