SOMA: Complete Guide

Everything you need to get through PATHOS-II: how SOMA plays, how to deal with each creature, a site-by-site route outline, the major moral choices, Safe Mode, achievements and what to play next.

Researched September 2026. Current as of the Steam build patched on 2025-09-22 (Frictional's latest patch notes). The game is finished and stable. Check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

• There's no combat. Like Amnesia, you avoid enemies by hiding, sneaking and outthinking them. You can't fight back.
• Try Safe Mode if horror isn't your thing. Added in December 2017, it keeps the creatures but stops them from killing you, so you can play SOMA as the story-and-atmosphere game it mostly is. Normal mode is recommended for your first run if you can handle tension.
• Glowing WAU growths heal you. When you're injured (the screen gets distorted and you limp), look for the lit organic WAU structures on the walls and interact with them.
• The Omnitool is your key. Once you have it, you use it at terminals to open doors and bring systems online. It's the main progression gate.
• Read, listen and check computers. Terminals, notes, black boxes and audio logs tell the story of what happened on PATHOS-II. Much of the game's value is in them.
• Don't stare at the creatures. Several of them distort your screen and hurt you when you look at them or get close. Look away, keep low, and move when they turn.
• Crouching and slow movement are your stealth. Most enemies track noise and sight. Walking is usually faster than running and then hiding.
• The choices are moral, not mechanical. You'll face several decisions about living (and "living") beings. They don't change the main ending.
• Some sections flood. Underwater walking sections are generally safe traversal. Follow the lights and signs to the next site.

Controls (PC defaults)

SOMA uses Frictional's physics-interaction scheme. Keys can be rebound in the Options menu.

Action | Input

Move | W A S D

Run | Shift

Crouch | Ctrl

Lean | Q / E

Interact, grab, open | Left mouse (hold and drag for doors, drawers, levers)

Throw held object | Right mouse while holding

Flashlight | F

Jump | Space

The drag-to-open system matters under pressure. Pull doors by dragging the mouse back, and push with a forward motion.

The Setting

The year is 2104. Simon Jarrett, a man from 2015 who had his brain scanned after a car accident, finds himself on PATHOS-II, an underwater research facility in the North Atlantic. The surface has been wiped out by a comet impact. The facility's AI, the WAU, has been "preserving" life in horrifying ways. Your guide through most of the game is Catherine Chun, a PATHOS-II engineer who exists as a digital copy. The goal is the ARK, a digital archive of human minds meant to be launched into space.

The game is best experienced blind. The rest of this guide stays spoiler-light and marks bigger reveals.

Route Outline (Site by Site)

The major PATHOS-II sites you'll pass through:

Site | What happens there (spoiler-light)

Upsilon | Geothermal power site where Simon arrives. Tutorial area: learn the Omnitool, terminals, and your first creature encounter

Lambda | Where you find Catherine. Heavy on exploration and backstory

Delta | A connecting site on the way to deeper areas. Watch for creatures, and use the blue WAU growths to heal

Theta | You need to secure transport onward. A tense site with one of the more dangerous creatures

Omicron | Where preparations are made for the deep-sea journey. Contains one of the game's most famous decisions

Tau | Deep in the abyss, where the ARK is stored

Phi | Home to the Omega Space Gun, the launch system for the ARK

Alpha | Home of the WAU's core, reached as a detour late in the game, where you face the decision about the WAU

Site-by-site tips

• Upsilon: Take time to learn how interactions work here. The first creature is slow if you break line of sight.
• Lambda: Log into every terminal you can. The facility's history comes together here.
• Theta: The creature here is very dangerous if you're careless. Move in short bursts between cover and avoid its line of sight. On Safe Mode, just push through.
• Omicron: The body-related sequence is story-heavy. Slow down and listen.
• Tau: Pressure and darkness make this the most atmospheric site. Follow the lights on the seabed and watch for anything moving in the dark.
• Phi: The final objectives. The detour to Alpha and the WAU core comes around here, so explore thoroughly before committing to the launch.

Creatures: How to Survive Them

Rather than a bestiary, here are the shared rules that apply to nearly every threat:

• Looking at them hurts. When a creature is close, the screen fills with static. Staring makes it worse and reveals you. Turn your head away.
• Noise attracts them. Running, knocking objects over and slamming doors draw attention. Move slowly around them.
• Break line of sight, then wait. Most creatures patrol and lose interest once you're out of view for a while.
• Some are blind but hear well, others see well in the dark. Watch how a creature reacts to your first mistake, then adapt: crouch in shadows against sighted hunters, stay silent and still around the ones that react to sound.
• Heal between encounters. Being hurt slows you and leaves the screen distorted. Use the blue WAU growths right after a close call.

