Orphan Age is a simulator game where the children have inherited the earth — but unfortunately, it’s been ravaged by war. French indie developer Studio Black Flag is launching a Kickstarter campaign for it today, and a playable alpha demo is available now. The team is aiming for a release on PC this December.
Much like 11 Bit Studios’ excellent survival sim game, This War of Mine, Orphan Age is all about the civilian casualties of conflict. Players are responsible for a ragtag group of children, each of whom has different skills. They must gather resources, build, and attempt to eke out a living in a bombed-out city as war rages around them. Theirs is a futuristic dystopian world, and players will determine if they become looters or hackers, all in the name of survival.
“Orphan Age is an extremely personal project for me, that I’ve been working on it on and off for around nine years now. It really is a passion project for me and I can’t wait finally be able to share more about it,” said Studio Black Flag founder Adrien Forestier in a statement.
Like This War of Mine and 11 Bit’s recent successful icy steampunk game Frostpunk, Studio Black Flag seems like it wants the player to deliberate over the morality of their decisions. Some interesting choices could arise, especially since the game centers on a group of children. Though Orphan Age seems grim, hopefully it won’t devolve into an all-out The Lord of the Flies situation.
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“The game has a strong message that we’re not shying away from,” said Forestier. “We wanted to turn the often idyllic backdrop of the life-sim genre on its head, and ask the question what will the future we have made be like for our children to grow up in.”
