The Party is reasonably happy to announce that BLACK THE FALL is coming to PC, PS4 & Xbox One on July 11th. In less than 5 weeks, that is, you'll get a chance to manipulate Black, who'll manipulate other workers, who only know how to manipulate machines, to eventually, maybe, escape The System. If it sounds complicated, that's how it's supposed to be. This is a puzzle game and rebelling against oppressive political systems was never straight forward...
The Party approves sharing the love (the trailer and the news) wherever.
In the past decades surveillance evolved a lot, as both Orwell and Huxley have envisioned at the beginning of the century. Our safety used to lie in the hands of the local police officer, the personal guard, the handmaiden or the Communist neighbor, while today it’s in the hands of a modern Big Brother feeding on Big Data.
For our safety and comfort there are CCTVs, GPS tracking, Wi-fi, listening capabilities on mobile phones, laptops and even routers. Online behavior tracking is delivering us the ultimate personalized experience, but with every social media login it is also recording our every move in order for our profiles to be as accurate as possible for commercial use or political manipulation. That is for ads and news to be delivered in a way we’d buy without knowing we’re sold to – easily and willingly.
The only problem with (over)protection is that there’s a fine line between useful and abusive. We’d love to know that criminals can be tracked down by GPS or recorded phone conversations, recognized in CCTV footage and have their plans uncovered, before they even happen. And sometimes this actually happens, while other times surveillance is intentionally misused.
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#freedomiscontrol
80's Propaganda is 2017's Fake News
One of the key components of the Communist Oppression was the fabricated reality that was pushed forward as news in newspapers, on TV, on national radio, billboards and school handbooks.
On one hand, it was the leader himself who wanted to keep up appearances. One time Ceausescu had taken his hat off for a meeting with another country leader, but in an official picture that would make him look like a weaker person, so he asked that his hat would be photoshopped back on before being published in the newspaper. And it’s not just the things he’d ask for, he’d just expect for his employees to anticipate his quirky needs and avoid putting him in a less than great picture. Smart, I know!
On the other hand, any activity the leader would have was announced. So the institutions would put forward the best rooms, most docile personnel dressed in Sunday clothes, they'd bring forward the best products (even if they were created especially for the occasion). Some say Ceausescu had no clue of what was really happening in the country because everyone kept on putting up a show for him.
(Scott Edelman (an employee of the US State Department and currently an instructor at the US Air Force Academy) took this photo while he was posted in Romania during the mid-1980's.)
Now this looks like a distant crazy past, in a distant Eastern country, but propaganda is a powerful tool that has shapeshifted into fake news, thanks to internet and social media. We used to rely on news to find out about the world we can’t reach for ourselves, and we trusted that. There were fewer outlets and the distribution was under control. But now, anything can be published anywhere and fake news are omnipresent.
But then again, anyone who lives a regular life doesn’t have the time to check any information. So pick your sources wisely, question everything and always keep in mind that for the truth you hold dear right now, there is someone, somewhere, equally in love with their truth.
Never forget about the backfire effect and if this is your first encounter with the concept, here are some resources to on the matter:
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History's Loop GIF
Some years back, the western civilization was experiencing the cultural, industrial and economic climax. The middle class was expanding, the arts were flourishing and the scientific discoveries were popping like popcorn, significantly improving the quality of life. The traditional was slowly fading away, being replaced by the new, the western, the eccentric, by that which aligns to a new order. It was shallow, I know, the poor continued to be exploited and there was still famine in the world, but at least some of us were moving forward.
Yet the laws of Geo-politics, were not dormant. It was the perfect environment to strike and strive. Bloody actions were inevitable if you looked from the top downwards, yet doubtful if you looked around. These events had made a few people rich, retraced some borders, then left a world in financial decay and emotional ache. The perfect playground for authoritarian leaders to arise and thrive. Visionaries were hoping they’re dealing with isolated cases, yet these sugar-daddies were a growing trend.
Loved by the majority and even supported by some intellectuals, it was high time for the masses to be seduced into the arms of an authoritarian father figure who'd impose rules and would have solutions for a world that seemed to have gone mad.
One by one, some iconic nations elected the leaders they believed in. They voted for a better life, for safety, for common sense, for respect, with all the good intentions.
If right now, you feel like saying Erdogan, Putin, Trump, Brexit, Le Pen, Assad, well, your thoughts, not mine. I was hinting more towards Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Franco, Ceausescu, but you got the picture.
As an indie studio, we assumed a stance against any totalitarian / authoritarian / egalitarian regime by creating Black The Fall: the journey of an old machinist whose only purpose is to survive, by escaping Communism. We find it to be our duty to address our daily concerns through our work. When Black The Fall was just an idea, it was about here are bits and pieces of how we lived . But now it becomes more and more about here are bits and pieces of how we might live again.
