How many times can video games riff on that one episode of Dr. Who with the crying statues? At least once again. Surgeon Simulator creators Bossa have just announced Don’t Get Got, a game in which you and up to seven of your so-called friends are trapped in a immense school with randomized cells and secure rooms. Also at school: a bunch of creepy boys in shorts and suspenders.
Today it is available in early access. Yes, they came at us like a spooky Jack-in-the-box. Calm your nerves and watch the trailer.
As the recording shows, little boys only move when you’re not looking at them or when you can’t see them. You probably don’t need a PhD in Who to know what play strategy this entails: keep a flashlight charged with batteries, travel in a group, looking in different directions, and try not to turn your back to any empty space.
The problem is that some tasks seem to require looking away from the surroundings – for example, operating a music box while completely still or using a scanner. The other problem is that you have a sanity bar – I’m not sure what the effects of running out are, but I doubt they’re helpful. Another problem is that some of your friends are jerks. I mean, the game encourages them to be bastards. I won’t call your friends bastards, except, you know, her. “Use the environment and cooperate with other players until they no longer serve your needs” – the Steam page sums up.
Don’t Get Got started life as a gamejam project and will be available in early access for about a year. The current version includes one map, game mode, character and enemy type. Version 1.0 “will definitely include more content in terms of maps, characters, enemy types, items, etc.” They also intend to operate this period to test radically different ideas, which means there may be experimental features that we test at EA but choose not to make available in the final version.”
While impressively spooky in its own right, Don’t Get Got feels like another challenger to Lethal Company’s throne, with none of that game’s cosmic grotesque. The title also sounds a bit “How are you, kids”, but not that I’m judging.
Still, I’m a fan of Dr. Who’s Weeping Angels – it’s one of two current Who episodes I’ve ever watched, the other being the one with the library where the shadows eat people. I also really like Bossa, who has been going through hard times recently. So maybe I’ll find time for a trip to school.