Common creature types you'll meet include the humanoid robots and WAU-mutated former staff in the upper sites, the dangerous hunter in Theta, and abyssal fauna in the deep. Frictional designed each one around a slightly different "rule," so spend a moment observing before you commit to a route.

The Big Choices (Spoilers)

Throughout the game you'll decide the fate of several conscious beings: robots that believe they're human, scanned minds, the last living humans, and ultimately the WAU itself. Key points:

• None of these choices changes the main ending. They exist to make you confront the question the game keeps asking: what makes a person a person?
• The WAU decision happens at the WAU core in Alpha, using the structure gel Ross designed as a poison. You can end the WAU or leave it. This affects what the world looks like afterward, not whether you "win."
• Carry the consequences emotionally, not mechanically. Players often replay just to make the other choice.

About the ending (major spoiler)

SOMA's core idea is that brain copies continue as separate beings. When Simon is "transferred," the original doesn't go anywhere. The game makes you live through this more than once, and the ending plays it out at the largest scale. Watch until the very end of the credits: there's a post-credits scene.

Safe Mode

• Added in December 2017, two years after launch.
• Creatures are still present and still act threatening, but they won't kill you.
• It's ideal if you want the story and atmosphere without chase-and-retry frustration, or you're replaying for choices and collectibles.
• It's selectable when you start a new game.

Achievements

SOMA has 10 Steam achievements, all tied to story progress:

Achievement | Approx. global unlock rate

Answering the Call | 68%

Chasing Catherine | 54%

Stranded | 45%

The DUNBAT | 41%

Plan B | 38%

Killed the Dream I Dreamed | 34%

A New You | 32%

Endangered Species | 31%

Your Expressway to the Stars | 31%

The End | 31%

The rates fall steadily through the list, which matches how far players get in the story. There are no difficulty- or collectible-based achievements, so one full playthrough on either Normal or Safe Mode should get 100%. If one fails to pop, loading a save from before that story point and replaying it is the usual fix.

Performance and Versions

• PC: Windows, macOS and Linux, released 22 September 2015. The Steam version is patched and stable. Frictional pushed a small patch as recently as 22 September 2025.
• Consoles: PS4 (2015), Xbox One (1 December 2017), and Nintendo Switch (24 July 2025).
• Mods: SOMA runs on Frictional's HPL3 engine. Community mods and custom content exist, and Frictional's 2026 Mod Jam ("WHAT IS REALITY?", May 27 to August 25, 2026) was explicitly inspired by SOMA.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Sprinting past everything. You'll miss the story, which is the point of the game, and noise gets you caught.
• Staring at a creature to track it. The static is a warning. Look away and listen instead.
• Forgetting to heal. Limping through a creature section after taking damage makes everything harder. Find a WAU growth first.
• Assuming the choices lock you out of an ending. They don't. Make the choice you believe in.
• Stopping at the credits. There's more after them.
• Picking Normal mode "for the full experience," then quitting from frustration. Safe Mode keeps the dread and was designed with this in mind.

Advanced Tips

• Use terminals' secondary screens. Many hold emails, personnel notes and logs that make the setting click, and some point to door codes and routes.
• Listen to black boxes and recordings. You can "replay" audio at certain points, and they often explain what a creature used to be.
• Throw objects to distract when a creature blocks a corridor. Anything with physics can pull attention.
• Treat each creature as a puzzle. Watch one patrol loop from cover before moving. That usually shows you the gap.
• For a second playthrough, go in on Safe Mode and focus on reading everything. The story works very differently when you already know the twist.
• Check the in-game environment for codes. Doors with keypads usually have the code somewhere nearby in a note or terminal.

FAQ

Is SOMA scary? Yes, especially in the first half, but it's more existential dread than jump scares. Safe Mode removes the fail state if the chases are too much.

Does SOMA have multiple endings? The main ending is fixed. Your choices, including the optional WAU decision, change moral outcomes and a few details, not the ending you get.

How long is SOMA? Roughly 10 to 12 hours for a first playthrough that explores properly. Less if you rush, which isn't recommended.

What is Safe Mode in SOMA? A mode added in December 2017 where creatures can't kill you. It's great for story-focused players and replays.

Is SOMA connected to Amnesia? Same studio (Frictional Games), same no-combat stealth-horror DNA, but a separate universe. Frictional's upcoming ONTOS (announced December 2025) is billed as SOMA's spiritual successor.

Do I need to play Amnesia first? No. SOMA stands alone.

Is there anything I can miss? No achievements are missable. Lore (notes, logs, terminals) can be missed, so explore each site before moving on.

Sources

• SOMA on Steam
• SOMA Steam news (patch notes 2025-09-22, Mod Jam 2026, ONTOS announcement)
• Steam global achievements: SOMA
• SOMA on Wikipedia
• Frictional Games