Retro sci-fi epic The Next World launches on Steam March 7th (Video)

Indie studio Illuminated Games is set to release The Next World on Steam for Windows, OSX & Linux desktop PCs March 7th.

The Next World is a strategy/visual novel hybrid in the vein of The Banner Saga, King of Dragon Pass and Oregon Trail. Your colony ship has crashed on a barren world. A mere 758 colonists survive. The captain is dead and all eyes are on you – will you keep the human race alive by making the tough decisions that no one else can?
•Choose their strategy – starvation, sabotage and even black market moonshine will compete for your attention as you build new structures, salvage the wreckage for valuable resources, and try to squeak by another day.
•Live their story – the relationships you forge along the way lend real weight to the outcome of your choices as you lead this desperate band of survivors towards one of several possible conclusions.

TNW is the brainchild of game writer & novelist Ryan Span (Frontiers, Euclidean, Mount&Blade, The Imposter Prince). Ryan hopes that genre newcomers will find the retro sci-fi style, hand-drawn art and colorful characters engaging & accessible, while genre veterans will enjoy the strategic twist.

About This Game

Welcome to The Next World – a strategic visual novel by Illuminated Games, telling the story of a crashed colony ship and its ragged group of survivors, trying to make a new life on the wrong planet.

TNW is a visual novel/strategy hybrid in the vein of The Banner Saga, King of Dragon Pass and Oregon Trail, with an emphasis on planning and decision-making over combat. Keep as many colonists alive as possible by making the tough decisions which will determine how your adventure unfolds. Build colony structures, salvage wreckage, resolve problems with multiple branching outcomes, and manage your colony’s dwindling supplies; all while playing through an intense story of political intrigue, sabotage, desperation and survival, by writer Ryan A. Span (FRONTIERS, Mount&Blade, Euclidean).

◾Robust strategy system – manage your colony on a hostile world & keep your people alive

◾Fully hand-drawn art in retro-industrial sci-fi style

◾Two different protagonists to choose from, each with their own quirks and methods

◾Colourful and memorable cast of NPCs

◾Dozens of events to help you or challenge you

◾Hundreds of decisions to make, each with its own consequences