Europa
Europa is a single-player 3D adventure about a young android crossing a terraformed moon of Jupiter with a jetpack on his back. There's no combat to speak of: you glide, solve the odd puzzle in the ruins and collect journal pages that explain where the humans went. Novadust Entertainment developed it under director Helder Pinto, Future Friends Games published it, and it came out on Windows and Nintendo Switch on 11 October 2024.
Top 3 Reasons to Play
- The jetpack. Every energy pickup and upgrade stretches your glide, and by the last chapters you're crossing whole valleys without touching the ground.
- The narration. Adam's journal pages are read aloud, and you can leave them playing while you fly. Each chapter adds a bit more about what happened on the moon.
- The look and the music. Waterfalls, snowy peaks and glowing ponds, plus a soundtrack Steam also sells separately. Try Hard compared the whole thing to a Studio Ghibli film you can play.
Story and Lore
Europa used to be a frozen moon. Humans terraformed it into lakes, meadows and mountains, and their settlement is now half overgrown. You play Zee, an android who wakes up next to the grave of his father, Adam, an engineer who studied the local creatures. A floating island hangs in the distance, and Adam left a message about it: "Come to the Island if you ever get lonely."
There are no cutscenes and no conversations. The lore lives in Adam's journal pages, scattered across each region: who settled here, what went wrong and what Zee actually is. Short recaps between regions tie the entries together. The themes are growing up and what people do to nature, and several reviewers single out the final section as the most emotional part.
Gameplay and Mechanics
The Zephyr jetpack does most of the work. It hovers and glides on blue energy you pick up from the environment, and crystals (some hidden inside old machinery) raise how much it can hold. Purple crystals do the opposite and drain it on contact. The trip to the Island is split into 15 chapters, each one a big open area with its own secrets.
Things to pick up:
- Journal pages: Adam's narrated story entries.
- Emeralds and Crystal Stars: off-path collectibles, some of which upgrade the Zephyr.
- Creature sketches: new animals prompt Zee to draw them into his journal.
- Puzzle triggers: lanterns, energy bubbles and wisps that open sealed doors in the ruins.
The enemies are more of an annoyance than a threat. From Chapter 7, Boom Beetles fire plasma at a marked spot on the ground, and turrets guard some of the ruins. Step out of the marker and you're fine.
Characters and Factions
Only three characters matter, and Adam is the only voice you hear.
- Zee: the playable android, built like a young boy. He's curious and gets along with the local creatures unusually well.
- Adam: Zee's father and the last human on the moon. He appears only through his notebook.
- The Gardeners: robot herds that look after the terraformed landscape.
The wildlife is odd and partly mechanical. Some of it attacks, some ignores you, and there's a sky whale you can ride.
Editions and Extras
On Steam there's the base game and the Jupiter Edition, which bundles the soundtrack, the Ambient Moods album and "The Making Of" digital book. Those three are also sold separately, and none of them changes the game.