Royce Wilson from news.com.au has reviewed We Happy Few:

What would a psychadellic post-war Britain look like?

The worst crime you can commit in this trippy post-war dystopian game is to be labelled a ‘Downer’. So keep that happy mask on … or else.

HEN we imagine a world in which Britain lost World War II, we tend to think of something like The Man In The High Castle or SS-GB; a drab, fascist dystopia where everything is depressing and bleak.

But what if that world was actually a groovy, happy, trippy sort of place — where everyone had to be groovy, happy and trippy all the time … or else?

Welcome to the setting of We Happy Few, developed by Compulsion Games and published by Gearbox on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Best described as what you’d get if Douglas Adams and Sir Terry Pratchett created a cross between The Prisoner, Austin Powers, Fallout and 1984, We Happy Few is set in the fictional city of Wellington Wells in 1964 and casts you as three characters — Arthur Hastings, a censor at the Ministry of Archives looking for his missing brother; Sally Boyle, a chemist (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) with a secret of her own; and Ollie Starkey, a soldier who has had enough and wants to escape the city — and his past.

[...]

Here is a bunch of reviews for We Happy Few that range from very positive to very negative.

• Attack of the Fanboy, 3.5/5
• IGN, 7.3/10
• GameInformer, 7.75/10
• Games Radar, 4/5
• Gamespot, 4/10
• Gamingtrend, 6.5/10
• Hardcore Gamer, 3/5
• PC Invasion, 5/10
• PCGamesN, 5/10
• The Sixth Axis, 6/10
• We Got This Covered, 3.5/5
• Windows Central, 4.5/5

An we received a message from Techquila about their unrated, but fairly positive review and opinion article.

The first reviews for We Happy Few are out now:

Fandom - Score 3.5/5

Destructoid - Score 5/10

NukeTheFridge - Score 7/10

Polygon:

[...]

This is where We Happy Few shines brightest. The dialog and character barks in this game are second-to-none. They are funny, human and uncannily realistic. As someone who grew up in England, I felt I recognized many of the fussy, indignant, precious, hilarious and kind people who I met in this game. But I suspect the feeling translates to all peoples.

Perhaps this is what makes We Happy Few so unusual. It is beautifully, carefully written. The words that come out of this game are better than anything I can recall in even the best narrative adventures. The script has clearly been elevated to a place of prime importance. It’s been honed by writers and actors working together to create a coherent universe that’s as frightening as any hellscape dreamed up in more lavish fantasies. If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary to play, you’ve found it.

The psychological horror RPG We Happy Few is now avaiable:

We Happy Few

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We Happy Few is a narrative-driven action-adventure game set in a retrofuturistic 1960s England. Uncover the mystery of Wellington Wells as you play through the interwoven narratives of three moderately terrible citizens trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial.

We Happy Few is releasing August 10th on Steam and GOG.

Steam Pre-Order Discount, Bonus Extended To August 12th

3 AUGUST - CAPTAIN SCARLETT
Hey everyone!

PC players may have noted that pre-orders are not currently available across all digital storefronts. To remedy that, we've worked with our partners at Steam and GOG.com to offer the pre-order bonus and discount for the entire weekend following the launch on August 10. The 15% discount and Jolly Brolly weapon will be available from launch until 11:59pm PT/2:59am ET on Sunday, August 12th.

We Happy Few launches August 10th, add the game to your wishlist if you are afraid to miss this window.

Compulsion Games

Additionally a season pass has been announced:

The Season Pass! What is it?

4 AUGUST - CAPTAIN SCARLETT
Hi everyone,

We're thrilled to share the first details about We Happy Few‘s post-launch content! These will not be available at launch but we wanted to give you a little taste of what's coming after.

Sandbox Mode

This free update will add an infinite mode, set in a world that you can customize as you wish (larger, smaller, more dangerous, less food, more Wellies, etc). You will be able to customize some of the rules of the game, including choosing to play as a Wellie (Wellie Mode!). This mode will bring back the systemic, sandbox world showcased in the early days of We Happy Few.

Also in the works is the We Happy Few Season Pass! Included in the We Happy Few Deluxe Edition, the Season Pass includes three different stories set in Wellington Wells:

Roger & James in: They Came From Below!

Precocious Roger and Impetuous James set off in search of adventure and love, only to uncover bizarre technology and a terrifying new threat. All is not as it seems. Or is it exactly as it seems?

Lightbearer

Heartthrob, artist, and personal trainwreck, Nick Lightbearer is Wellington Wells' most celebrated rock star-but what truly makes him tick? Tune in to Uncle Jack's late show to find out.

We All Fall Down

Much like any well-worn happy mask, all societies develop cracks in their veneer. But that doesn't mean you should go digging up dirt from the past. Right? *pops a Joy pill* Right!

