Family Man is a morality tale about owing money to the mob

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Family Man looks like it could be a very interesting sort of experience. Visually, it's colorful and blocky, like a Minecraft-inspired first-person adventure in a quaint, quiet seaside town. But the actual gameplay, about a man who has 30 days to repay a heavy debt to the mob, is something else entirely. 

As your fellow villagers go about their lives, entirely unaware of your troubles, you have to decide how you're going to handle them. Being a good neighbor and productive citizen is tough, and the pay isn't great—but the more lucrative (and unsavory) opportunities that present themselves carry other costs. 

"For every decision that Family Man throws at you, there are different ways to handle it. Your moral compass must guide you, leading you to earn cash the legal, more difficult way—or instead break a few laws here and there," publisher No More Robots said. 

"Your choices impact how your family sees you, and can lead to your household becoming stronger than ever... or the breakdown of your marriage and relationship with your son." 

Of course, if you don't pay off your debt, you'll end up like Joe Pesci in a cornfield. That's not really a desirable outcome either. 

Family Man won't be out until sometime in 2019, but a closed beta will take place near the end of this year. You can sign up for that through the Family Man Discord channel, and learn more about the game at familymangame.com

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.