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We Happy Few brings Joy to Kickstarter

We Happy Few Kickstarter

We Happy Few, Compulsion Games’ The Prisoner meets BioShock survival FPS appeared on Kickstarter earlier today. The developers are hoping to raise $250,000 (Canadian) by next month and are aiming to launch the game in June next year.

We Happy Few drops the player in a procedurally generated town, a facsimile of 1960s England where the Germans won World War 2, and most of the country is rubble. Its residents are all hooked on a drug known as Joy. They take it to forget, and it keeps them (mostly) docile, happy to conform.

Those who don’t take Joy, or those who act in unacceptable ways, get thrashed by overzealous bobbies and angry townsfolk. The game’s all about hiding in plain sight, not doing anything to arouse suspicion, but to survive, the rules need to be broken.

It’s been doing the rounds for a wee while, and Rob got to check it out at PAX East, where he questioned if open-world survival was getting stale.

“My time with a very early build at PAX at once confirmed and confounded my expectations. As much as I loved the setup and the aesthetic of We Happy Few, I was also taken aback by how instantly familiar and tired the survival and crafting elements felt. It was a strange clash between a new and exciting game world and the increasingly-familiar routines of stealth, open-world survival.”

Compulsion Games notes, on the Kickstarter page, that it got insightful and challenging feedback and input from those who, like Rob, played the PAX East build, and it wants to continue working with the players.

It doesn’t just want to crowdfund the game; the studio wants to develop it alongside the community. Backers who pledge more than $60CAD will get instant access to the game when the campaign ends, allowing them to offer feedback on every update and build.

Does it look like your cup of tea?