Tallymaw: Aether MineTallymaw: Aether Mine

Tallymaw: Aether Mine is a first-person, non-linear exploration game where the physical threats of traversing and delving a mysterious mine remain the focus of the experience.

The narrative follows an unnamed protagonist as they map the depths of the long-abandoned Tallymaw mine, following in the footsteps of their missing mentor. The story unravels subtly through hidden journal pages and environmental cues, while the true breadth of the subterranean environment is gradually revealed. 

As the player explores, they’ll scour for varied resources such as glowing ores, buried treasures of forgotten civilizations, and mysteriously advanced pieces of technology. The specifics of the find determine whether it becomes fuel for special abilities, currency to be spent on surface visits to the enigmatic "Company Store," or upgrades to your natural movement abilities and equipment. 

Once you’ve reached the bottom and feel like you’ve chalk-marked and named every cavern chamber, start a new game. Each save file is individually seeded by a player-settable number that determines the exact layout of the mine for that file, ensuring there’s always a new tunnel to crawl down.

If you want to take a deeper look, feel free to keep digging…

Before you dive into Tallymaw, there are a few things to know.

The air down there is poison.

The Tallymaw miners used to call it Mine Aether... back when there were Tallymaw miners. That goofy suit of yours will protect you for a while, but eventually, you’ll succumb if you don’t periodically spend some time in the clean air.

Keep track of your exposure, as well as your oxygen for diving and the current state of your injuries, using that little watch gizmo on your wrist. It’ll keep you up-to-date on when it’s time to find a way back to the surface.

As you go, you’ll come across certain things worth picking up.

New weapons, equipment, upgrades and the like.

The various veins of ore that run through the mine give direct access to the different forms of condensed Mine Aether, which folks called Aetherite. They’re an easy means of collecting small amounts of the resources you spend at The Company Store. That is, assuming you have a means to crack them.

Other Valuables you find, like jade figurines or semi-functioning scraps of tech, can be traded for larger amounts of Aetherite at the shop.

Certain areas you come across will require you to have the right equipment.

As you progress, you’ll gain access to new stuff, which will allow you to traverse areas that were previously inaccessible. Note the absence of the word ‘safely’ before the word ‘traverse.’

The dangerous terrain of the mine is not its only threat.

It is home to a variety of unique critters and hungry predators, distributed across its multiple biomes and interconnected ecosystems, which will make quick work of the unwary. Sneak, avoid, distract, or fight. Whatever you do, do it carefully.

Don’t get lost.

Mark the cavern walls as you go. Mark enough connected chambers and you’ll unlock the area on the handy digital map that lives on the surface. You discover the path, so you get to (have to.) name the sections as you go. Use the map before a dive to plan your route - your watch will only tell you where you are by the name of an area you’ve mapped.