Not Tonight is an upcoming management game that takes place post-Brexit. With mixes of politically charged decision making and time-pressure RPG elements, this story urges players to choose between joining or denying a resistance against a new British regime.
Players adopt the role of a club bouncer who must work diligently to ensure they are allowed to stay in the UK. They have been forced out of their previous life, and relocated to Block B. Citizens of European heritage have been exiled, and players must adapt to a new world overcome by a booming gig economy. Steady work is found by using an in-game app called BouncR, where manning the doors of clubs, festivals, and pubs serves as the main objective. Multitasking through checking IDs, managing the guest-list, and preventing guests from acting out in an unruly manner all constitute a job well done, and demonstrate early on that close attention to strict rules leads to success. The decision making elements come into effect when players must come to decide what lengths they’re willing to take in offering complicity.
The developers of PanicBarn aim to offer a cerebral RPG that utilizes satire and unique pixel art to tell the story of a failing British empire. In a manner that stands out similarly to the game Papers, Please, Not Tonight focuses on the dystopian future of the far-right government overhauling a free nation into one with strict, time-based moral choices that determine one’s well being. The passiveness and monotony of daily life will suddenly morph into one drenching in stress, with no mistakes going unnoticed.
Not Tonight is set to release on Steam this summer. Those interested can now sign up for the beta through the game’s Discord server.