The Season Pass is currently only available as part of We Happy Few Deluxe Edition, but will be available for purchase separately upon launch.

Compulsion Games

Techraptor tried out the latest build of We Happy Few which will release August 10th.

...

As I snuck my way into a train station and met up with a surly war vet, my demo ended. If our E3 awards had a much-improved category, We Happy Few would be a shoo-in. The survival elements, while still present, now serve as just one strand in the wonderful tapestry that Compulsion Games have weaved. The narrative is front and center where it belongs, guiding players through an expertly crafted world. I can’t wait to get past the train station one more time and see what else this twisted dystopia has in store for me.

Our We Happy Few demo took place behind closed doors in Gearbox Publishing’s meeting rooms during E3 2018. The game is releasing on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on August 10th.

We Happy Few will have its release date announced very soon according to Spieltimes.

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Three days ago, the developers dropped a teaser video manifesting some of the finest cutscenes from the game. This teaser being released at such an unexpected date has generated a lot of speculations and debates on the internet. According to the YouTube description by IGN, the game is going to get a worldwide reveal on the E3 stage very soon, which proves that the rumours were indeed right.

[...]

We Happy Few got the September update one week earlier:

Hey everyone,  

In our schedule we had planned to release the September update next week but it is stable to enough to be released today, so, surprise!  

The update is currently on the main branch of Steam, and on GOG. We have submitted the update to Microsoft as well and it should be up in the next few days on Xbox One. You can read the patch notes here!   

Keep in mind that you should start a fresh new game after every update or it will create a lot of random issues. This isn’t ideal but it is temporary, at least until we can finish working on the compatibility system.

[...]

BreatheCast reports that the 1960 alternate world survival game We Happy Few will be out in July:

'We Happy Few' Release Date: Compulsion Games’ Title Going To Hit Stores In July

New details on the release date of Compulsion Games' "We Happy Few" have surfaced. According to reports, the forthcoming game title is set to be released next month.

"We Happy Few" is set to hit gaming shelves on July 26, The Verge has learned. As per the publication, the game title is set to be available for Xbox One's Game Preview and Microsoft Window's version of Steam's Early Access.

According to the publication, the title is set in a 1960s iteration of "Fallout's" vaults, which features masked denizens who take a number of thought-changing substances to get rid of the reality. Compulsion Games released a trailer, showing a character opting to stop taking the pills, begins to see the actual world, and becomes a "Downer," a person who does not take the pill.

[...]

E3 Trailer:

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Lizzy Finnegan (The Escapist) has previewed We Happy Few:

We Happy Few Preview - Are You On Your Joy?

Sometimes, people are scared that they may fade into a crowd, doomed never to stand out, to be special. Sometimes, people are more afraid to stand out, uncertain of the reception they will receive upon declaring any sort of individuality. Both of these are common fears, and both of them are felt throughout Compulsion Games' We Happy Few.

We Happy Few takes place in an alternate-universe depiction of 1960's England, where the townsfolk have invented a happiness-inducing drug called Joy, which simultaneously sedates and inspires euphoria. The happy addicts populate certain areas, but despite the happy pills that they're all taking, the folks are incredibly hostile - and violent - towards "Downers" - those who refuse to take the drug.

You are a Downer.

The first-person survival game pits the protagonist against internal and external forces, with the player focusing on ensuring their character's wellbeing. Multiple factors play a part in your character's survivability. Food and water icons remind you that human beings need to eat food and stay hydrated in order to not die, and a sleep icon reminds you that, even in video games, you are much better off after some rest. In addition to keeping their character breathing by managing their basic needs, the player must also constantly assess their environment.

[...]

In fact, We Happy Few may be the most successfully terrifying horror game I've played in years - and it isn't even a horror game, in both premise and appearance. Without invoking the stereotypical horror icons - zombies, monsters, zombie monsters - it managers to cause a different type of fear - the fear of an actual, believable threat. The fear that human beings are inherently drawn to cliques, and the fear of being forced to conform in order to survive. While We Happy Few is certainly an extreme take on that, it's also a quite relatable one. We all want to belong - but at what cost?

IGN provides some gameplay videos for the survival roguelike We Happy Few:

Hiding Bodies and Doing Drugs in We Happy Few

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Creative Director Guillaume Provost walks us through a chunk of We Happy Few, a first-person roguelike set in a dystopian 1960s England where the population is controlled with literal happy pills.

15 Drug-Fueled Minutes of We Happy Few

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The ups, the downs, and the overdoses of the first-person roguelike We Happy Few.

Getting High in We Happy Few

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We Happy Few is a first-person roguelike set in a dystopian 1960s England where everyone is required to be on drugs. Interested yet?