Darwin Project
What happens if you combine survival simulator and battle royale? In theory, the result is incredibly interesting gameplay, in which you need not only to try to hold out until the end of the round, but also to deal with competitors. Actually, this is approximately what will have to be done in the multiplayer game Darwin Project.
The Hunger and Cold Games
Distant dystopian future. The earth is sinking into the next Ice Age, people suffer from a lack of bread and circuses. To cheer up citizens a little, the Darwin Project is launched - a half scientific experiment, half bloody and violent show.
The synopsis of the Darwin Project is pretty simple. A dozen prisoners are being thrown into a small snow-covered valley somewhere in the Rocky Mountains of Northern Canada. They will have to survive in frosty conditions and fight each other in order to receive the coveted reward - freedom and a couple of more material bonuses.
For effective survival in Northern Canada, each of the prisoners is equipped with an ax and a bow before disembarking. These weapons will help you gather resources that are essential to your survival. Or deal with other prisoners.
Ax and bow are the basic weapons that each of the prisoner characters has. In addition, they can choose additional equipment before disembarking. This can be a bear trap, trap cages for hunting hares and slightly larger bipedal game, hooks, gliders and much more. You can take a maximum of three items from additional equipment with you.
All this stuff can be further improved, crafted and modified. So, if you have experience in survival, then you can come to the beginning of the battle royale heavily armed and well armored. But there is one more factor, besides bad weather and opponents, which can complicate the gameplay. However, more on that later.
If the player is very lucky, he can find electronics. Instruments are often issued also after the first murder is committed. Electronics provide a significant advantage in combat or a good boost to speed, making a character equipped with it especially dangerous, fast and generally cool.
Eleventh Player in the Darwin Project
Ten prisoners land on the field, and the Darwin Project is an 11-player multiplayer battle royale. What is the eleventh doing? And he is directing this show!
The player who has been cast as the Director in the Darwin Project gains full control over the map, locations and events that take place during survival. He can make certain areas inaccessible for visiting by activating the standard mechanics of the "royal battle" with a shrinking ring, he is able to donate electronics and resources to one of the prisoners, start commenting on what is happening, and so on.
The Director's capabilities, unfortunately, are limited. Yes, he can make the game much more spectacular and interesting, but it will not work to shower the characters with resources or other gifts from above - the number of action cards is not unlimited. Therefore, the Director has to show imagination and ingenuity.
Darwin Project Survival and Battle Royale Features
Despite the word "survival" in the description of the game, the Darwin Project does not seek to turn into some kind of hardcore survival simulator. It's more of a spectacular battle royale. Players need to collect two main resources - wood and darwinium.
Wood is used to craft various useful devices - improvements to an ax, bow, arrows and other weapons. Darwinium is designed for pumping the character himself. There are three classes for prisoner players in the Darwin Project, but they do not add role-playing depth, since the differences between them are almost minimal.
At the same time, there are more than enough trees at the level - this is Northern Canada, everything is covered with continuous forests! There is no particular shortage of Darwinium either - so even handouts from the director are not encouraging.
A rather interesting idea is tied here with the crafting mechanics. Every time after a character makes something, trash will be left behind. You cannot remove it. If another player finds this junk, he can find out the location of the character. So in the "royal battle" the tracking mechanics are supplemented - you can move along the abandoned heaps of garbage in order to find the enemy and deal with him. Well, ordinary tracks in the snow (this is Canada!) Also give out movement.
Given that the cards can sometimes be very large, the gameplay periodically rolls into "tracking targets". You wander through the Canadian forests, looking for an enemy who leaves traces and often confuses them. And according to your footprints, there is another player who also wants to achieve first place in the Darwin Project.
