Reactorcore's Personal Game Design Project

Abyssal Caretaker

Environmental Survival Action

🌊 Rise from the crushing abyss as an ancient oceanic guardian in this reverse-Subnautica experience. Begin your journey in the deepest ocean trenches and ascend through five distinct zones toward the polluted surface, upgrading your suit to survive each new environment.

As the last of the Abyssal Caretakers, experience the ocean's pollution crisis from bottom to top - from mysterious deep-sea container graveyards to toxic surface oil slicks. Salvage human technology and combine it with natural resources to craft the upgrades needed for your upward journey.

⚡ This is environmental action gaming reimagined - a 2D side-scrolling adventure where every cleaned habitat, every sealed container leak, and every restored ecosystem creates a path of healing that follows you from the abyss to humanity's doorstep.

🎯 Target Audience

Environmentally-conscious gamers who enjoyed Subnautica's exploration but want meaningful environmental impact. Players seeking survival-crafting experiences with deeper purpose than mere resource accumulation.


Appeals to those interested in ocean conservation, ancient mythology, and games that blend entertainment with environmental awareness.

🌍 Game's Purpose

Fulfills the fundamental human needs for competence (mastering complex survival systems), purpose (meaningful environmental restoration), and connection (healing relationship between humanity and nature).


Provides cathartic experience of undoing environmental damage while fostering real-world ocean awareness.

⚡ Core Concept

Experience the ultimate environmental power fantasy - you have the tools, knowledge, and ancient authority to actually fix the ocean's pollution. Each cleanup action has visible, lasting impact on marine ecosystems.


Unlike typical survival games focused on hoarding resources, this game is about giving back to the environment and seeing it thrive in response.

"Before the great pollution, the abyssal depths held ancient cities where caretakers maintained the ocean's delicate balance - now only you remain to bridge the forgotten wisdom of the deep with the desperate need of the surface."

Lore & Story

🏛️ The Ancient Covenant

Long before humanity discovered the ocean's depths, the Abyssal Caretakers maintained a sacred covenant with the planetary water system. These amphibious guardians, evolved from the deepest trenches, served as living immune systems for the ocean - detecting, isolating, and neutralizing threats to marine equilibrium.

⚡ The Great Forgetting

As human civilization expanded, the surface world forgot the ancient partnership that once existed between land and sea. Industrial pollution began overwhelming the caretakers' ability to heal, forcing most into deep hibernation in thermal vent sanctuaries. The ocean's health declined rapidly without its guardians' active protection.

🚢 The Container Crisis

The final catastrophe arrived with the shipping container era. Thousands of metal boxes carrying unknown chemicals now litter the ocean floor, their contents slowly poisoning entire ecosystems. The crisis has reached critical mass - even the deepest abyssal plains show signs of contamination that threaten all marine life.

🌊 Your Awakening

You are the last caretaker to emerge from the dying thermal vents, awakening to find an ocean in unprecedented crisis. Your mission is both clear and desperate: rise through the five oceanic zones, restore what can be saved, and establish a new balance between human activity and ocean health before complete ecosystem collapse occurs.

🔱 The Surface Revelation

The journey upward will reveal the true scope of humanity's impact on the ocean, but also their potential for change. Your actions in the depths create ripple effects that reach the surface world - can you bridge two civilizations that have forgotten they share the same planet?

Controls & Interface

Experience 2D side-scrolling action as you embody an ancient oceanic caretaker. Navigate vast underwater landscapes with precision controls that adapt from the crushing abyss to the chaotic surface environment.

Control Action Category
🎮 CORE MOVEMENT
WASD Swimming and walking movement Basic Navigation
Mouse Aim tools and weapons Precision Targeting
Shift Boost swimming speed Enhanced Mobility
Space Vertical thrust/jump Depth Control
🛠️ ENVIRONMENTAL TOOLS
Left Click Primary tool (cutting/repair beam) Active Restoration
Right Click Secondary tool (vacuum/spray) Active Restoration
Q/E Cycle through tool modes Tool Management
F Environmental scanner Analysis & Detection
🚢 VEHICLE CONTROLS
Enter/Exit Board vehicles Vehicle Access
WASD Vehicle movement Vehicle Navigation
Mouse Vehicle-specific abilities Vehicle Actions
Tab Vehicle equipment menu Vehicle Management
⚗️ INTERFACE & CRAFTING
I Inventory and crafting menu Resource Management
M Zone map and depth tracker Navigation Interface
C Suit status and upgrades Character Progression
1-5 Quick-access tool hotkeys Quick Commands

"Navigate through stunning 2D underwater landscapes as you rise from the abyss, watching ecosystems transform from polluted wastelands to thriving marine sanctuaries in your wake."

Game Layers

🌊 Moment-to-Moment Gameplay

Side-scrolling through polluted underwater landscapes, using mouse-aimed tools to clean contamination, platforming through wreckage fields, and salvaging container technology. Each area presents 2D environmental puzzles that require the right tool combinations and suit upgrades to solve.

🗺️ Zone-Based Progression (Low Metagame)

Progress through five distinct oceanic environments: Abyssal Plains → Continental Slope → Continental Shelf → Coastal Waters → Surface Ports. Each zone requires specific suit upgrades and presents unique pollution challenges, from deep-sea container graveyards to toxic surface oil slicks.

