Dyscourse is described by the Owlchemy Labs team as: “a PC survival game like you’ve never seen. Emergent story, group psychology, and the struggle to endure, in the absurd Owlchemy style.” That description alone was enough to get me to sign up. If you need more, here’s a description of the plot:

You are Rita and she is you. Two years out of college with a supposedly prestigious art degree and you’ve been putting it to good use as a full time coffee barista. Your luck may not be the best, but hey — at least your latte foam art is exceptional!

Speaking of luck…oh, right. Your plane crashed, you didn’t watch the boring safety video, and now you’re stranded on this wretched island with a bunch of mouth-breathing tourists. It was bad enough having them kicking your seat on the flight — now they’re your only key to survival. Is Rita compassionate towards her fellow castaways? Does she work with everyone towards the greater good? Is she a harsh survivalist, out for her own interests? Remember, you are Rita and she is you. What kind of person are you today?

Owlchemy says that they want to focus more on the human element of survival rather than the resource management that most survival games (e.g. Don’t Starve) work with. They also want to present a story that has truly dynamic storytelling, with many choices, instead of the illusion of choice most games give you.

It’s not all about talking, though. As Rita, you’ll be able to sneak, hunt, use projectiles, and experience fight-or-flight. The game will use memory markers instead of a map, so you’ll use a mind map instead – a set of footsteps that will lead you to what you’re looking for. This game looks amazing, and dialogue/storytelling is something that’s a very big deal to me, so I really want them to succeed! They’re building Dyscourse in Unity, and it will be out for Steam on PC, Mac, and Linux. 

Owlchemy Labs also brought us Aaaaaculus!, Jack Lumber, Smuggle Truck, and Super Ramen Brothers. They collaborated on Shoot Many Robots, Aaaaa! F=ma, and Aaaaa! for the Awesome! Back Dyscourse here – they need about $15,000 to make their goal. It’s expected to be out in September 2014.