We Happy Few was first revealed earlier this year. Indie studio Compulsion Games showed the title at PAX East before launching a Kickstarter campaign last month. The campaign was successful, netting over 330k from its 250k asking price. Crowdfunding was designed to aid in the game’s open development and add new gameplay.
That open development starts now as We Happy Few enters Early Access. Currently Steam, GoG, and Xbox support Early Access programs for games in development.
“Since March 2015, we have been building We Happy Few openly with our community,” writes Compulsion Games on the Steam Early Access page. “This is a fully 3D procedural world, intended to be played over and over again with multiple playstyles, and with multiple characters. We need solid feedback to make sure that we create the best game we can. We think Early Access is the best way to do that.”
The retro-future setting looks heavily inspired from popular dystopian games like BioShock and Fallout. Gameplay is more stealth than action however (there is melee combat, but no guns). We Happy Few instead focuses on hiding in plain sight. Here’s the full description from the press release:
“Set in a dystopian 1960s English city, We Happy Few is the tale of a group of slightly terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial. To find your way out of Wellington Wells and reconstruct the past, you’ll have to blend in with its citizens, who don’t take kindly to those who don’t abide by their not-so-normal rules.”
The developers confirm that the Early Access version is mostly feature complete. “There is a lot of content still to be created, including more islands, encounters, NPC behaviors, gameplay features, and a proper final challenge/ending.” Compulsion Games hopes to use feedback over the next six to 12 months, addressing changes and adding new content about once a month.
No final date has been given, but the current price of $29.99 will be higher after We Happy Few is fully released.