And we are not the only ones in the industry standing up. Our brothers here have done a brilliant job at putting indie games in the service of sociopolitical wake-up calls. And this is just to name a few titles:
Papers Please - Play as an immigration inspector who controls the flow of people entering the Arstotzkan side of Grestin from Kolechia. Among the throngs of immigrants and visitors looking for work are hidden smugglers, spies, and terrorists.
Beholder - Play as a State-installed Landlord in a totalitarian State.
We Happy Few - an action/adventure game set in a drug-fuelled, retrofuturistic city in an alternative 1960s England.
1979 Revolution: Black Friday - a choice driven, narrative game that brings players into the brooding world of a nation on the verge of collapse.
Kommissar -a political prosecution simulator in a totalitarian regime.
Democracy is a fragile thing, heavily dependent on our everyday actions. It sometimes bothers, as we need to oblige by the voice of the many. I get it: I’m me, you’re you, we’re definitely not the many, but the selected few. Yet, we know from experience, that the most painful regime is to abide not the voice of the many, but that of the one... Could we be trapped in a history-repeating looped GIF?
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The Black The Fall Journey
Dear players,
There is more than two years since we’ve met you and we couldn’t be more grateful. On July 2014 we have enthusiastically shared our project and vision and you’ve supported us fully. Since then, the scope of the project grew and our vision enlarged. We now have a Beta version of Black The Fall, with a compelling story, an original game mechanic,thrilling visuals and unique sound. We think it is much better than our initial prototype and we are confident we did the right choice in deciding to improve our original idea. But this came with a price, which eventually everyone had to pay: time. We needed more time to rise to the level of our ambitions. And for your patience of bearing with us, we want to thank you.
As our journey might look confusing from the outside, here is a timeline we’d like to share with you.
YOU are part of our story and this will always be of great value to us. Thank you for your support and especially for your patience in the past two years!
PS: As there might be questions left unanswered, here is our FAQ section .
Happy Holidays from Black The Fall!
Yesterday evening, Black and The Pet insisted to go out in the backyard and take a picture for the Christmas postcard. They even took the time to build a snow-sentinel, to keep up appearances and avoid any suspicion related to confronting the state-controlled status. Also, the sooty snow helped with creating such a realistic Sentinel...we're impressed! Always thankful to Comrade Nature.
Anyway, what they'd really want to tell you, on behalf of everyone here, is that we're grateful for all the amazing people we've met in the past years. We're sending you all our best, prosperous and well-structured thoughts, as approved by The Party. Wishing you the very best for 2017!!!
Oh, and talking about 2017, that's when we'll release Black The Fall on Steam, PS4 and Xbox One. We hope that this will be one of the hundreds of smile-bringers next year :)
The City - New Screenshots
Beginning of this month we started revealing a series of visuals from the Beta version of our very own puzzle: Black The Fall. After getting a sore throat in the dusty Factory, surviving the shadows Into The Dark and taking a breath of The Mire's fresh air, Black is now getting his share of civilization in The City.
Or is he? Abandoned control rooms, active guards, windows closing and fear is what a communist city has in store for him. Looks like hope is slowly fading away for him. But you can't know for sure unless you walk in Black's shoes.
Black The Fall, the communist puzzle game, will be released end of Q1, 2017 on Steam, PS4 and Xbox One. Don't miss the date:
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Control Room
Lost and Found
The one and only - PCR!
No Intimacy Left
Bus stop
Monologue
Puzzled
Black The Fall - The Mire - New Screenshots
Last month, we began a visual journey within Black The Fall's bleak world by sharing with you the latest sneak peeks from The Factory and Into The Dark .
While you might have been familiar with the first two chapters thanks to the trailer and the the myriad of screenshots we have shared this year, the last two chapters will be rather surprising.
This week we present you The Mire. Below are some visual hints of what and whom Black will encounter outside the factory.
Finally out, now what?
Black and The Pet at crossroads
Sea of slaves
In the heat of the moment
Export production
Together in this, for better or worse
Bridge of slaves
Abandoned amusement park
Black, The Pet, The Gate, The City
Next stop? The City. But until then IndieDB is looking for the Indie Game of the Year 2016. If you feel like nominating us, just leave your vote here. Thank you!
*** Black The Fall is the communist puzzle game, developed by Sand Sailor Studio and published by Square Enix. It will be released in the first quarter of 2017 on Steam, PS4 and Xbox One, so beware and prepare.
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Please Vote Us For: “I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award"
If playing our demo got you saying “I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award", then please vote us on Steam.
The Factory & Into The Dark- New Screenshots
As the story unravels, more and more it's revealed of Black The Fall's distopyan world.
The story begins as Black finds the opportunity to escape from the factory and try to run away from the oppressive system. Below are some sneak-peek images of this breaking-out-of-the-factory odyssey.
This is where it all begins...
The world is uncovered through the breaking glass...
