ROUTINE

Rate it

A silent moon base, an 80s idea of the future, and something that thinks you are the threat.

Platforms: PC, Xbox
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (92% of 8,591 reviews); Metacritic 79 (PC)
Length: about 6 to 10 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Lunar Software
Released: 2025

Get it on Steam Xbox / Microsoft Store Official site

What frightens A lunar base built to an 80s vision of the future has gone completely quiet, and you walk its empty quarters, tram stations and abandoned mall alone, with no map markers and only a clunky tool to read terminals. Something on the base is certain that you are the threat, and when it finds you, you mostly run and hide. The tension builds slowly, through silence, sound and what you find, rather than t
Content: violence, blood, partial nudity.

ROUTINE is a first-person sci-fi horror game from Lunar Software set on an abandoned lunar base designed around an 80s vision of the future. With no waypoints and only your Cosmonaut Assistance Tool, you explore, read terminals and piece together what happened, while you run and hide from hostile machines. It is on PC through Steam and on Xbox.

About ROUTINE

ROUTINE is a first-person sci-fi horror game by Lunar Software, a small UK team, published by Raw Fury. It was first announced in 2012, and after a long development it came out on 4 December 2025 for PC and Xbox, including day one on Xbox Game Pass.

A lunar base has gone completely quiet, and you arrive to find out why. The base is built around an 80s idea of the future, with chunky terminals and boxy hardware, and you roam its sectors from decaying living quarters and tram stations to an abandoned mall. The game gives you no waypoint markers: you slow down, read the rooms, check data on terminals and work out the way forward yourself.

Your one tool is the Cosmonaut Assistance Tool, or C.A.T., a boxy handheld device that opens terminals, helps you navigate and identify clues, and can be used as a weapon only as a last resort. The game uses full body awareness, sound placed in the world and almost no interface on screen, so everything you learn comes from what you see and hear.

The horror is slow. The base is empty and silent for long stretches, then you meet machines that treat you as the enemy, and your choices are to run, hide or try to defend yourself. Xbox Wire describes it as avoiding jump scares and building tension gradually. Critics compared it to Alien: Isolation and Amnesia, praising the art direction, sound and atmosphere, while some found the encounters and objectives frustrating. It suits patient players who like isolated sci-fi horror and finding their own way.

How to play ROUTINE

Buy ROUTINE on Steam for PC or on the Xbox store, or play it with Xbox Game Pass.
Explore the lunar base with no waypoint markers, reading rooms, signs and terminals for clues.
Use the C.A.T. to access terminals, navigate and identify clues.
When a hostile machine appears, run or hide; fight back with the C.A.T. only as a last resort.
Piece together what happened on the base and move deeper into it.

Screenshots

First-person view holding the C.A.T. up as its small screen shows a tall humanoid robot walking toward you through a dim room

A thin robotic figure stands beside an open tram car in a green-lit station

A blue-lit abandoned mall inside the base, its walls painted with clouds and sky

The grey surface of the Moon under a black sky with the Earth small on the horizon

Tips

Slow down and read terminals and signs: the game offers no markers, and the clues are how you find the way.
Learn hiding places in each area before you need them.
Listen; the game's audio is placed in the world and tells you where things are.
Do not count on the C.A.T. as a weapon; the game treats defending yourself as a last resort.