LIR: A PARASITE IN ORBIT

You are not part of the crew. You are what they brought aboard.

The MV Copeland is an ore hauler built in the Belfast orbital yards, named for the islands off the coast of County Down. For three weeks, she has circled Lir, a barren grey moon no miner has ever touched.

Then, this morning, Ben Kerr brings a stone in from the crater walls.

It is round. Heavy. Strangely warm.

He lays it on the workbench and raises his hammer.

CRACK.

Something inside wakes up.

Something hungry.

Something that needs a body.

And now, you are loose aboard the Copeland.

TAKE A BODY. TAKE THE SHIP.

Strike open your prison. Find your first host. Slip into a crew member's body and walk the ship as if you belong there.

You can go almost anywhere. Sabotage the systems keeping the Copeland in orbit. Turn the crew against each other. Leap from one host to the next before your current body gives out.

But every host has a cost.

You must feed to survive. The crystals growing from the back of your host's head are the price. First, a raised collar might hide them. Then a hood. Eventually, there is nowhere left to hide.

The hungrier you become, the harder you are to conceal.

FIVE CREW MEMBERS. FIVE SETS OF EYES.

The Copeland has five crew members, each with their own duties, routines and suspicions.

Learn their movements. Exploit their habits. Be where you're supposed to be, when you're supposed to be there.

Face someone, and you can pass for one of their own. Let someone get too close behind you, and they may start to notice something wrong.

The commander tracks absent crew. The science officer investigates suspicious accidents. And when the evidence begins to add up, the ship's computer offers a choice:

PROTOCOL?

FIRE?

RESTRAIN?

One mistake can turn a quiet act of sabotage into a ship-wide manhunt.

WHEN THEY KNOW, THEY COME FOR YOU.

Caught and restrained on the med bay bed? You have seconds to escape before the scanner identifies what you really are.

Hunted through the ship, you face the commander's stun rifle.

Dragged into the cargo bay, you may be thrown out of the airlock.

Unless, of course, you have already tampered with the controls.

You are not the strongest thing aboard the Copeland. You are simply the thing that knows where to hurt it.

MAKE THEIR OWN SHIP KILL THEM.

There are plenty of ways to bring down a crew that thinks it is hunting you.

• The airlock trap: Sabotage the cargo doors, then open the airlock on whoever comes to repair them.
• The aquarium accident: Spring the fish tank on the engineer kneeling over the wiring.
• The poisoned supply: Cross-contaminate the waste line and drinking water.
• The rotten pantry: Let the galley's food spoil until hunger, sickness and suspicion do the rest.

You don't have to kill everyone yourself.

You just have to make sure the ship stops working.

ADAPT. MUTATE. DISAPPEAR.

Feed your biomass and unlock mutations that turn the ship into your hunting ground.

Lights Out. Plunge the ship into darkness.

Crystal Lock. Disrupt your enemies with the power of your growing infection.

Mind Fog. Leave the crew struggling to trust what they see and think.

And when you lose your host, you are not necessarily dead.

You crawl into the air ducts, small, exposed and starving. The crew may be hunting you, but the ship is full of places to hide.

Find another body before your hunger finishes you.

THEY'VE SEALED THE SHIP. NOW EVERYONE LOOKS THE SAME.

After the first airlock incident, the crew begin wearing helmets.

Your disguise becomes easier. So does theirs.

Five identical suits move through the corridors. Faces disappear behind visors. The ship becomes a maze of suspicion, where nobody can be certain who is standing beside them.

But a host who never removes their helmet to eat will eventually attract attention.

Even your precautions become evidence.

DAY FOUR. THE COMPANY IS COMING.

On Day 4, the company tug docks with the Copeland.

If the ship is still in orbit, the crew are evacuated. The hauler is sealed in quarantine, with you locked inside.

You will have lost your chance to escape.

Your objective is simple:

Bring the Copeland down onto Lir before the company arrives.

Destroy the systems keeping her aloft. Exploit the crew's routines. Stay ahead of the investigation. Feed, mutate, and sabotage your way towards the surface.

The game remembers your fastest crash.

How quickly can you bring the ship down?

FEATURES

• Possess the crew: Leap between five human hosts to move through the ship and execute your plans.
• A growing physical threat: Feed to survive, but watch the crystals on your host's head reveal your presence.
• Stealth and suspicion: Exploit crew routines, avoid scrutiny and stay one step ahead of the investigation.
• Multiple sabotage opportunities: Turn the airlock, life-support systems, water supply and galley into weapons.
• A deadly game of cat and mouse: Evade scanners, stun rifles, restraints and a crew that knows something is aboard.
• Mutations: Unlock alien abilities that help you disrupt, deceive and hunt.
• Changing disguises: Adapt when the crew start wearing helmets after the first airlock incident.
• A race against the clock: The company tug arrives on Day 4. Get the ship down before then.
• Fastest-crash record: Every run is a chance to beat your previous time.
• Autosaving: Progress saves automatically at the beginning of each day.

CONTROLS

• Mouse / Touch: Play
• SPACE: Pause
• TAB: Change game speed
• 1–5: Leap to a crew member
• R: Release your host
• N: Act normal

The crew believe they are working on a lifeless moon.

The company believes its ship is under control.

And the thing inside Ben Kerr has plans of its own.

You have four days. Five bodies. One ship.

MAKE IT FALL.

A game by 3BL_Indie, made in Northern Ireland.