We Happy Few was one of the surprising breakout games during Microsoft’s E3 conference in June, and the level of intrigue surrounding the game is still growing. The gameplay was just creepy enough, the characters just troubled enough, to leave us wanting more details. Now we have them. Compulsion Games, the indie developer behind We Happy Few, has released PC specs and a debut price for Xbox One, PC, and Early Access supporters. The Game Preview launches on July 26 and will be available at $29.99. However, The Compulsion team states, “The price of the game is likely to go up as we head towards 1.0, but we want to confirm to everyone that we will not be discounting the game during the Early Access period.”
We Happy Few is set in 1964 in the drugged-out, dystopian English city of Wellington Wells, a city greatly affected by World War II. It is the story of “moderately terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial.” The inhabitants of Wellington Wells take what’s known as “Joy” pills, and it is the player’s job to blend in with this creepily cheerful city while trying to escape it. It’s either that or risk being branded as a “Downer”.
If you die in the game, there is no option to start from a previous save. The game is designed to be replayed, and therefore the player will restart in a brand new city each time they die. The challenging, yet interesting aspect of We Happy Few is that all combat is melee and stealth are highly encouraged. However, something tells me sneaking around dozens of pill-popping happy people are not going to be easy, and the game is also going to require you to stop and thoughtfully consider your next actions.
I’m excited for We Happy Few because Compulsion wowed me with their first game, Contrast. It told the story of a young, impressionable girl named in Didi and her only friend Dawn in the 1920s. You played as Dawn and were able to move between the 3D world and Dawn’s shadow in the 2D world, in order to solve the necessary puzzles. The game had a film-noir vibe to it, coupled with the smooth jazz of the era, and the story unfolded with each conquered puzzle.
Already, Compulsion Games is known for telling mature, off the beaten path stories, with dark themes and characters who are flawed yet still highly relatable in a sense. Though We Happy Few is obviously a departure in story and theme from what we’ve seen in Contrast, that dark tone we’ve come to expect still remains, and it is sure to be much bolder in We Happy Few.
While unfortunately there isn’t a release date (or plans) for a PS4 version of the game yet, Compulsion says “never say never”. Hopefully, we can get more information after the release on Xbox One and PC.
Below are the recommended specs for We Happy Few:
Processor | Quad-core Intel or AMD, 2.5 GHz or faster |
Memory | 8 GB RAM |
Video Card | NVIDIA GeForce 660 GTX or AMD Radeon 7870 HD series or higher |
DirectX | DirectX 11, Shader Model 5 |
Operating System | 64 bit, Windows 7 and above |
Minimum specs:
Processor | Triple-core Intel or AMD, 2.0 GHz or faster |
Memory | 8 GB RAM |
Video Card | NVIDIA GeForce 460 GTX or AMD Radeon 5870 HD series or higher Mobile: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M or higher. |
DirectX | DirectX 11, Shader Model 4 |
Operating System | 64 bit, Windows 7 and above |