Deadly Premonition and D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die creator Hidetaka "Swery" Suehiro announced his newest game, The Good Life, in August, describing it as a "mystery RPG" set in a small town in England where everyone turns into cats at night. The debut trailer, released a week later, didn't do a whole lot to clarify that undeniably bizarre setup, but it did have clips of cats, and that makes it a net positive as far as I'm concerned.
Today Swery and his team at White Owls took the next step by launching a crowdfunding campaign on Fig. The studio is seeking a whopping $1.5 million "to achieve Swery-level greatness," and backers can opt for conventional reward tiers or actual investments in the project.
"This being our first original title, we intend to pool our collective experiences to create a high quality and totally bonkers experience for you all," Swery said, presumably while stroking a white Persian with malevolent eyes. "Thankfully, White Owls isn't creating The Good Life alone—we are lucky to have established an incredible partnership with development partners, Grounding and Camouflaj, who are both dependable allies. I'm confident they will help us create something filled with maximum SWERISM. With your support, The Good Life and the town of Rainy Woods will grow into something truly wonderful. Please help us to create the happiest town in the world! I love you all!"
I can certainly understand why Rainy Woods is such a happy place: There's no internet, no cell service, no Starbucks, five pubs, and sheep can graze wherever they want. But it's the residents, in both human and feline aspects, who form the core of the game.
"All townspeople operate on a 24 hour schedule. Everyone lives a different life. Each character has a unique personality and lives out a unique life. Even though they live in a game world, they worry, suffer, have fun, love, and hate as much as any real person," the Fig description states. "As you make a life for yourself in the happiest and most bizarre town in the world, you'll send out reports on these villagers and the town they live in. Events change depending on the time of day, weather and season."
But what begins as a simple, slightly greasy-sounding investigation into rural English life takes a turn for the grim when the pastor's daughter is found in a river, murdered—pierced through the heart by an ancient sword. Deepening the mystery is the message she passed to you the very first time you met: "We need to accept everything that comes to us. That's the key to achieving happiness."
The Good Life Fig campaign is live now and runs for 40 days, meaning you've got until October 12 to make your move.