🌍 Ocean Health Persistence (High Metagame)

Areas you clean stay clean and continue to recover over time. Return to previously restored zones to see thriving marine life, natural healing processes, and new opportunities for deeper environmental work. Your actions create a living, breathing ocean recovery system.

⏱️ Practical Game Flow

Sessions begin with suit diagnostics and zone selection. Spend 30-90 minutes exploring, cleaning pollution, and gathering upgrade materials. Natural stopping points occur when completing zone restoration goals or achieving major suit upgrades, leaving you with clear progress and anticipation for the next depth.

Game Features & Mechanics

🤿 Depth-Based Suit Progression System

Reverse-Subnautica Progression: Your journey from the crushing abyss to the hostile surface requires systematic suit upgrades crafted from salvaged container technology and natural oceanic resources. Each upgrade unlocks access to higher zones while maintaining the delicate balance of your ancient biology.

Ancient Shell

Abyss Only

→
Pressure Liner

+Upper Slope

→
Toxin Filter

+Midwater

→
Surface Respirator

+Coastal

→
Landwalker Rig

+Ports

Unlike traditional games where you dive deeper, here you must rise toward the light - each upgrade bringing new challenges as you approach the chaotic, polluted surface world that threatens the ocean's very existence.

🌿 Environmental Restoration Mechanics

Deploy advanced caretaker tools to neutralize chemical spills, extract microplastics, disperse oil slicks, and restore damaged habitats. Watch ecosystems respond in real-time as marine life returns to areas you've healed.

Cleanup Tools Include:

  • 🔧 Multi-beam for cutting debris and sealing container leaks
  • 🧪 Bioremediation spray to deploy cleaning bacteria
  • 💨 Vacuum filtration for microplastic removal
  • 🌱 Habitat restoration seeds and coral revival systems

The satisfaction comes from seeing immediate, visible impact - waters clear, fish return, coral regrows, and bioluminescent life illuminates areas that were once dead zones.

⚙️ Salvage-Based Crafting System

Combine advanced technology from sunken cargo containers with natural oceanic materials to create hybrid upgrades that serve your ancient biology while granting access to human-polluted environments.

Crafting Examples:

  • Container insulation + volcanic minerals → Thermal regulation
  • Ship ballast tanks + natural gas bladders → Buoyancy control
  • Synthetic filters + kelp enzymes → Chemical resistance
  • UV plastics + coral pigments → Light protection

This system creates meaningful choices between different upgrade paths while emphasizing the symbiosis between human technology and natural wisdom needed to heal the damaged ocean.

👁️ Stealth & Discovery Investigation

Navigate carefully around human shipping activity while investigating pollution sources. Use your ancient oceanic senses to discover hidden container graveyards, trace chemical leaks to their origins, and uncover the full scope of environmental damage.


Your advanced environmental scanner reveals the true extent of ocean pollution invisible to human detection - tracking chemical plumes through deep currents, identifying contaminated sediment layers, and mapping the spread of microplastics through the food web.


Balance the need for stealth against opportunities to directly intervene in ongoing pollution events - can you stop a ship from dumping waste without revealing your existence?

🚁 Specialized Vehicle Traversal

Command three distinct vehicles designed for different oceanic environments, each reflecting your ancient caretaker heritage while incorporating salvaged human technology for enhanced capability.

Vehicle Fleet:

  • 🌊 Abyssal Skimmer: Manta ray-inspired deep-sea exploration vessel
  • 🦎 Midwater Climber: Frog-legged walker for navigating wreckage fields
  • 🏄 Surface Hopper: Amphibious craft for coastal operations

Each vehicle features cargo pods for rescued wildlife, cleanup equipment storage, and the ability to deploy your tadpole drone swarm for coordinated environmental restoration efforts.

📜 Ancient Guardian Mythology

Uncover the deep lore of the Abyssal Caretakers through environmental storytelling, ancient workbenches, and cryptic sites scattered throughout the oceanic depths. Learn how your people once maintained perfect oceanic balance.


Discover that the current pollution crisis isn't the first time the ocean has faced catastrophic contamination - ancient carvings reveal previous ecological disasters and how the caretakers responded, providing both hope and warnings for your current mission.


Your journey reveals the interconnected relationship between oceanic health and planetary survival, suggesting that healing the ocean may be the key to preventing a larger global ecological collapse.

"The suit progression system transforms you from a creature of the deep into a bridge between worlds - ancient wisdom meets modern technology in the fight to save our ocean."

⚠️ Environmental Crisis Facts

Abyssal Caretaker Box Art

Abyssal Caretaker

Rise from the crushing depths as humanity's last hope for oceanic salvation. Armed with ancient wisdom and salvaged technology, you are the bridge between a dying ocean and a world that has forgotten its dependence on the sea.

Every container you seal, every toxin you neutralize, every habitat you restore brings the ocean one step closer to its former glory. But time is running out - how deep will you go to save the world above?

Experience environmental action gaming where your choices create lasting change, your tools serve healing rather than destruction, and your mission connects the deepest ocean trenches to the fate of all life on Earth.

The abyss calls. The ocean remembers. Will you answer?