FATHOM Modes

FATHOM’s official description gives you two main starting choices: Story Mode for uncovering the truth beneath Fathom Amusement, and Chase Mode for entering the hunt directly. You can play alone or with a group of up to four. Choose the mode around the session your party wants, not around a pass or a supposed universal “best” option.

Story is the natural first choice when you want Chapter 1 objectives, automatic progression, completion badges, and the Go Home or Go Deeper ending branch. Chase is the cleaner choice when you want immediate pursuit practice without committing to the story sequence. Both still depend on controlling sound and using the environment against Grinsworth.

Mode comparison at a glance

Choose Story when progress matters

Story Mode is the only public mode description tied directly to “uncover the truth.” The five official badges reinforce that structure: Chapter 1 Complete marks the broad finish, Go Home and Go Deeper point to a final choice, and Untouchable asks for a completion without losing a life. That makes Story the right place for a deliberate route and a later clean-run attempt.

Automatic saving reduces the pressure to finish Chapter 1 in one sitting. It does not tell you exactly when a checkpoint is written or whether every item, choice, and badge condition is preserved. When returning, read the current objective and inspect your state before assuming the previous room must be repeated.

Choose Story first if your party needs time to learn how the grapple, camera flash, and lockers fit together. Narrative objectives give the group a shared reason to stop, read, and plan. Use the Chapter 1 guide for a spoiler-light session structure.

Choose Chase when the hunt is the goal

Chase Mode removes the need to follow the story premise before meeting the threat. It is suited to a group that wants direct pressure or players who want to practice escaping Grinsworth. The public page does not state an exact round timer, objective count, spawn system, or reward table, so treat the live Chase screen as the source for the current win condition.

Practice one skill per run. Use one attempt to learn how sound changes pursuit, another to test a grapple route, and another to save a camera flash for a clear close-range moment. Chase loses value as practice if every player uses every tool at the first sight of Grinsworth.

Because the mode centers the hunt, communication discipline matters immediately. Agree on a silent signal before loading and use landmarks instead of constant positional chatter. The Chase Mode guide provides a repeatable preparation and recovery loop without pretending that update-sensitive round rules are fixed.

Decide between solo and multiplayer

Solo play keeps every footstep, chat message, microphone sound, tool use, and route choice under one player’s control. It can be the calmer way to learn Story and the strictest way to attempt Untouchable. The cost is reduced observation: you cannot ask another player to watch a vent, read an objective, or track the retreat while you interact.

Two to four players can share those tasks. A small group can put one person on the objective, one on the return route, and one on a defensive tool. The group still needs to move as a unit. Splitting into several noisy paths makes Grinsworth harder to read and can turn a good locker or grapple route into a collision.

The experience page says “Solo or up to 4 players,” even though Roblox’s public universe metadata can show a larger overall server capacity. Those values describe different layers. Use four as the documented gameplay party guidance unless the live mode UI explicitly changes it.

Understand Nightmare without inventing a mode guide

Nightmare is confirmed by first-party pass descriptions, but its full rules are not public enough for a separate route. Radar and Night Vision Goggles are described as working in Story and Chase but being off in Nightmare. Shove is described as working in Story, Chase, and Nightmare. These product boundaries prove the setting exists without proving its enemy speed, life count, unlock condition, rewards, or checkpoint rules.

If Nightmare is available in your current build, read its live description before selecting it. Do not buy Radar or Night Vision specifically for that setting because the official products say they are disabled there. Strong base-game route knowledge and quiet team play matter more than relying on those conveniences.

Match passes to the mode

Radar’s official description says it shows Grinsworth plus needed items and objectives in Story and Chase. Night Vision Goggles provide a dark-view overlay in those modes. Stronger Grapple changes reach and pull speed, while Starter Pack supplies run-based items. Infinite Lives and Survivor Bundle describe broader survival value, but their exact interaction with every badge or ending is not public.

Do not let purchases select the mode for you. Choose Story for narrative progress or Chase for direct pursuit, then evaluate whether a pass solves a repeated problem. The Passes hub records official descriptions, current sale status, and important mode limits.

Set a session plan before loading

For a first Story session, plan to learn controls, follow objectives, identify one safe regroup landmark, and stop after a confirmed save if time is limited. For a Chase session, set a practice goal such as surviving one pursuit without wasting both defensive tools. For multiplayer, assign the objective reader and choose a silence signal.

At the end, record what actually caused failure: sound, route choice, tool timing, separation, or an unclear objective. Use that answer to choose the next guide. Sound problems lead to Sound and Voice Chat; route and threat problems lead to Grinsworth; Chapter 1 goals lead to Badges.

Facts that still need live testing

Current public sources do not settle Story checkpoint frequency, Chase win conditions and duration, matchmaking behavior, host ownership, reconnect rules, progress sharing, or Nightmare’s full rule set. They also do not say whether every ending or badge choice applies to the whole group.

Use the current menu and objective text for those details. The confirmed foundation is enough to choose a session: two named modes, automatic story progress, one-to-four-player play, a sound-reactive monster, and three core escape tools.

Primary sources

• Official FATHOM experience
• Official FATHOM pass catalog
• Official FATHOM badges