Skin Deep

Skin Deep is a first-person stealth shooter set in the same universe as Thirty Flights of Loving, Quadrilateral Cowboy, and other games by developer Blendo Games. Players take on the role of Nina Pasadena, an "insurance commando" who is frozen into the hull of long-haul spaceships... and defrosted to protect the crew when pirates attack. Nina's story follows her as she tries to identify and defeat a pirate queen who has targeted her for retribution.

Skin Deep's gameplay has immersive sim elements. Players can kill pirates using systemic interactions between objects found in the ship environment. The campaign consists of handmade sandbox spaceship environments where the player must locate and rescue the members of the crew, who are talking cats. Between missions, they return to Nina's home, where they can talk to the rescued crew members over email. The game has several narrative sequences between combat missions.

Skin Deep's combat requires players to frequently read item description labels using a scanning system. These labels allow the player to identify systemic interactions between items. Cleaning supplies can create clouds of explosive gas, which sparks or flames can set alight. Black pepper and potted plants can cause pirates to sneeze. Skin Deep also treats firearms in a sim-inspired way, with control keys specifically dedicated to racking the gun or chambering a round.