We Happy Few takes the main stage at E3

There you are, you nearly missed the piñata!  We Happy Few is a great success story from Compulsion Games who raised over a quarter of a million US dollars last year in a crowdfunding campaign to fund the production of this disturbing yet inspiring original game.

Described by the developers as  “a game of paranoia and survival, in a drugged-out, dystopian English city in 1964”, the game’s story is set after an alternative World War II where Germany invaded England and were only driven out by the citizens of  the city Wellington Wells who carried out a “very bad thing”.   Society pretty much collapses in this city, and overcome with guilt, the residents take a drug called Joy that makes all memories of anything bad and the “very bad thing” disappear.

In this game you play a “Downer”, a member of society who chooses not to take Joy.  They must escape the city at any cost, even if it means stealing, violence and taking small amounts of the drug to fit in.  The gameplay itself runs like a first perspective movie with a wonderfully creepy vibe and as the game features permadeath (ie. when you die, game over), each game experience is promised to be uniquely different.

It was announced at E3 2016 that We Happy Few will be available on Xbox One Preview  and via Steam for PC dystopians on July 26 2016.  There is no need to pop a Joy pill however, the game will also be made available in the “near future” for Playstation 4 Downers.

While we wait for society to implode with rose coloured servitude, check out the demo video and  watch those wonderful citizens of Wellington Wells smash that piñata until all the candy comes out. (warning: not for kiddies or those trying to cut back on their, um, sugar).