The Paranoia RPG has a special place in this blogger’s heart. The comedy sci-fi was the to-go setting for any occasion when unexpected gamers might turn up and expect to be entertained; school clubs, university open days, that sort of thing. It was madness.
The tabletop is a political parody. The last survivors of humanity are supposed to be safe living in the Alpha Complex and looked after by a faultless and benovelent Computer. The problem? Mutants are everywhere and must be destroyed. Members of secret societies are everywhere and must be destroyed. Traitors are everywhere and must be destroyed. As a troubleshooter, your job is to help the Computer destroy these mutants, secret society members and traitors.
The problem? You happen to be a mutant in a secret society.
The solution? Dying isn’t a problem. You’ve six clones and just because the first one was a mutant doesn’t mean the second one was. To assume so would be to assume the Computer had made a mistake and that’s precisely the sort of propaganda a traitor would come up with.
The computer roleplaying game, Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory, is based off the RPG and is being developed by Cyanide Studio and Black Shamrock while Bigben Interactive is stepping up to publish it.
Cyanide has geek credits with titles like Game of Thrones, Dungeonbowl, Blood Bowl, Space Hulk: Deathwing, Call of Cthulhu and the forthcoming Werewolf: The Apocalypse game coming out. Werewolf has Bigben Interactive as the publisher too.
Bigben also has geek credits with games like Warhammer: Chaosbane done and The Sinking City in the works. That’s the same The Sinking City we can thank for this Lovecraftian political censor Chrome extension.
Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory is already listed on Steam and with a release date for 2019.
In the computer game, you’ll have 15 hours of playtime in Alpha Complex, and an interesting character progression system where dying means you can come back as a clone and advance.
Billed as a CRPG, as a red (lowest) clearance Troubleshooter you will be leading a team of 4, carving out a specialism from 16 skills and dealing with aggressive drink dispensers, defective clones and malfunctioning robots.
Stay alert! Trust no one! Traitors are everywhere, plotting to destroy The Computer, Alpha Complex itself, and our precious way of life. Identify them, report them – or eliminate them as the treasonous scum they are. Keep your laser handy!
