No More Robots will publish the pixelated art role-playing game Family Man, which asks you how far you will go into a life of crime for the sake of making ends meet for your family.
Manchester, England-based No More Robots is a young indie games publisher that brought us the downhill biking game Descenders. Now it’s going in a very different direction with Family Man, which was created by British game studio Broken Bear Games. The game is set to debut in early 2019 on the PC and consoles.
With its Minecraft-like art style, it seems like a lighthearted game. But as you can see from the trailer, Family Man depicts one man’s descent into a moral quagmire as he loses his job and can’t figure out how to pay the bills.
“The lighthearted visual style juxtaposed with the more serious tone is definitely the aim,” said Mike Rose, cofounder of No More Robots, in an email to GamesBeat. “We’re going for something along the lines of Breaking Bad, with some dark humor mixed in with the serious tone. It’s more the moral dilemma of a person being pushed to the edge. It’s up to the player to decide how far they take it.”
The game is a first-person story-led role-playing game. The main character owes money to the mob and has 30 days to pay it back. He has lost his job and has to decide if he will flip burgers and earn an honest living, barely hanging on. Or will you decide to take on dirty jobs for more cash, earning more money but potentially pushing your family away?
Family Man takes place in a quaint seaside village, where regular people are going about their everyday lives, unaware of your situation. Players can choose to help their fellow neighbors, earning rewards and bonuses for gaining their trust … or ruin their lives through various cartel jobs.
It’s your life. For every decision that Family Man throws at you, you have different ways to handle it, No More Robots said. 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.
Every decision you make not only affects the neighborhood, but it also directly affects your family. 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.
It reminds me of Papers, Please, where you play a border crossing immigration officer. You have to decide who to let through and also make ends meet. Likewise, Family Man requires a careful balance of help and hindrance for those players who want to survive the month. Will you rack up the cash to pay off the mob, or will you find yourself six feet under?
Family Man’s closed PC beta will happen in late 2018, through the official Family Man Discord. No More Robots has also published Descenders, Not Tonight, and Hypnospace Outlaw.