Beneath the frozen, barren tundra of Draylon-P, the farthest moon orbiting the planet of Telesra, geologists discovered an abundance of Phloricyte.  Phloricyte is an incredibly valuable resource to the people of Newearth because it can be converted into a highly efficient means of nano-electricity.  The Government of Newearth decided to construct an underground work encampment/prison facility on Draylon-P called the Draylon Maximum Correctional Facility (known to the occupants of the prison as the Frozen Hold), with the intent of having the prisoners mine the Phloricyte as a part of their respective sentences.



You play the role of Dr. Silas McGowen, a planetary geologist employed by the Government of Newearth. You and your team were called down to the facility because a group of prisoners broke through into a “cave” that was filled floor to ceiling with an unknown, crystal-like material.  Weeks into the “dig”, while the bi-annual visit from the prisoner deployment and collection vessel is in bay, a faction of rebel prisoners organize a rebellion and consequently steal the ship. This creates a full on uprising among the prisoners left behind.  An emergency signal was sent out and vessel is coming to retrieve the team in 26 hours. The PC’s mission is to get you and your team past the riotous and violent prisoners, the “kill anything upon sight” prison faculty, and through a bevy of obstacles and puzzles in order to find the way to the surface.



The team consists of three members. Silas McGowen, 37, is well-respected planetary geologist and the main protagonist of the game. Jillian Alpert, 36, is a geomechanicist who has had a previous, long-term relationship with Silas.  The final member of the team is Milo Ross.  Milo, 34, is a tall and brilliant geophysicist. Silas and his team are trapped three-fourths of a mile beneath the surface in a chaotic environment with only the use of a plasma cutter, various mining equipment, and the objects around them as a means of defense.  Finding themselves in this chaotic, subterranean environment, conflict arises between the PC, the rowdy and vicious prisoners, the strong-armed prison officials, and even the members of your own team.



The overall concept of the game is based in a futuristic, science fiction environment.  Your final goal is to reach the docking bay on the planet’s surface in the time allotted with your team safely intact.  You and your team will face a serious of different obstacles in order to get through the many levels of the complex.  The main focus of the game is keeping the members of your team safe and figuring out how to navigate through the sections as the player advances through the game. 

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Barren Retreat is set in an underground work encampment and prison facility, called the Frozen Hold, which is under the barren surface of the moon Draylon-P.  The world is divided up into 3 major areas, which include the mining caves, the entire prison facility, and the subsurface compound.  When the game begins, the team starts off in system of mining caves.  From there, the team has makes its way closer to the surface by entering the prisoner quarters.  The final section of the game takes place in the subsurface compound, which includes the administrative quarters and the docking bay.  Components and objects found in these sections include, for example, a mess hall, shower and locker rooms, kitchen, medical quarters, storage, exercise or recreation facilities, and storage areas for unused mining machines and equipment.  Due to the fact that the Barren Retreat is an open world game that does not follow a particular, linear path, means that there are multiple paths that could be taken to get from section to section in the game in order to reach the docking bay in time.