American Arcadia got a brand new gameplay trailer at the Summer Game Fest, but now we've sat down with developer Out of the Blue Games to explore exactly what the game is all about as part of the Future Games Show powered by Mana.
The titular Arcadia is a retro-futuristic city where its citizens do enjoy a comfortable and luxurious life, but, unbeknownst to them, they also spend every minute of their lives being broadcast live on a TV show. If your personal ratings drop, you're at risk of the worst fate ever - not cancellation, but death.
The game will follow two characters - one inside the city of Arcadia, and one outside. Trevor is our Arcadian.
"Trevor is just an average person living a mundane life, but the problem is, since he's living inside the TV show, that is not interesting for the audience. It doesn't make him popular," says Tatiana Delgado Yunquera, co-founder and creative director at Out of the Blue Games. "The ratings are not working, and the TV show just wants to get rid of him. So when he realizes that everything was a lie, his life changes totally. That's the moment when he is going to escape."
The other character, a currently unnamed woman, is going to help him. And between the perspectives of these two characters, it opens up the game to two distinct gameplay styles.
"In American Arcadia we have two totally different types of gameplay," explained lead game designer, Alvaro Gonzalez. "On the one hand we have the side-scroller in 2.5D, with action and platforming, chases, and of course, puzzles."
"On the other hand, we have the first-person gameplay, with a slightly more leisurely tone that leads us to experience exploration, stealth and hacking mechanics, always using puzzles as a central part of the gameplay."
Interestingly, the team also wants the game to have a strong message for its players.
"What we want to tell you is that you don't need to live just for getting likes on Instagram or other social networks," says Yunquera. "Just do the things that make you happy and you don't need to care about what the others think."
American Arcadia is due to launch an at an unknown point in the future on PC. Make sure to add it to your Steam wishlist now.
For more awesome games featured during today's Future Games Show, check out our official steam page.
