Sunless Skies

Sunless Skies is a Gothic horror role-playing game in which you captain a steam locomotive adapted for travel beyond the rails, sailing among the stars with a crew. Your central task is to make a life in the High Wilderness, a space of shifting, wind-swept ruins where the familiar laws of the cosmos do not apply.

The High Wilderness is shaped by the Victorian Empire’s expansion and the dying Judgements, vast intelligences that govern the stars. The Empress Victoria rules from the Throne of Hours, which gives her control over time. The captain and crew may support the Empress and the establishment or the working-class rebels seeking freedom from the Workworlds.

Gameplay and features

• Maintain and equip your locomotive: Tend to the engine, upgrade it, and acquire weaponry or exotic equipment. Keeping the hull in good condition helps protect the locomotive from the hostile skies.
• Manage supplies and crew: Monitor your crew’s condition and your captain’s nightmares while balancing fuel and supplies against journeys in search of new horizons, knowledge, or riches.
• Face hostile ships and creatures: Combat can pit you against ships from different factions and unknowable beasts. These opponents have different attacks and agendas.
• Carry a captain’s legacy forward: As captains die, their actions can leave marks on the world for descendants. You can pass on some effects and return as a new captain to encounter events set in motion by a predecessor.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main activity in Sunless Skies?

You captain an off-rail steam locomotive and sail through the stars with your crew. The broader objective is to carve out a life between the stars in the High Wilderness.

What can you do while travelling?

Activities include smuggling souls, bartering for crates of time, and stopping for cricket and tea. You can also explore four regions: the celestial wilderness, industrial empire, pagan midnight expanse, and Blue Kingdom.

How does captain death affect a playthrough?

A captain’s actions can leave marks on the world for descendants. You can carry some effects forward with a new captain, or choose to reload your most recent captain and continue.

What stories and characters can the crew encounter?

The game features multiple intertwining stories and recruitable officers, each with a quest of their own. The listed officers include an incautious driver, an incognito princess, a repentant devil, and the captain’s aunt.