Polyaris playtest is live: a post-nuclear survival trek on the Norway–Russia border

A post-nuclear survival trek on the Norway–Russia border is opening up playtest access

Polyaris, a first-person single-player survival game set in the far north, has opened up closed beta playtest access via Steam. The premise puts you in the boots of an engineer and polar explorer who survives the immediate impact of a nuclear explosion — only to wake up to an arctic world that’s gone eerily silent.

If you enjoy slower, higher-stakes survival loops, you might also like our coverage of Quarantine Zone: The Last Check while you wait for more arctic games to roll in.

POLYARIS — 32:9 Ultrawide PC Gameplay (4K) | First Look

How to request access to the Polyaris playtest

According to the developer’s announcement, the closed beta is live and players can request access directly from the game’s Steam store page by using the Join the Playtest button. The dev also asks participants to keep beta content confidential for now, until a public demo is available.

POLYARIS

Release: 2026 (planned)

Genre: Survival, Open World Survival Craft, First-Person

Developer / Publisher: Magic Pie

Platforms: PC — Steam

What Polyaris is aiming for

Polyaris is built around the core survival staples you’d expect in this sub-genre: managing temperature, clothing, hunger and thirst, plus a day-night cycle and dynamic weather. Movement leans into the setting with travel by skis and boat, while scavenging abandoned locations helps you piece together what happened — and why you’re seemingly alone.

The Steam page also lists threats beyond the cold, including polar bears, wolves, and scavengers, and positions the game for fans of The Long Dark and other survival sandboxes.

A crowded arctic survival space — and a chance to stand out

Arctic survival is getting busy. Toplitz Productions has confirmed Permafrost is targeting Early Access in 2026, while Drago Entertainment’s Winter Survival hit version 1.0 on November 19, 2025 and currently sits at Mixed on Steam reviews.

That context matters, because Polyaris already looks strong on atmosphere — but long-term, this kind of game usually wins or loses on how sharp the survival loop feels: how satisfying your routines are, how readable your systems are, and how much personality the world has beyond “beautiful and brutal.” If Magic Pie nails the feel of traversal, scarcity, and discovery, Polyaris could earn its own space among the frozen heavy hitters.

You can request playtest access and wishlist the game on Steam here: Polyaris.

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