Last Updated on Mar 3, 2026 @ 18:22:30 PM.
Recently, I had the opportunity to try out the upcoming game Tides of Tomorrow that puts the player in the role of a Tidewalker as they attempt to survive in this post-apocalyptic world after the great flooding, leaving civilization to live on the small spots of land that they create through salvage.
Along with exploring the vast ocean that has been created by the great flood, players will also be able to follow those who have come before, as they can see players who have already played through Tides of Tomorrow, as well as their choices that they made throughout their adventure.
Tides of Tomorrow’s World Looks Vibrant and Beautiful, but Dark and Sad All at Once
A big part of Tides of Tomorrow is its take on a post-apocalyptic world as it throws the player straight in as they are drowning in a sea of plastic, struggling to make their way to the surface of the water for air. This in itself is already a dark start for Tides of Tomorrow, but after you emerge from the water, that is where you can see the world for the first time, and it is safe to say the devs worked hard making sure players could see the sorry state the world is in.
From the get-go, players are shown the state the world is in, with plastic floating all throughout the ocean as far as the eye can see, some of it near enough to make small island mountains in a sense, just made of pollutants.
Although this can be quite upsetting to see, as the world seems to be completely swamped by pollutants, it is fair to say that the world design itself is very detailed and vibrant in terms of this pollutant, especially as you move into the different locales that you can explore later in the game.
Even though polluting the oceans is clearly a bad thing and living on these raft-like cities is not a preferable option, the devs have worked very hard to make these locations seem as realistic and hospitable as they can, with each location being filled with so much detail that I couldn’t help but wander around looking at the people and buildings around me.
Due to these locations being constructed from broken parts and scraps, they always look very ramshackle and destroyed, with many places literally falling apart as you explore. However, this is what gives the game character, as each building is just as unique as the last, right down to the nuts and bolts holding them together.
One point I will make is that although these locations were interesting to explore and see, they were relatively small with not a lot to explore within the early stages, but this does make sense when it comes to the game’s premise of building societies from nothing and surviving on scraps. There were a few small secrets hidden around that were fun to find and did help within my adventure, but a lot of the time, I found myself exploring for only a few minutes before moving on with the story.
The biggest standout point for me in Tides of Tomorrow was how the world is filled with both life and death in numerous forms, in ways that I was never expecting. For instance, the first location you explore is very lively with a lot of dancing, music, and just general cheeriness, but it is also filled with sadness as a disease plagues all who are left alive in the world of Tides of Tomorrow that eventually petrifies them, turning them to stone.
I was very shocked to see how this was displayed within Tides of Tomorrow, as there are some instances in which those who died to the disease are just left on the side of the street frozen in place, either alone by a wall, holding each other in their arms, or in so many more upsetting ways, or there are those who froze in place and have been turned into a form of decoration with flowers adorned on them and lights attached to their bodies, and people are actively treating them like mere statues rather than deceased people.
To me, this showcased better than anything how the world has begun to accept death by the hands of this disease, with many people ignoring it and just going about their business, trying to enjoy what time they have left, with others begging for Ozen, a product that can keep them alive as they try to cling on to every second they can.
Following Another Tidewalker is a Unique Gameplay Mechanic Filled With Risk and in Some Cases, Betrayal.
Now, let’s talk about one of the key mechanics that players will experience within Tides of Tomorrow, and that is the ability to follow another Tidewalker who has come before you. Straight off the bat, this is a gameplay mechanic that I found incredibly interesting, with so many possibilities awaiting me throughout my playthrough, and it is safe to say I was not disappointed with my experience.
Right at the jump, you are given the option to choose what kind of player you would want to follow as they journey through Tides of Tomorrow. Within these choices, you are able to see the player’s name and what their morality is, so whether they care for humans or animals, are greedy, giving, murderous, and so on.
After selecting a player that you feel would be fun to follow, you jump straight into the game and are introduced to the player you are following in the form of a vision. Throughout Tides of Tomorrow, you will constantly see these visions and how the player interacts with the world, not just in a story sense, but as a whole. With this, I mean that you can see them dancing in a club, they can indicate to you a secret, they can leave resources for you to help you, or ignore the resources and make your adventure harder. The possibilities are endless.
For me, I followed a player who was relatively self-caring and dangerous, whose name I will not divulge, as I saw the choices they made throughout Tides of Tomorrow and the consequences of those actions.
A big part of Tides of Tomorrow is the fact that the Tidewalkers were before you, and their actions within their story affect you and how you are able to proceed in the game. For instance, something as simple as the player before you breaking a bridge meant that I was blamed for said bridge being broken and was tasked with fixing it before I could progress.
What made these choices so interesting wasn’t down to the fact that after the previous Tidewalker made a decision, I wasn’t simply just locked into making a second decision that they avoided, but I was instead granted a plethora of options to choose from. So continuing with the idea of a bridge being broken by the previous Tidewalker, I was given the options to repair the bridge with my own money, explain who broke the bridge and that it wasn’t me, or try to make excuses.
Although I wasn’t able to see the outcomes of these options when I was making them, I could clearly feel the impact of the player ahead of me and their actions, as it made my experience harder in this sense, but because that player made my game harder, I was able to make the next person’s game easier as I was able to repair the bridge so that it was stable for me to cross and the next person to cross as well.
Could this mean that the next person breaks the bridge, leaving the player after that to repair it? Or could there be another option in which the player can even further strengthen the bridge so that more players can cross? The possibilities are endless, and this is something that I found incredible within Tides of Tomorrow, as there was no telling what could happen.
Along with being able to show you the way forward within Tides of Tomorrow, Tidewalkers are also able to impact how your side activities can end up as well. This can happen in a number of ways, but one fun way I found was with a few of the vendors and NPCs that are present within the game.
For example, one of the NPCs asks you to make a new law if you become a part of their civilization, which can affect how the next player arrives; for example, the player before me made it so that when someone became a part of the civilization, they had to pay a fee, which did screw me over, but to counteract that, I was able to make a new law that made it so the player would be given scrap for joining the civilization, meaning the next player would get money rather than lose it.
Simple acts like this are something that could easily sway the game in your favor or against it, and for me, this was a lot of fun to see, even if it did go against me in a lot of ways during my time in the game.
Tides of Tomorrow’s Story Has Numerous Threads to Follow Depending on Your Actions
When it comes to the story of Tides of Tomorrow, it is very difficult to put into words, as the story does follow a relatively set path, but each run can differ depending on what choices you make and the choices made by the player who came before you.
This could mean that during your adventure, there are situations in which the player before you could block off a route that you would want to take, leading you to take the least desirable option, or the opposite can happen, in which the player before you took the hard route, making your adventure easier with less threat.
This can all change at the press of a button; however, as conversation options can easily turn a peaceful situation into a threat to your survival, while a simple act of kindness could allow you to skip entire sections of the game.
The biggest part of Tides of Tomorrow is simply the focus on decisions. This was something I enjoyed, albeit stressed about, as each decision had a ripple effect, not just for me but for the next player, and that was something I constantly found stressful, but in a fun way, as it wasn’t simply consequences for me but for many other people after me.
At the time of writing, Tides of Tomorrow is set to release on April 22nd, 2026, and will release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our Reanimal review, or check out the announcement of Necrophosis: Full Consciousness coming to consoles.
Liam is a Senior Editor, Writer, and Critic for Thumb Wars and has been working with the team since day one. Liam is a big fan of all things gaming, as you will catch him playing all of the new releases from every genre you can imagine. Whether you find Liam gaming just for fun or spending his free time streaming, you will always find a smile on his face when it comes to all things gaming.
