Ex-BioShock devs launch Kickstarter for surreal mystery The Black Glove
An abstract narrative adventure about a theatre of the absurd.
If you thought the Bioshock series' steampunk locales of Rapture and Columbia were too normal then you're in luck as nearly a dozen ex-Irrational staff have banded together following the studio's essential closure to create an even more whacked out environment to explore in the upcoming first-person game The Black Glove.
The place in question is the Equinox, a 1920s theatre "unstuck from conventional reality" where time flows backwards and mysterious spirits haunt the place in the form of an 80s arcade machine. It only gets stranger from there.
You play as the theatre's new curator, who must help its three artists in residence get their exhibits up to snuff. You do this by utilising a mysterious black glove and a Ouija board to travel into the artists' past to alter their medium, message and muse.
"Based on your decisions, the creators may become influenced by 8-bit video game music, 60s era pop art, Day of the Dead folk art, 70s cosmic comics, anime, multi-media experimental art, cyberpunk fiction, sad-eyed clown paintings, low-budget b-movies, and more," developer Day For Night Games explained on its Kickstarter page. "The choice is up to you."
As such, each time you play you'll be able to uncover new peculiar exhibits as you tamper with the origins of these expressive souls like Homer Simpson with a time-traveling toaster.
"The Black Glove is designed to be fun to replay many times over for gamers who want to see and hear everything," the developer stated. "Random surreal moments, challenging arcade feats, and dozens of unique narrative scenes and environments will make it a narrative game with surprising replayability."
Bankrolling a game of this ambition across a 16-person team isn't cheap, however, and Day For Night Games is looking for $550K to see The Black Glove through to the end. The good news is that it's already raised $44,169 in its first day and has 31 days left until its 7th November deadline.
The Black Glove is aiming for an October 2015 release on PC, Mac and Linux, although other platforms may be announced later. Backers can reserve a copy of the game for $20 or spend extra for some cool swag like a digital artbook, soundtrack and T-shirt.
