SOMA
What are the main themes of SOMA?
When was SOMA released, and on which platforms?
Who is Simon Jarrett in SOMA?
What is the ARK project in SOMA?
Which gameplay elements does SOMA emphasize?
SOMA, science-fiction survival horror video game developed and published by the Swedish studio Frictional Games. Released on September 22, 2015, for Windows, macOS, Linux, and PlayStation 4, SOMA combines psychological horror with philosophical explorations of consciousness and identity. The game unfolds from the first-person point of view of Simon Jarrett, who wakes up in the year 2104, nearly a century after undergoing an experimental brain scan in 2015. SOMA builds upon Frictional Games’ earlier work on the Amnesia series while shifting focus from supernatural terror to existential dread. The game received critical acclaim for its narrative depth and thematic complexity, earning nominations for best original game, best storytelling, and best visual design at the 2016 Golden Joystick Awards.
SOMA was released for Nintendo Switch in 2025. That year Frictional Games announced ONTOS, described as a spiritual sequel to SOMA, indicating the studio’s intention to continue exploring consciousness and identity themes.
SOMA developers have acknowledged the game’s literary influences, citing science-fiction authors Philip K. Dick, Greg Egan, and China Miéville as primary inspirations. The game explicitly signals this lineage by opening with a quote attributed to Dick: “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
Layered over these foundations is what SOMA developers call “a bunch of Lovecraft sprinkled on top,” referencing cosmic horror—a mode emphasizing humanity’s insignificance in an indifferent universe, associated with American writer H.P. Lovecraft. This tribute extends to technology: SOMA runs on Frictional’s HPL3 engine, a game engine (software used to create and run video games) named for Lovecraft and developed specifically for SOMA’s environmental, lighting, and sound design demands.
Plot
(Editor’s note: This section contains spoilers.)
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The story opens in Toronto in May 2015. Simon Jarrett survives a car accident but is left with brain damage. He agrees to an experimental brain scan but blacks out during the procedure, awakening at site Upsilon of PATHOS-II, a geothermal power facility on the Atlantic Ocean floor.
Exploring the seemingly abandoned station, Simon encounters Catherine Chun, who reveals that the year is now 2104. A comet impact in 2103 devastated Earth’s surface, leaving PATHOS-II as humanity’s final outpost. Simon discovers disturbing truths: Catherine is just a brain scan uploaded into a robotic storage unit, and Simon himself died shortly after his brain scan—his consciousness now inhabits a corpse fused to a diving suit by structure gel (a self-repairing substance).
The WAU (Warden Unit), PATHOS-II’s artificial intelligence tasked with preserving human life, has transformed surviving humans into biomechanical mutants, uploaded brain scans into confused robots called Mockingbirds, and kept other personnel in comatose states connected to life support.
Catherine enlists Simon’s help to complete the ARK project—a digital repository containing simulated brain scans of PATHOS-II personnel designed to be launched into space, where humanity’s remnants could exist in a virtual paradise. To reach the ARK, Simon must travel through multiple PATHOS-II sites while evading the WAU’s creations.
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At site Omicron, Simon repairs a power suit to be able to withstand abyssal pressure. Catherine copies his consciousness into this new form. Descending into the Abyss, Simon retrieves the ARK from site Tau, where Sarah Lindwall—the last fully human survivor—guards it while connected to life support. Learning she is likely Earth’s final human, Sarah requests Simon to disable her life support, a choice the player may honor. Simon then takes the ARK toward site Phi, where the Omega space cannon stands ready to launch it into orbit.
Eventually, Simon encounters Johan Ross, a preserved PATHOS-II employee, who reveals that Simon’s suit contains modified structure gel that can destroy the WAU. Ross offers Simon the chance to eliminate the WAU, a decision left to the player.
At site Phi, Simon and Catherine load the ARK into the space cannon and simultaneously scan themselves into it as the launch sequence initiates. After a bright flash, Simon awakens, still in the launch chair with the ARK gone. Catherine, trapped in Simon’s Omnitool (a multipurpose device), explains that they both “lost the coin toss”: Copying consciousness creates two versions, and, although their copies now exist in the ARK’s paradise, the originals remain behind. Moments later Catherine’s systems fail, leaving Simon alone at the ocean’s bottom.
The game concludes with two perspectives: Simon stranded in darkness as emergency alarms fade and his ARK copy meeting Catherine’s copy on a peaceful virtual landscape, finally free.
Creatures encountered in SOMA
- The Construct is a maintenance robot corrupted by structure gel. It patrols site Upsilon with mechanical efficiency. Though slow, it responds to noise and movement. Minimal movement and careful observation help players outwit the creature.
- A Flesher is a human corpse that has been reanimated by the WAU. They stalk site Lambda and the CURIE submarine. Notably, a Flesher becomes agitated when a player looks directly at it. The player must navigate around it using peripheral vision and careful timing.
- A Proxy is a former PATHOS-II employee transformed by prolonged structure gel exposure. Proxies are blind but have acute hearing. They can open automatic doors and move with frightening speed when alerted. Sound management becomes critical when facing them.
- Terry Akers is a particularly tragic Proxy and was the former site manager aboard PATHOS-II. He consumed structure gel and gouged out his eyes under the WAU’s influence. He stalks site Theta’s research wing with greater persistence than ordinary Proxies, making him one of the game’s most formidable threats.
- Underwater creatures located in the Abyss are mutated marine life. Viperfish swarm in circles in the darkness. The Anglerfish uses its bioluminescent lure to attract prey. Most threatening is the Leviathan, a giant wormlike creature created from a mutated squid.
How to play
SOMA emphasizes stealth, exploration, and puzzle solving over combat. Players cannot fight the creatures they encounter; survival depends on evasion, environmental awareness, and understanding a threat’s unique behavior.
The game minimizes inventory management to maintain focus on narrative immersion. Players gather audio logs, read terminals, and examine environmental details to piece together PATHOS-II’s history.
In 2017 Frictional Games added safe mode, a gameplay option that removes the lethal threat from monsters while keeping them present in the game’s environment. This mode allows players to experience SOMA’s story and atmosphere without the pressure of survival-horror mechanics, addressing feedback from players who found enemy encounters frustrating or anxiety inducing. The update coincided with the game’s release on Xbox One that December.
The game centers on the copying of human consciousness into new bodies or machines. After each transfer, one Simon continues while another remains behind, raising questions about whether survival through duplication constitutes true continuation. SOMA offers no definitive answers. Player choices—euthanizing previous Simon copies, mercy killing Sarah Lindwall, destroying the WAU—receive no moral judgment or achievement rewards. The game provides no optimal ending, reflecting its central philosophy that these questions lack objectively correct answers.