Have you ever wished you could travel back in time to 17th century England? Sure, why not. But have you ever wished you could travel back in time to 17th century England and spread the bubonic plague to everyone and everything that gets in your path? Now we’re getting somewhere!
Have you ever wished you could travel back in time to 17th century England? Sure, why not. But have you ever wished you could travel back in time to 17th century England and spread the bubonic plague to everyone and everything that gets in your path? Now we’re getting somewhere!
Death Inc. is an upcoming indie PC game that’s currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, and it might just be able to help you out with that sick and twisted fantasy of yours. The game comes from Ambient Studios, an independent developer based in Guildford, UK, who in the past have lent a hand to such notable console franchises as Fable and LittleBigPlanet. They describe Death Inc. as “a pungent re-imagining of the Black Death,” and its colorful graphics and dark sense of humor put the game high on our list of Kickstarters to watch out for!
One part real-time strategy and one part business management, Death Inc. puts you in control of the Grim Reaper himself, as you command a legion of infected peasants through the frightened streets of England to spread the bubonic love (and by love, I mean deadly illness). The game uses an innovative paint brush feature, which lets you literally paint a pink trail for your infected troops to follow. This mechanic is aimed at letting you create more exact paths, and eliminates the multiple clicking that’s often required to accomplish anything in other RTS tower defense games. Who knew that Death’s favorite color was pink?
You’ll start the game off by spreading your epidemic through quaint country villages and bustling sea ports, before moving on to the more important castles and larger cities of England. Along the way, your Reaper will be opposed by angry pitchfork-wielding lynch mobs, town criers, knock-kneed archers, and a deadly rain of boiling oil that streams from a castle gate. However, Ambient Studios promises that “your enemies can be simply, deftly and brutally dealt with. Just like that.”
Now I know you might be thinking, “Well Joe, the bubonic plague is great and all, but I have other favorite contagions too! I don’t want to play favorites!” Well not to worry, because you’ll have a number of other disease-ridden and contagious attacks at your very disposal, like exploding livestock, plague rats, pigeon pox, and my personal favorite, the Norovirus brunch. After all, nothing says timeless classic like exploding livestock!
Death Inc. is still in the early stages of development, so it could use all the help it can get towards reaching its goal of £300,000 before March 6, 2013. For those who want to donate, Ambient Studios is offering some pretty enticing reward tiers, like creating the setting and backstory for a special bonus event, and even designing your own character to be put in the game (luckily, actual plague rats aren’t included in any of the rewards packages). Just make sure you wash your hands after clicking submit!
Kickstarter Picks is a series on Gamezebo that profiles Kickstarter projects in the world of video games. We’re doing this in the hopes of calling attention to interesting projects in need of funding, so please, if a game looks like something you’d want to play, don’t hesitate to lend it your support!
