From eating the elderly to selling kids, Afterworld gives you the freedom to do terrible things in the post-apocalypse — 'We shouldn't judge the player' says director | Tech Radar
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From eating the elderly to selling kids, Afterworld gives you the freedom to do terrible things in the post-apocalypse — 'We shouldn't judge the player' says director
Afterworld is all about making your own story, and it could get pretty dark...
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Afterworld is a new strategy game by Paradox Interactive
It tasks the player with building and managing a post-apocalyptic society
Director Dan Lind says the studio won't "judge the player" for any terrible choices
Upcoming grand strategy game Afterworld is all about building your own society in a post-apocalyptic North America, and, like other games by developer Paradox Interactive, it offers an incredible level of freedom to run things the way you want.
In a recent interview with Tech Radar Gaming, director Dan Lind opened up about some of the emergent possibilities that players might encounter as they build their own stories in the wasteland.
"A lot of it will come from the kind of things that you have to adapt your society to," he began. "One story could be like, 'oh, I found like this huge colony of only the elderly or something, and I took them in, and we worked with a lot of tech that meant people lived for a long time, but they're not able to contribute work-wise, and society is struggling...
"So now we figure out ways where they can, say, jump off cliffs at a certain age for the betterment of everybody, or something like that, right? The story becomes 'whoa, how did you end up there? Why do you have this kind of society? Well, it was because this thing happened and I had to make this thing illegal, so nobody could use this resource, and now we're all vegetarians or something. Those are the kind of stories I think you're going to get from this."
In addition to managing your own civilization, Afterworld also has you interacting with those ruled by others — including powerful, ancient tyrants who run large swathes of the wasteland and can subjugate you with military might.
Afterworld director explains the fantasy post-apocalyptic setting, and the pub trip that inspired the game
Director says Afterworld has 'some of the deepest simulation' of any Paradox strategy game
The studio behind Crusader Kings and Hearts of Iron just revealed its first non-historical title in a decade — Afterworld is a new strategy game set in an original post-apocalyptic America
"I also think you're going to get interesting stories when it comes to the big political space where it's like, 'well, I decided to betray this tyrant in this way, so now I have to manage all of New York' or something like that."
Lind said he thinks that the stories players create will make for perfect water-cooler conversation, and went on to reveal that the game won't prevent you from doing evil things like cannibalism or selling members of your society to other groups.
"One of the rules that we have is that we shouldn't judge the player for their terrible choices," he explained. "The game will, for sure, in the sense that your population is not gonna necessarily just like you doing terrible things.... Unless you have a terrible population. Maybe you managed to get them to that point, or you found some people like that.
"This [freedom] is definitely where I see the game sticking out a little bit. It's expected of the setting, right? People don't expect people to behave normally and with a moral code in the apocalypse [...] but as you develop, you can take it in different directions. There's certainly an advantage to having a society that is not doing too many crazy things if you want to grow."
The director went on to say that he's "super excited" to see what players manage to achieve when Afterworld arrives: "For all our games, that's the fun part. Someone's like, 'Whoa, you did that! That's crazy!' Right?"
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Dash is an experienced tech journalist who specializes in video games, electronic entertainment products, and the wider industry that surrounds them. He currently serves as the Gaming Editor at Tech Radar, leading our review, preview, feature, and news coverage of the latest and greatest releases.
Before joining the team, he was Contributing Writer at PLAY (formerly Official Play Station Magazine UK) and has written articles for many of the UK's other biggest gaming magazines including the likes of Edge, PC Gamer, and SFX.
Now, when he's not getting his greasy little mitts on the newest hardware or gaming gadget, he can be found listening to J-pop or feverishly devouring the latest Nintendo Switch otome.
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From eating the elderly to selling kids, Afterworld gives you the freedom to do terrible things in the post-apocalypse — 'We shouldn't judge the player' says director
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