Outbuddies DX

Outbuddies DX is a non-linear adventure set in Bahlam, a sunken city of the Old Gods deep in the South Atlantic Ocean. After a shipwreck, adventurer and maritime archaeologist Nikolay Bernstein wakes 36,000 feet beneath the sea, severely wounded and unwillingly connected to a supernatural Buddy unit. As he searches for answers about how he got there, he explores the lost city and uncovers an ominous presence in its shadowed caverns.

Bahlam and the Wozan

On the journey home, Nikolay encounters the Wozan, a friendly tribe of mining creatures who fear the Old Gods and want to return to the surface. Their ancestors were enslaved 5,000 years ago. Some Wozan escaped and founded secret colonies in the ruins, while others remain exploited by hostile creatures that took over the city after the Old Gods disappeared.

Explore the undercity

You explore five distinct areas, each with puzzles, environmental hazards, boss encounters and captured Wozan to rescue. Movement is open from the start: you can climb, crawl and dive. As you progress, you discover ancient weapon systems, suit upgrades and hacking protocols for the Buddy unit. Gear has different combat uses and must be selected to overcome particular hazards and puzzles.

The Buddy unit maps the area and can be controlled at will to manipulate your surroundings with abilities such as hacking, scanning and telekinesis. You can also use the unit to support exploration and puzzle solving in local co-op.

Local co-op

A second player can control the invincible Buddy unit while Nikolay is controlled by the first player. Together, you can explore Bahlam, solve puzzles and make your way through its hostile maze. The co-op setup also supports team speedrunning.

Combat and presentation

Bahlam’s enemies and bosses have carefully crafted AI. The game combines a hybrid physics engine, which handles acceleration and object movement, with pixel-precise controls. Its handcrafted pixel art scales to the display resolution without distortion, and the game runs at 60 FPS.