| BRIAN’S GAME of the week |
| We Are The Caretakers (Early Access) |
| PLATFORM |
| PC/Steam |
| Early Access. Coming to Xbox later this year. |
| DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: |
| DEVELOPER: Heart Shaped Games LLC PUBLISHER: Heart Shaped Games LLC |
| RELEASE DATE: |
| Thursday, April 22, 2021 |
| Earth Day! |
| VIDEO |
| https://youtu.be/hmxVY9TjT_Q?t=32 |
| Me Playing – Do you think you could play the audio (at low volume) to the game when we play the video for the stream? It is muted enough that I think the podcast listeners would enjoy it as background music and may help set the mood. |
| AUDIO CLIPS |
| https://studiom80.com/brian/boopshow-288-wearethecaretakers-part-1.mp3 |
| ^ Launch Trailer Audio |
| https://studiom80.com/brian/boopshow-288-wearethecaretakers-part-2.mp3 |
| ^ Game Play Audio |
| HOW LONG TO BEAT |
| More than 4 hours 🙂 |
| https://howlongtobeat.com |
| IS THERE ANY DEALS |
| $19.99 |
| https://isthereanydeal.com/game/wearecaretakers/info/ |
| DESCRIPTION |
| We Are The Caretakers is a sci-fi turn-based squad management RPG. Assemble arcane teams of protectors to defend your planet and the endangered wildlife you rely on. Unite the world against an extraterrestrial threat. Fight for our future. An afrofuturist sci-fi squad management RPG about protecting endangered animals and your planet from extinction. Recruit, train, manage and build squads of arcane protectors called The Caretakers, after the massive energy barrier that separates you from a wider universe mysteriously falls. Blending inspirations from Ogre Battle, XCOM, Darkest Dungeon, and Northgard, We Are The Caretakers is a strategy game like nothing else you’ve played before. Grow a resistance of over 70 characters while managing your reputation, funds, animals, and alliances. Heart Shaped Games donates 10% of net revenue from the We Are The Caretakers game to Wildlife Conservation Network to protect rhinos in the wild. |
| EXPERIENCE |
| Poaching the Raun. Before playing We Are The Caretakers I did not think there was a market outside of Wakanda in the MCUs Black Panther for Aftofuturist Sci-Fi. Boy was I wrong. There is a thriving book market based on the topic. This game is in early early access. So keep that in mind when investing your $20 dollars. The developers are active in the Steam Forums. They are looking for feedback on what they have so far and where they should take the game. Where to focus. They have a great core game but need some strong leadership to create a roadmap for success. Inspired by Turn Based Encounters like Ogre Battle/Last Remnant and Squad Building like in XCOM and semi-pacifist encounters based on Will Power and Stamina that ends in geopolitical discourse to handle your reputation amongst the citizens of your circular community. No real bad guys, just conflicting needs and a little bit of greed that can hopefully be reformed. Up to 9 squads to deploy. Train and upgrade your Caretakers. More than job classes. Healers, Tanks, Diplomats? Permanent consequences! Negotiate, Bribe, Defend or whatever it takes to keep up your reputation and be effective at bringing balance to human needs and greed vs nature. Complex relationship management on a small scale and large scale. Your squads and relationships create an organization with a reputation. Control the technology by choosing your research (Skills). Small and Large. You get a baby Raun and they are more than just a pet. They fight along side your squad. Play in survival mode or story mode. Survival mode is essentially protect the Raun for x-number of days from poachers. |
| Boop’s Patented 10 Point Rating System |
| Art/Animation: One of the most unique aspects of this game are provided by Anthony Jones (former Activision-Blizzard Artist) that brings this world to life. Large Mask/Headgear reminds me of Warframe but there is a lot more going on if you look closer. |
| Music/Effects: The music is good in places. So So in others. The Effects (especially in encounters) are muted or non-existent. Some of the exploration map clicks and bonks remind me of AOE or CIV |
| V/O: This game needs some V/O! |
| World Building: A lot of character building but only a framework of world building. I would appreciate a little more big story. |
| Currency/Loot: Reputation, Tech for upgrades and Tributes for a deployment economy that can be affected by bribes! |
| AI/NPCs: A lot of dialogue encounters with NPCs. AI is competent at giving me a challenge. |
| Controls: Keyboard and Mouse. It works. |
| Interface: Pretty basic. I didn’t have too much trouble getting to where I was going. |
| Replay/Endgame: If you like Turn-Based Encounters like in Ogre Battle or Last Remant and Squad building like in XCom you will probably enjoy this. |
| Score: |
| I give “We Are The Caretakers” a 6 Squads out of 10 Pacheyderms of Early Access please check back later |
| LINKS |
| http://www.wearethecaretakers.com |
| https://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=We Are The Caretakers (Early Access) |
| https://www.igdb.com/search?type=1&q=We Are The Caretakers (Early Access) |
| LEARN MORE |
| https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Afrofuturism |
| Tags: Grand Strategy, Turn Based Combat, Early Access, geopolitics, Squad Management |
| SCOTT GUESS MY GAME |
| Play on show |
| BRIAN GUESS MY GAME |
| https://brian.studiom80.com/boop288-thegamename.mp3 |
| hint: 1991 |
| Next Week (optional) |
| SCOTT: Dunno |
| BRIAN: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Thanks Andrew) |
