We Happy Few, a dystopian roguelike by Compulsion Games

So there's a kickstarter for a new game titled We Happy Few, which is set in a dystopian England town where everyone's on happy pills.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/112359230/we-happy-few-welcome-to-wellington-wells-you-saucy

Looks interesting.

O.O Well now. Certainly an interesting premise and I wouldn't expect homicidally cheerful people.

Jim Sterling played a pre-alpha version of the game, I believe:

Based on what I saw there, it looks rather reminiscent of Sir, You Are Being Hunted, but with a different relationship between player and "enemies".

edited 27th Jun '15 3:32:04 PM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

I suspect the name of the town seems is a reference to the Gilbert & Sullivan opera The Sorcerer.

As of today, the game has officially reached its funding goal. I normally stay out of kickstarters, but I couldn't resist kicking in for the pre-alpha tier. From the gameplay I've seen, even in pre-alpha the game looks far better than many "finished" games on Steam right now.

edited 28th Jun '15 1:50:35 PM by Riverstyx197

What's this? A Roguelike that isn't a cookie cutter retro-throwback dungeon crawler?

Color me interested.

"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.

This looks like more of a Bioshock game than Infinite was.

"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"

Some fridge horror I just picked up:

There seems to be a dichotomy between people "Downers" and "People who will kill you on the spot if they even suspect you of being a downer". I'd expect most of the city's population to be somewhere in between those two extremes (taking their Joy, but not automatically being reduced to a Bioshock Splicer upon seeing someone frown).

The most logical explanation I can think of for this is that Joy affects aggression somehow. If this is true, then the people you're fighting against (sometimes with lethal force) are basically innocents forced to do something they wouldn't do normally. Very disturbing.

Speaking of which, a minor complaint I have is that, from what I can tell (and I've seen only a small part of an unfinished game, mind you), they seem to be a bit 1-dimensional. They don't just hate Downers, but rather, "Take Joy" and "Kill Downers" seems to be the only two coherent thoughts people have there. For example: Their only entertainment seems to be a show where a guy tells jokes about killing Downers.

"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"

So the Very Bad Thing that led to the never ending pill party...

It's the Holocaust, isn't it?

edited 28th Jun '15 4:43:32 PM by Psyclone

this sounds very much like the main character's backstory from Kinos Journey. should be interesting.

The Uncle Jack stuff seems interesting. There will be a lot of "episodes" in-game.

Interesting how most of these clips have Uncle Jack clearly not smiling before the show actually starts. Could he be a Downer as well?

edited 1st Jul '15 6:19:45 AM by Psyclone

Just when you think Bioshock and Dishonored cornered the market on edgy, aristocratic horror.

Did a former Irrational Games employee had any part in this? The visual style is reminiscent of Bioshock, which I guess Dishonored is equally guilty of. Not a bad thing, but come on, look at that locker in the gameplay preview.

edited 30th Jun '15 5:08:50 AM by Soble

I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!

The aesthetic alone sold me on it. I hope it does well, and delivers.

"Curry killed the pussy hoping that I could kill the hate in you" - Curry, D. "TABOO | TA13OO." TA13OO, PH, 2018

I don't think you need to put that in a spoiler tab.

He could possibly be a downer, though I don't think that's enough evidence (it could even be an oversight by the actors). However, it is very cliche that dictators tend to be straw hypocrites, so it's entirely possible.

I hope they don't make him a straw hypocrite though. I suppose that he could be a downer and not a straw hypocrite simply because "Someone in the system needs to be off their meds to make sure everything's running properly".

"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"

This is kind of a stretch, but it could also be one of the things that varies between runs.

Theory: Joy doesn't do anything. Everyone's just pretending to be happy so that They don't get mistaken for being Downers.

"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"

The Joy makes you see things and changes your perception of the world, so that can't be the case.

There's a game mode listed on the Kickstarter where you play as one of the Wellies and hunt down the Downers, and you have to take your Joy regularly.

It could be an act, but then that takes away from the Bioshock influence.

I'M MR. MEESEEKS, LOOK AT ME!

I was joking about the "It's all an act" thing.

Really? A mode where you play as a Wellie? That sounds like it could be fun!

"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"

My theory as the terrible thing done during the war: They used some form of brainwashing or mind control to get the Germans to kill themselves. This would lead into the "Pied Piper" thing.

"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"

Another interesting theory that someone suggested is that Uncle Jack was/is a collaborator with Nazi Germany. Using Joy or a similar drug, he managed to keep the population of Wellington Welles pacified and less likely to resist the occupation.

"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"

Part 2 of the video was released earlier last week.

EDIT: Forget it, I can't seem to get the Youtube link thingie working... so I'll just leave the link here.

edited 13th Jul '15 3:04:29 AM by SgtRicko

London Bridge has fallen down.

edited 17th Aug '15 4:08:27 PM by Psyclone

The (quite great) E3 trailer, better late than never, I suppose.

I was reminded of it just now because The Guardian put up an article about it with a Brexit angle, hah: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/24/we-happy-few-indie-game-uk-britain-dystopia-e3