While they both should get the media and Internet attention they are receiving, you should know there are many other games with an emphasis on procedurally-generating content that are not set in space, but look to be genuinely fun adventures in their own right. Here are four that have prominent places on my watch list.
We Happy Few
We Happy Few is being developed by Compulsion Games, and is scheduled for a June 2016 release. One of the most intriguing elements of the game is the description: “a game of paranoia and survival, in a drugged-out, dystopian English city in 1964”.
Players will take on the role of a Downer living in fictional Wellington Wells, who must stealth about stealing food and water to survive long enough to find a way to escape the city. Getting caught may mean a character’s death, in which case the game will procedurally generate a new city. The game’s permadeath feature means there will be no save game option to reload.
We Happy Few had a successful Kickstarter launch in June 2015, and is “getting closer and closer” to an Early Access release date. Until then, wishlist and follow the game in Steam, and follow it on social media for all the info.
Official website Kickstarter Twitter Facebook YouTube Twitch
Necropolis
Necropolis is being developed by Harebrained Schemes and is scheduled for a Summer 2016 release. Another game featuring perma-death, Necropolis will put players deep into an underground dungeon to face all the deaths while trying to escape.
Necropolis will offer solo adventuring, or players may delve the dungeons with up to three other daring adventurers. After each solo-play death, the game will procedurally generate a new dungeon to explore, and the survival nightmare begins again. Weapons, equipment, and armor upgrades may be found and crafted along the way to help with the whole surviving thing.
Official website Twitter Facebook YouTube Twitch
Below
Below is another dungeon-delving survival adventure. It’s being developed by Capybara Games, and scheduled to be released later this year. The game plays a bit like Don’t Starve, but with an ample dose of hardcore roguelike added to it.
One of the most notable features here is the simple color palette of eerie black, white, and gray, with the occasional glare of red. It helps bring out the spooky factor rather well, much like what helped Betrayer to be so interesting.
Below will also feature perma-death, but will keep your corpses in game so they can be returned to and looted. Food and water must be searched for and found, and cooked food and crafted supplies go a long way towards providing another few precious minutes of survival.
Official website Twitter YouTube Twitch
Lost Sea
Lost Sea is a special one on my list, because it is set in the highly underused Bermuda Triangle. Lost Sea is being developed by eastasiasoft, and is scheduled to be released this summer.
After your plane crash lands somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, you must scour the archipelago to gather resources and the help of other survivors in order to build a boat to escape on. Savage creatures and various land and sea dangers will confront you along the way, but your survival and combat skills can be enhanced with special moves and potent relics you may also encounter.
While there isn’t perma-death for your character, other survivors who die stay dead, and the loss of their skills may severely impact your own chances at surviving. Lost Sea’s replayability comes by way of procedurally-generating a whole new archipelago with each new game, allowing for “millions of unique island combinations”.
Official website Twitter Facebook YouTube Twitch
E3 2016 is just less than a month away now, and I’m hoping to hear updates and launch dates on each of these games. Tell us which of these games you’re most looking forward to in the comments below!
