Those of you who follow our social media channels know we are thinking about the next Cherry Picked Game. The poll leader is our two-player space exploration game. Since Conspire’s big news revolves around the thrilling subjects of copy edits and InDesign layouts, we figured we should share our ideas on the new game: Far Away.
Far Away is a cooperative game for two players. They take on the roles of intrepid space explorers who have crash landed on a newly discovered world. The crew assembles a rudimentary base and begins trying to complete their standing mission objectives.
Central to the core gameplay is the idea of asymmetric roles for the two players. The base needs to be maintained to manufacture equipment and eventually escape the planet. To do this, the other player must explore the planet surface and deal with any native lifeforms. Both players help the other become more efficient and more protected.
The two crew members are the only people on the mission. Since both exploration and research are demanding, they take long swaths of time to do. As players are isolated from each other, they feel the burden of being alone on an alien world. Both players must deal with their loneliness by checking in with each other. Keeping the other human in good spirits is integral to the mission after the long journey.
The motivation for this game comes from our personal desire for two-player cooperative games. With a close friend or partner, celebrating their victory over you is fine, but experiencing a shared victory over the game is more fulfilling. You win and lose as one. Cooperative games are something you can improve upon together, making individual skill or game knowledge secondary.
We want people to discover a world together. A pair of roommates or a couple will start with a small crashed rocket and spread across the planet surface. You will try out a mission on easy difficulty and experience a little world of your own. Win or lose, those memories carry over into the next game and shape the next planet. A galaxy of defeats and glorious triumphs will be left in your wake.
Also, to be perfectly honest, we here at CPG are super pumped to playtest a game requiring fewer than four people.