The Cycle: Frontier

Moderate overall intensity
Highest flag: Violence — realistic
Sci-fiShooterSurvival

What's in it

Violence realistic
Moderate

First-person gunfire with blood effects against rival human prospectors and hostile alien monsters; no gore or dismemberment emphasis.

Dark themes mild
Low

A bleak survival premise on a storm-ravaged alien world where death means permanent loss of gear and constant lethal threat.

Horror & psychological spooky
Low

Tense, suspense-driven atmosphere with monstrous alien creatures and a deadly encroaching storm, but not graphic frights.

Spending cosmetic purchases
Low

Free-to-play with optional real-money purchases for cosmetics and a battle pass.

Animal combat combat mechanic
Low

Players fight and kill alien beasts and creatures as a standard combat and looting mechanic.

Spending pressure optional
Low

A season-based battle pass offers optional time-limited progression rewards without gating core play.

Who can reach your kid

Voice chatChat with strangersStranger friend requestsReal-money spending

What it is

Titled The Cycle: Frontier, this was a no-cost, first-person shooter built around the extraction genre, taking place on a hazardous alien world battered by violent storms. Each participant takes the role of a 'prospector' who lands on the surface to gather valuables, fulfill jobs handed out by rival factions, and stay alive against both the planet's creatures and the human-controlled opponents also present, with the goal of reaching an exit point; gear that hasn't been insured vanishes upon death. Fighting relies on true-to-life guns and close-quarters weapons, showing blood while avoiding explicit gore, all set within a nerve-wracking, high-tension mood. Networked play links participants together through unrestricted microphone and typed messaging, and cash transactions were available for buying appearance items plus a season pass. Because the game's online servers were taken offline during September 2023, the title can no longer be accessed.

How it's framed

At the heart of the design sits a pull between staying alive and pure acquisitiveness: each player acts as a hired gun measuring danger against potential payoff, choosing at any moment to team up with, double-cross, or attack the people they encounter. Eliminating rival prospectors as well as the local wildlife functions as ordinary competition centered on grabbing loot and advancing, and the design assigns no ethical weight to any group affiliation or decision a player makes.

Details

Developer
YAGER
Publisher
YAGER
Released
Jun 8, 2022

Similar games

We built this because we needed it

Balanced Play pools your kids' game time into one budget across Steam, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and more. We're taking 100 founding families — free for life.

Claim a founding spot →

Free for life for the first 100. No card, no spam.