Trippy Social Survival: We Happy Few On Kickstarter
Post-apocalyptic survival can lick me
We Happy Few's [official site] The Prisoner-ish vibe caught my eye before but gosh oh golly, the game looks more interesting than I'd initially hoped. Developers Compulsion Games (them lot behind Contrast) have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund development, and what they're showing is awfully interesting.
It's a first-person survival game where stealth often involves being clearly visible and visibly happy. Roaming the streets of an odd '60s town, you'll greet folks pleasantly and avoid doing anything which lets on that you, unlike them, are not doped up to your eyeballs on pills that make people violently happy. So how do you intend to escape the town or get food to stay alive?
Let's rewind a bit: We Happy Few goes down in the English town of Wellington Wells in an alternate 1964. Everyone's happy because they take their Joy pills, except you. You see it's a weird and horrible place and want out. The people of Wellington Wells people who aren't happy, and will react violently if they suspect you're a 'Downer'. Not saying hello to people you pass in the street? That's something a Downer would do. Break into a house to steal food? Oh, that's definitely a Downer! All the residents keep an eye out for Downers but some more than others, like doctors who can spot people faking it and old ladies who snoop and follow you.
So there you are, trying to stay alive by scavenging, crafting, and maybe even daring to eat Joy-tainted food without being murdered by Wellies. Combat looks like first-person melee where you're a bit squishy. If they do get you, you'll wake up as someone new in a new procedurally-generated layout.
I'm so bored of post-apocalyptic survival so this is real interesting to me.
Complusion are looking for $250,000 Canadian (£131,000-ish) on Kickstarter to help fund development. Pledging at least $30 CAD (£16-ish) would get you a copy of the game when/if it comes out. Here's the Kickstarter pitch video:
And here's 15 minutes of pre-alpha gameplay, which I suspect suffers from showing too much of the early game:
