Organization: Owlchemy Labs

A plane crash, a deserted island, and a crew of "mouth-breathing tourists" as your only companions: although it's a pitch we've heard before, developer Owlchemy Labs' take on the Lost-famous formula promises to be new, improved, and worth sticking with from beginning to its numerous, varied ends.  As a survival game, Dyscourse is full of tangible dangers that can bring about those ends abruptly—such as poisonous snakes and wild boars—but one of its greatest challenges is the human psyche.  Dropped into the shoes of Rita, an art graduate-turned barista-turned makeshift island leader, players will get to know their fellow castaways and make critical, interpersonal decisions that will affect the group's chances for survival. One such choice is shown off in Dyscourse's Kickstarter video: Rita sends the mustachioed tourist with a fear of snakes to subdue a venomous enemy, with less-than-desirable results.  She could also opt to dispatch the snake herself, which keeps everyone alive and well.  Alex Schwartz, Founder, CEO, and Janitor of Owlchemy Labs, told Gamezebo: "With a Kickstarter video, it's tough to build characters and show consequence over time, so George getting smacked down by the snake could have looked arbitrary in the setting of a two minute video.  With an actual playthrough, though, you come to love (or hate) the cast of wacky characters on the island, and uncover important bits of info and background on the characters, their skills, and their motives through dialog and various moments.""Those moments determine the direction of each playthrough, which vary greatly thanks to Dyscourse's emergent gameplay.  Even seemingly minor choices can create diverging paths that change one player's experience when compared to another's.  "Those choices you make at any time are also not 'pre-set' in that you will always see those same options," Schwartz said.  "For example, if you learned a specific bit of information about a character, or saw them do something sneaky, the option to bring that up, or use that information against them will be 'unlocked,' whereas players who didn't come across that info due to going down a different branch would not be able to see that option, but instead have a whole different parallel experience happening."