MISERY frames survival as a daily expedition from a bunker into the hazardous Exclusion Zone. Players take the role of PMCs guarding a secret research institute in the Republic of Zaslavie, where anomalous artifacts helped fuel a conflict that ended in nuclear war. The scramble for shelter sets the scene; the ongoing challenge is to venture out, gather supplies and return before nightfall.
Raids lead through procedurally generated military bases, research stations, wastelands and ruined cities, where rival survivors, mutated creatures, traps and anomalies threaten the team. Anomalies may be dangerous or helpful, and their areas can conceal artifacts with unusual effects. Back at the bunker, players can expand rooms, install generators, craft, grow food and cook, while the institute’s basement bar offers a place to trade loot and talk with other survivors. Hunger, thirst, radiation sickness and stress add pressure beyond combat and scavenging.
The game is identified as co-op, with online and LAN co-op listed among its modes, as well as single-player. Its shelter-building and survival systems give those excursions a longer-term purpose than simply collecting valuables.
