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My Work Is Not Yet Done Will Put You Back In Your Place In Nature

With a new year comes a load of new Kickstarter projects, and My Work Is Not Yet Done is a truly engrossing one. The game is all about the human experience of being lost in a dense forest, where nature refuses to embrace you and comfort you like city surroundings do, instead forcing you to feel isolated and alone, driving you slowly insane. There’s quite a lot to the game, and I can see it being very popular with those who want a bit more from their indie games collection. Check out the trailer for the game below and read on for more details.

Pilgrimage Simulator

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My Work Is Not Yet Done is named by developers Sutemi Productions as a pilgrimage simulator. It follows the final days of inquisitor Avery, the last surviving member of an excursionary effort, which was doomed from the start, which was created by the Empire who wanted to establish themselves within the remote Reach. Avery is given the mission of uncovering the source of an unidentified signal, which will force her deep into the wilderness which she must survive against every minute of the day.

The game is part of a wider universe that explore different aspects of theological and cosmic horror, giving you some hint about where it’s heading. Players will need to survive against all the element, and the different benefits and pitfalls of each one, such as disease, whilst also exploring procedurally generated areas pocketed with handcrafted locations. The mix of environment and locations makes for a world that’s just as disorienting with the third playthrough as it is in the first.

A Different Sort of Survival Game

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In My Work Is Not Yet Done players won’t have to fight any enemies, this is a combat free experience. Instead players need to use authentic bushcraft techniques to navigate their surroundings, with a systemically-reactive survival system that focuses both on Avery’s physical and mental heath. Real time weather will force players to take shelter when it begins to rain, or change how they’re playing when it gets too hot in order to avoid causing any permanent damage to Avery. Not only this, but environments will react to Avery’s condition both physically and mentally, though I’m not sure how that will come into gameplay just yet.

Environmental Story

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Similarly to Dark Souls, the story of My Work Is Not Yet Done is told through the environment. Lore seeps through the very trees, with tidbits of story eked out over time as players uncover more of their surroundings. The visuals are very basic with 1-bit graphics, but this feels intentional because it makes your mind fill in the gaps of colour and detail with vibrant imagery that’s unique to each player. An unscripted narrative also allows for the player to create their own story each time, revealing new pieces of information as they work to simply survive in this harsh environment.

The game really is one of the most exciting Kickstarter projects that I’ve seen in a long time. I think it’s the ambiguity of the story and the environment that have me hooked. It looks a lot like Return of the Obra Dinn, which also used low quality visuals to push players to fill in the gaps, but it had a cracking story. At the time of writing this project has just started, and is at £480 of the required £5,652 goal, but I could see it easily reaching that from enough interested indie game fans. Check out the project, and maybe donate, here.

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