The Descendant
Released Mar 2016
In THE DESCENDANT, the end of the world is only the start. With what remains of humanity protected in underground Ark facilities, your mission is to keep survivors alive, while discovering a far greater conspiracy buried within Ark-01.
88% positive · 7,155 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Where to buy
Steam $14.99
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Evaluation
The Descendant is a five-episode episodic adventure game that launched its first episode on March 24, 2016. All five episodes were released over the course of 2016: Episode 1 at launch, Episode 2 on May 26, 2016, Episode 3 on August 8, 2016, Episode 4 on October 20, 2016, and the final Episode 5: Ultimatum on December 5, 2016. The developer explicitly described Episode 5 as "the conclusion to the first season of the game," and the story was brought to a close with that release. No further episodes, seasons, or additional content have been announced or released since December 5, 2016. The most recent news post on this game's store page (March 11, 2025) is actually a cross-promotion for a completely different game (Amerzone – The Explorer's Legacy) published by the same publisher, Microids, and contains no reference to any new content for The Descendant. The game is complete as a full five-episode series.
Evidence
Episode 5: Ultimatum released, described as the finale bringing past and present timelines together in a final confrontation that determines the fate of all characters
Episode 5 release notes describe it as bringing 'the conclusion to the first season of the game,' with no mention of future seasons or additional content
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
Microids Indie
Achievements
50
Platform
Windows, macOS
Controller
full support
Steam Deck
Verified
Players
Single-player
About this game
THE DESCENDANT is a five part episodic adventure game series where the end of the world is only the start.
After climate change wrecked the planet, a man-made extinction event wiped humankind off the face of the Earth. Only a few thousand ‘descendants of humanity’ were hand-picked to survive the apocalypse, cryogenically suspended in underground bunkers known as Arks.
Centuries passed. The world recovered from the nuclear holocaust, and all the Arks reopened, except one — Ark-01.
Taking place across two timelines, in the past you'll play as Mia, a janitor tasked with keeping the precious descendants housed within Ark-01 alive while the facility continually fails around her, and in the present, you'll play as Donnie, one of the investigators trying to rescue any surviving descendants trapped within, all while discovering a far greater conspiracy buried within the underground Ark complex.
Every action and choice you make directly impacts who lives and who dies, leaving the fate of Ark-01, and mankind itself, in your hands. Will you save mankind? Or doom us all?
After climate change wrecked the planet, a man-made extinction event wiped humankind off the face of the Earth. Only a few thousand ‘descendants of humanity’ were hand-picked to survive the apocalypse, cryogenically suspended in underground bunkers known as Arks.
Centuries passed. The world recovered from the nuclear holocaust, and all the Arks reopened, except one — Ark-01.
Taking place across two timelines, in the past you'll play as Mia, a janitor tasked with keeping the precious descendants housed within Ark-01 alive while the facility continually fails around her, and in the present, you'll play as Donnie, one of the investigators trying to rescue any surviving descendants trapped within, all while discovering a far greater conspiracy buried within the underground Ark complex.
Every action and choice you make directly impacts who lives and who dies, leaving the fate of Ark-01, and mankind itself, in your hands. Will you save mankind? Or doom us all?
Key features
- An episodic adventure spreading across multiple story-rich timelines
- Investigative gameplay, challenging puzzles, tense action sequences
- Meaningful and difficult choices with branching dialogue
- A tailored experience, full of tension and drama
- Every player choice can influence the future of mankind
Last evaluated Jun 27, 2026
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