'Contrast' Maker Compulsion Games Announces 'We Happy Few'

Canadian developer Compulsion Games may not be in the big league, but it had made a name for itself with a highly stylised and arty 2013 game called "Contrast." Last month the developer had teased their second project by releasing even more stylised and arty concept art on a brand new website. The developer has just revealed the name of their follow-up game as "We Happy Few."

Described as a game set in a "retrofuturistic" city dubbed Wellington Wells, the art style of the game harks to a predominantly '60s aesthetic appeal with multi-coloured pastel shades and funky hairdos characteristic of that period. Not much information has been released on the official page, apart from the fact that the setting is a "drug-fuelled" dystopia that resembles a darker retro version of England.

The mysterious premise of "We happy Few" has been almost cryptically summarised as the story of "plucky bunch of moderately terrible people" who want the free themselves from a "lifetime of cheerful denial," according to Gamespot. The teaser trailer that goes along with the announcement gives the impression that the aforementioned drug-fuelled denizens could be high on Prozac, because the city apparently mandates everyone to be happy.

The trailer depicts the darker shade of the forced cheeriness permeating the city from the perspective of someone who seems to be reluctant to fake happiness. Compulsion Games' announcement states that the game will require players to blend in with other inhabitants of the city, who don't seem to tolerate anyone who doesn't play by their weird rules. The trailer shows the consequences of standing out from the cheery crowd by depicting the unnamed protagonist getting lynched by the angry mob.

Those who have played the "Bioshock" series of games will find similarity between it and "We happy Few's" "retrofuturistic" setting. Both games are set in a dystopian world inhabited with a bizarre cult-like world order. Like the "Bioshock" games, "We Happy Few" too has a strong aesthetic foundation built around a central theme.

The announcement states that the game is set to be showcased at PAX East. The developer has also encouraged gamers to participate in the pre-aplha programme that will be thrown open at the Boston event. Compulsion Games seems pretty gung-ho about incorporating user feedback into the core development. Its commitment towards this has been expressed with a promise to push "constant content updates" based on community feedback.

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We Happy Few Announcement Trailer (credit: Compulsion Games YouTube channel)