Born Punk is a game in the style of the 80s and 90s point & click classics like Monkey Island, Gabriel Knight and Beneath A Steel Sky, that wants to deliver an intriguing storyline and logical, non-outlandish puzzles - which admittedly, were a bane of ye olden games.
Set 130 years in the future on the formerly Danish island of Bornholm, in Born Punk the player controls Eevi Rinasdottir, a former corporate combat hacker whose brain-computer has been infected with a rogue artificial intelligence. On her quest to find out how she came to be in this situation, she will uncover a plot that will change the future of humanity forever. With a heavy emphasis on player agency, a thrilling storyline exploring transhumanist themes and lighthearted humour alike, Born Punk tries to recreate the spirit of classic point and click adventures.
It focuses heavily on choices and consequences; something that is rarely seen in the genre. Born Punk features a strong female protagonist, as well as music by Wildstar and World of Warcraft composer, Jeff Kurtenacker.
The player will spend a lot of their time trying to solve logic- and perception-based puzzles, in which items have to be combined or used in order to affect the game world and drive the story forward. A lot of emphasis was put on ensuring that the puzzles follow a comprehensive pattern. When there is no puzzle to be solved, it is interaction with the game's wacky characters that will push the narrative forward, as Eevi will meet personalities like 8-bit rap-obsessed android nerds and bartenders who choose to replace their natural hands with cocktail glasses.
Developer Insert Disk 22 will launch a Born Punk kickstarter campaign next week, February 5, 2019, hoping to raise about $10K.
Interested fans can also check out a playable demo where players are able to experience most of the anticipated features of the game.
Eevi has to make a gameplay decision that involves four different ways of approaching the scenario she is faced with, showcasing the game's commitment to letting the player choose their own path. Voice acting is already implemented in the demo as well; Eevi is performed by an US army Iraq veteran, giving the virtual character authentic, convincing depth. Finally, Insert Disk 22 added multiple examples of the extensive library of lore that players of the game will eventually be able to find. This lore will build and expand the history of and life on the island of Bornholm, to entice the player to delve deeper into the meticulously written world of Born Punk.
"We want to tell a story of strife, but also one that shows that there is always hope even in the darkest of times," said Falko von Falkner, founder of ID22. "In order to do so, it is vital to give the player as much agency as possible. Choices and consequences in the context of point and click adventures are only very rarely explored."
"Through the eyes of Eevi, we will look at a world in which multinational corporations and tech giants have been given free reign over our lives, and we will let the player make their own decisions within the story we are trying to tell," Falko continued. "Violence vs pacifism, subterfuge vs honesty, thought vs instinct - we will explore all those themes. But we will also stay true to the roots of point and click adventures; things will always have a bit of a humorous undertone."
Key Features:
- Logical Puzzles: We try to keep all puzzles strictly logical, so that no 'LET'S TRY ALL THE THINGS RANDOMLY!' scenario ever arises.
- Choices and Consequences: many puzzles in the game will be solvable via different means, changing the story.
- Extensive Lore: the player will collect lore by interacting with the game world. Lore can be used for puzzles or dialogs to produce different outcomes.
- Futuristic Technology: the main character is able to hack into electronic devices and use her artificial titanium claws to attack or defend herself.
- Fancy characters: Eevi will meet lots of weird and wacky characters, befitting the dystopian scenario.
Born Punk is in development for Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC, Android, and iOS.
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