[Kickstarter]The Man Came Around - A thought-provoking survival adventure

Hi everyone! I'm Thierry, the dev behind The Man Came Around. It's a survival game with some rpg elements. I'm currently running a Kickstarter, which makes me a very annoying guy at the moment, roaming the internet for some shameless self promotion.

But since the game made it to the news section, I think it can interest you? You can check the whole thing here : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pipetteinc/the-man-came-around-a-survival-game-and-political

And here's the game's description.


The Man Came Around


Have you ever considered moving to another country because yours is being hijacked by fascists or/and greedy corporations? Then The Man Came Around is sadly made for you.

Filled with progressives values and hard moral choices, this video game explores subjects like exile, social struggle and the failure of democracy.

Occida, one of the most powerful nation of the world, is shaken by mass protests met by brutal repression. As the fight between The Many -an activist organization- and the government lead by "The Man" intensifies, the country is rapidly falling into dictatorship.

You manage five citizens trying to leave this mess. Their only hope is to cross the Northern Border, a heavily guarded fence lost in the middle of the mountains, while avoiding governmental forces.

Guide them through the wilderness, manage their scarce resources, avoid patrols and make the best of your group abilities to escape this lethal maze. But remember: sometimes staying alive is not the same as doing the right thing… Will you sacrifice their principles in order to survive?

The Man Came Around combines survival mechanics, speed-paint aesthetics and a focus on consequences into a nerve-wracking adventure game inspired by the likes of This War of Mine, Papers, please or Gods Will Be Watching.


Features :

• Group Survival: Permanent death for the characters! It’s up to you to finish the game with five survivors …or less.
  
• Moral Choices: Sacrificing a member, making shady deals or letting innocents die in order to survive… Those choices will impact the story
  
• Trauma System: Stress and guilt will take a toll on your characters’ mental health
  
• Political fable: The story explores how a democratic system can fall, ruined by special interests. And asks the crucial question: How could it happen?

The Man Came Around is scheduled for launch on PC and Mac.

looks awesome. Love the artwork

Thank you very much!

Looks interesting.

Just curious, was the decision to make it (mostly) black & white a purely artistic choice or to save a bit of money on the art budget?

Oh and what exactly are the RPG elements?

Both for the Black and White. I wanted a minimalistic and heavy look from the get go, and the game was set from the start in a mountain.

So the black and white imposed itself. Also, it's a lot easier for me cause I totally suck with colouring.

For the rpg elements : the characters have different skills sets, inventories etc, resolution of the actions are mostly based on dice rolls, and the choices you make during the adventure will change the story. Also, you'll have interactions with pnj and things like that.

I would classify it more as a survival though.

I wrote a more complete post about the game and its graphical evolution and workflow here : http://www.indiedb.com/games/the-man-came-around/news/the-man-came-around-graphical-evolution-and-workflow

A new update about the nations and factions of The Man Came Around : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pipetteinc/the-man-came-around-a-survival-game-and-political/posts/1872045

Cool concept, catchy name, memorable artstyle. Good luck!

The rather low detail environments irk me. You can be minimalist without lowering the detail of the environments. But i dont have too much time these days for a lot of games, so good luck anyway. Hope you succeed!

The project reached it's initial goal this week end! Still 48 hours to go! Woot!