We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

The Unreal Engine 4 powered Lovecraftian horror game 'Conarium' [Steam] has today officially launched for Linux.

Originally released for Windows back in June 2017, it was actually confirmed to be getting a Linux version way back in July of 2016. It sure took a while, but the main thing is they delivered when so many fail to do so.

They've offered review keys, which we've accepted, but we're currently waiting for them to send them over, until then, here's the trailer:

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

About the game:

Conarium is a chilling Lovecraftian game that follows the gripping story of four scientists and their endeavour to challenge what we normally consider to be the "absolute" limits of nature. Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness, but largely set after the original story.

You, as Frank Gilman, open your eyes inside a room filled with strange, pulsating noises. Patterns of lights executing a Danse Macabre on the walls is presented by a queer device on the table. Having recalled nothing other than that you’re in Upuaut, an Antarctic base located near the South Pole, you find the place deserted and have a distinct feeling of something being terribly wrong. Somehow knowing that your memories cannot guide you enforces a strange feeling of vulnerability, a familiar yet alien sensation of being a part of a peculiar whole... Soon you will discover that having used the device during the expedition, you have died but then returned subtly changed, speaking of strange memories and of strange places. You have lost something important or gained something sinister...

Explore the Antarctic base, as well as dreams and visions. Study clues and unlock secrets, whilst avoiding macabre beings at all cost.

You can grab it on Steam right now and they've also given it a sale with 55% off.

Overall user reviews on Steam are "Very Positive", however recent user reviews paint a less than perfect picture with them being "Mixed". It also a reasonably good score overall on Metacritic. As always, we will wait and see when we get a chance to test it and give it our own thoughts.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
12 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. You can also follow my personal adventures on Bluesky.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
All posts need to follow our rules. For users logged in: please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Guest readers can email us for any issues.
13 comments

razing32 Feb 5, 2018
Nice.
That 55% off is not something to sneeze at.
Hope I won't regret this ...
Feist Feb 5, 2018
Heh, I was a bit quick on the trigger and missed the sale. Still, I can't really feel bad about that since I do want developers who support linux to make a profit and I also want more lovecraftian games. (just became aware that Frogwares, who are known for their Sherlock Holmes adventures, are making "The Sinking City" that looks very promising)

Haven't played the game yet, beyond checking that it launches without any problems. I'm currently rather obsessed with "Tangledeep", damn it's addictive with all the possible class-combinations you can get by switching "jobs" and thereby combining skills from widely different classes.


Last edited by Feist on 5 February 2018 at 10:01 pm UTC
dubigrasu Feb 5, 2018
Taken by surprise by this, and boy, does it look good or what...
And even with my old now GTX 780 I can play at max settings with occasional drops to 50 something fps. Also Vsync does kill a bit the performance here, better use a frame limiter.
But anyway, looks awesome.
Xpander Feb 5, 2018
Somehow lately steam overaly doesnt seem to work for me, so i have no idea of real FPS numbers, but it felt constantly above 60 for me with zero drops. thats with Ryzen 7 [email protected] paired with GTX 1070. Running all very high from the menus and 2560x1440 resolution.
Sadly had to use windowed mode as somehow many UE4 games do not scale correctly for me in fullscreen. they just show a small 1920x1080 window on the top right corner of my 1440p monitor and the rest is black. Same issue happens with Helium Rain and Tartarus.

Anyway, so far so Good, Performance is really good and the visuals look nice, Gameplay so far seems pretty much what you expect from games like these, nothing sensational, but not bad either.


Gameplay Video:

View video on youtube.com
nitroflow Feb 6, 2018
Somehow lately steam overaly doesnt seem to work for me, so i have no idea of real FPS numbers, but it felt constantly above 60 for me with zero drops. thats with Ryzen 7 [email protected] paired with GTX 1070. Running all very high from the menus and 2560x1440 resolution.
Sadly had to use windowed mode as somehow many UE4 games do not scale correctly for me in fullscreen. they just show a small 1920x1080 window on the top right corner of my 1440p monitor and the rest is black. Same issue happens with Helium Rain and Tartarus.

Anyway, so far so Good, Performance is really good and the visuals look nice, Gameplay so far seems pretty much what you expect from games like these, nothing sensational, but not bad either.


Gameplay Video:

View video on youtube.com

Have you considered preloading the location of the overlay binary by adding "LD_PRELOAD=/home/userdir/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/gameoverlayrenderer.so %command%" in the launch options?
Naijasturf Feb 6, 2018
Linux seems to be the coolest operating system for smooth gameplay, I haven't play it yet but the animation on preview video got me interested. I try it soon and share my experience! Thanks for the info.
Xpander Feb 6, 2018
Have you considered preloading the location of the overlay binary by adding "LD_PRELOAD=/home/userdir/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/gameoverlayrenderer.so %command%" in the launch options?

I havent. Thanks. Will try when i get some time
I expect those things work without me messing around tbh :)
nate Feb 6, 2018
Great news that it is now out on Linux. I've always loved Lovecraft-themed games going back to the original Alone in the Dark in the early 1990s.
coeseta Feb 6, 2018
I love Lovecraft-themed games. I know exactly what I will play this evening :)
Beamboom Feb 6, 2018
Just how scary is it? It looks kind of like Bioshock level scary (the original, first one), and if so that's within my limits. But if it's really really scary there's no point in me buying it.


Last edited by Beamboom on 6 February 2018 at 2:19 pm UTC
pete910 Feb 6, 2018
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Heads up for Mesa users, Need
MESA_GLSL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=150 %command%
in launch options.

Complains of missing 430 shader otherwise

Mesa 17.3.3 @ 1440p V.High
Spoiler, click me
![](http://downloads.unrealnetworks.co.uk/screenshots/conarium.png)


Last edited by pete910 on 6 February 2018 at 3:05 pm UTC
Beamboom Feb 7, 2018
Looks very atmospheric! Thanks for the video, Xpander. It does look fairly within my limits when it comes to scariness. Purchased!

It also a reasonably good score overall on Metacritic.

Thanks for including info about the metascore. Yes 70ish is a reasonably good score, it's probably not without flaws but good enough for those who like the genre/gamestyle.
Mrokii Feb 8, 2018
Heh, I was a bit quick on the trigger and missed the sale. Still, I can't really feel bad about that since I do want developers who support linux to make a profit and I also want more lovecraftian games. (just became aware that Frogwares, who are known for their Sherlock Holmes adventures, are making "The Sinking City" that looks very promising)

You mention Linux support, but all the games you talk about seem to be Windows-only. Or am I missing something? Plus, at least on Steam, the reviews for some of the Sherlock Holmes-games aren't too positive.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.