BadLand Games and Fictiorama Studios sent out a press release today announcing their new game, Do Not Feed the Monkeys. This self described 'digital voyeur simulator' is coming out on the PC and has a launch window of Q4 of this year. To accompany the PR, the developers also uploaded a trailer for the game and a Steam page with more information.
The premise for the game is actually quite intriguing. You play as the latest hire of the shadowy 'Primate Observation Club' which gives you access to hacked video feed all over the country. From here you can observe people living out their day to day lives. You will also have access to research tools on the internet (wikis, social media) to learn more about your test subjects. However, the one rule of the club is not to engage, hence the title Do Not Feed the Monkeys.
The kicker is that part of the game includes a life simulator as well. You will need to watch your finances and your health to make sure that you can continually watch the all important monitors. Even the watchers need to sleep.
The game will be heavy in the narrative department and will feature different endings based on your choices whether or not to interfere with your subjects. And this will be a more mature game with a warning of 'uncensored violence and pixelated nudity on the Steam page.
Do Not Feed the Monkeys also features:
- MONITOR hacked surveillance cameras
- PRY INTO the lives of dozens of subjects
- INTERACT (or not!) with fun, sad, horrific, surprising, dramatic, or sci-fi themed narratives
- DECIDE THE FATE of the subjects: will you help them? Will you expose their most intimate secrets?
- BROWSE social networks profiles, wikis, websites, newspapers, online stores... Use chat logs, email tools and more!
- MANAGE your resources: will you spend all your savings on buying more “cages”, or will pay rent? Are you healthy enough to work? How many sleepless nights can you stand before collapsing from exhaustion?
- REPLAY to experience different climactic endings
The retro graphics reminiscent of early Lucas Arts adventure games mixed in with this unique premise/gameplay definitely makes this a project to point your surveillance equipment at. Plus Fictiorama's other title, Dead Synchronicity, was another game with an out there premise (recover your memories before time dissolves) so they've got a good track record. You can seek out the trailer below if any of this caught your interest.