Zarya-1

Release Date: April 24, 2017

Adventure, science fiction, free-to-play, horror, text, singleplayer

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A text adventure maintained in the convention of horror science fiction. Players direct the actions of four astronauts sent to the Moon to investigate the source of the disturbing signal that reached Earth in 2021. During the game we get acquainted with the text messages sent by our charges (from time to time enriched with graphics stylized on photographs) and we make decisions that lead us to one of the several endings.

Story
Mechanics
Technical aspects

Zarya-1 is a narrative SF horror adventure game developed by the independent studio Moldovan Your Story Interactive. The game was released on mobile devices with iOS and Android systems, as well as PC.

Story

The action of Zarya-1 takes place in the not too distant future. In 2021, a disturbing radio signal from the moon was received. An expedition of four astronauts was sent to the surface of the Earth's satellite with the task was of examining its source. Players take on the role of supervisors of this operation - due to the fact that the plot has a non-linear course, the decisions made by them lead to one of several endings.

Mechanics

Zarya-1 features uncomplicated gameplay mechanics. During the game we give orders and follow the fate of the astronauts, about whom we learn from text messages, occasionally enriched with graphics stylized on photographs. The choices we make also play an important role, as they have various consequences for our proteges, in extreme cases leading to their death. It is worth noting that our decisions can be reversed in order to check other paths that the story can follow.

It is worth mentioning separately that the mobile version can display alerts about the progress made by the astronauts even when we are not playing.

Technical aspects

Regardless of the platform, Zarya-1 features modest visuals. What deserves attention is the soundtrack that builds the atmosphere of anxiety. As a curiosity it should be added that the dialogue line of the game contains more than thirty-five thousand words, which translates into the length of an average-sized novel. On mobile devices, the title is distributed in a free-to-play model, while the PC version of the game is available as a premium title.

Last updated on April 15, 2020

Videos and Screens

[0:45] Zarya-1 trailer #1