History VideoGame / GodsWillBeWatching

* DownerEnding: Possibly. [[spoiler: It appears that Burden's attempt to break the loop by floating in space forever fails. However, since he can now defeat Liam, it's possible that he can search for other solutions each time he recovers his memories.]]

** In the same chapter, one of Irving's introductory speeches is a description of his dream, in which a man in a gas mask tells him that his world was made in less than 72 hours, in an obvious reference to the original Ludium Dare game.

* LuckBasedMission: Every chapter except 6 and 7 heavily involve chance (and even those two can have some). In fact, taking time to minimize risks is a major game mechanic, but it's impossible to eliminate them and still have time to complete the mission. More specifically, the Russian roulette section of chapter 2 is ''entirely'' luck-based, unless you're willing/able to confess/lie multiple times in a row. There is a mode that removes all chance, however.

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In chapter 2, Liam comments that Irving seems to have some kind of set pattern to his interrogations, and Jack mentions that it'd be nice to have several lives so that he could learn the pattern. [[spoiler: Turns out, this is also a major spot of Foreshadowing. Burden is actually in a GroundhogDayLoop, though he's not aware of it at this point.]]

* WholePlotReference: Irving's RealDreamsAreWeirder speech is a direct reference to ''[[http://www.deconstructeam.com/en/ages-of-irving/ Ages of Irving]]'', his [[CanonImmigrant original game]].

''Gods Will be Watching'' is a point-and-click game made by Deconstructeam and published by Devolver Digital, released on July 24th 2014. It was originally a Ludum Dare 26 game where you controlled Sergeant Burden and his crew, a soldier, a psychiatrist, a doctor, an engineer, a robot and a dog. The goal was to survive for 40 days and to repair a broken radio, while at the same time making sure that the crew had enough food, medicine, warmth, ammunition and sanity. The game was later very popular and an expanded version was crowdfunded, until it was picked up and published by Devolver Digital.

* DeathWorld: The extreme heat of Legin makes it this. Notably, sleeping outside is considered suicide there.

* ColdBloodedTorture: Surviving this is the objective of chapter 2.

* DrivenToSuicide: Possible in several scenarios. Burden shoots himself if he "fails his men" in Chapter 4. [[spoiler:Burden's therapist, Amber, also kills herself in her room sometime before Chapter 1 [[GoMadFromTheRevelation after realizing that Burden can remember future events.]]]]

*** For a better comparison, you need only look at the Steam achievement about not using the kid at all in your threats and negotations: only 0.1 % of the playerbase has it.

* LuckBasedMission: Every chapter except 6 and 7 heavily involve chance. In fact, taking time to minimize risks is a major game mechanic, but it's impossible to eliminate them and still have time to complete the mission. More specifically, the Russian roulette section of chapter 2 is ''entirely'' luck-based, unless you're willing/able to confess/lie multiple times in a row. There is a mode that removes all chance, however.

* HostageSituation: The first scenario.

* ThePlague: Much of the game's plot revolves around the Medusea Virus and its possible weaponisation. It attacks both the brain and the rest of the body with a parasitic net that eventually causes paralysis in the victim and subsequently creating perfect conditions for the spores of the virus to begin growing on it. It's mentioned that the bodies have to be burned to stop the spread of infection, and extended exposure to the virus will render it incurable even with modern antidotes. Basically, it's not pleasant.

* TheUnreal: [[spoiler: What exactly Burden is, and why he's stuck in the GroundhogDayLoop are never explained.]]

* GroundhogDayLoop: [[spoiler: The entire premise of the game is just another loop for the main character. Every loop starts with Sergeant Burden waking up in the Legin desert and ends with him dying at Liam's hand aboard the matriarch. The time between that? 7 years. The final level of the game has you learning Liam's patterns, every death essentially means Burden spends another 7 years of torture and hardships. When you finally defeat him, Sergeant Burden commits suicide by jumping out into space, although even this does not seem to have stopped the loop.]]

* WholePlotReference: Irving's RealDreamsAreWeirder speech is a direct reference to ''[[http://www.deconstructeam.com/en/ages-of-irving/ Ages of Irving]]'', his [[CanonImmigrant original game]].
* YouLoseAtZeroTrust: Keeping people calm and under control is a big part of the game.
** If a hostage panics in Chapter 1, they'll attack Burden and Jack will be forced to shoot them. If you run out of hostages, it's game over.
** Any member of Burden's crew can flee the campsite in Chapter 4 (or the prototype) if their SanityMeter hits zero. Again, it's game over if you lose all human members.
** ZigZagged in Chapter 6. To get a passcode off a scientist Burden must reduce their willpower to zero, but if he presses them too hard the entire crew may rebel.

* AnArmAndALeg: Jack can lose his arm in chapter two if you choose poorly during the torture sequence.

* TheStinger: [[spoiler: At the end of the credits, Sergant Burden is finally devoured by what looks like some kind of black hole. After that, we skip to the epilogue ''Broken Hourglass'' where we find Sergeant Burden waking up in the middle of the Legin (probably) desert, at which point he picks up a scarf and a rifle and begins walking to the east, and then we're promptly treated to a flash through of all the games chapters again in the space of half a second. By the looks of it, Burden wasn't actually able to escape his ''curse''.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler: Burden]] can only remember [[spoiler: that he's being through a time loop in the final chapter against Liam.]]