George Orwell's Animal Farm is getting its own game from Reigns creator Nerial
George Orwell's Animal Farm is getting its own game from Reigns creator Nerial
As a kid, I always found the ending to George Orwell's novel Animal Farm to be a little...haunting. Minor spoilers here, but by the end of the book it's no longer clear whether the pigs are considered "people" or "animals" anymore, and Orwell heavily emphasises this point as he finishes the story.
But what does a novel discussing totalitarianism and corruption have to do with tech and games? Well, that'd be because Animal Farm is getting its own game adaptation from The Dairymen and Reigns creator Nerial.
Judging from the game's Steam page, Orwell's Animal Farm is a narrative-driven title with aspects of political strategy and resource management mixed in. The description even goes so far as to promise that you, as the player, will get to decide "which animals are most equal of all". Just in case you're wondering where that came from, it's actually a play on the novel's most famous quote, which reads "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.".
As expected, the game brings in many of the story's key characters, like Squealer, Napoleon, Clover, Boxer and of course the farmer, Mr. Jones. However, what remains unknown at this point is how the narrative might diverge based on the player's choices, or if it even will.
Perhaps the game will let you pursue a more democratic future for the residents of Animal Farm, but then again, it could also do the opposite, making use of sneaky plot devices to ensure the novel's...tragic ending always comes to pass. Too bad we're going to have to wait till Autumn 2020 to find out.