Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

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ypressgames
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Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#1 Post by ypressgames »

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Cannibal Lottery is a horror visual novel about a colony of humans who must rely on the support of a cannibalistic group of aliens to survive. Every month there are one or two lotteries to decide who the aliens will get to eat, depending if anyone has died that month. They need two bodies a month to survive.

To make the disturbing content slightly more palatable there is an insane mascot, Masa Murda, who makes light of the situation both as a character of the game and as someone who gives players the puzzles they must solve. She also runs humorous 'after scenes' whenever players get a bad ending, offering tips on how to try again.

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You play as Faleena Dancy, the governor of the colony. The cannibals appointed you to the governor post after they ate the former governor, your husband. Your job is to both govern the colony and run the lotteries each month. Unlike your husband, who failed because he tried to always put the needs of the humans first, you're successful because of your pragmatic attitude.

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Your best friend is one of the cannibals, a female named Dal-Tor. Because you've formed such a close bond with her both your coworkers and people distrust you. You've been accused of being a cannibal sympathizer. This may seem odd considering they ate your husband, however, a story arc in the games explains why you came to have this attitude and the history behind it.

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The game focuses on your role as the administrator of the cannibal lotteries. Lotteries sometimes come with difficult circumstances. There are 15 chapters in the game where you must decide how the lottery results will be decided. For example: when a young single father is chosen you would normally switch to an elderly parent (a policy that's an outrage of the older members of the colony and an elderly member of your staff) but this lottery winner has no suitable family member to switch to. Do you go ahead and kill this father, leaving his children without a parent, or do you lie and say someone else is the lottery winner?

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The cannibals have a sacrificial replacement policy where they can kill you if you violate the terms of their agreement with your people. You must balance that risk with making the right decision. At the same time, your people seem on the verge of a revolt due to your being perceived as a cannibal sympathizer. If they revolt the cannibals will likely decimate them--or possibly do something even worse.

The last thing you must worry about is the fact that if the cannibals are starved they lose their minds and go berserk, eating people alive. A 'rampage' happened once in the past, killing dozens of people. You must be sure the cannibals are always fed.

The scientist Veddim Vaddam who is working on a cure for the cannibals particular carnivorous condition. He's promised a cure for years without any results, but you can devote resources to him if you think he'll finally get it done.

You will have 3-5 main choices to make per chapter. Each choice will advance different stats that will influence the course you take through the game. The main goal is to make it through all 15 chapters without being eaten, having a revolt, having a rampage, losing your position as governor, losing your baby (you have a 1 year old) or going insane.

Okay, if you've managed to read all that, and if you're a fan of horror games or willing to give a unique horror game a chance, please give your opinion. Is there anything that would prevent you from checking out this game? What do you like? What don't you like? We've tweaked the game several times to improve it, and would like to improve it further. You guys are our target audience. How can we make this a game you'll love?

We are creating the demo game now and plan to launch a Kickstarter next month. The game will be released on Steam sometime before November 2019.

This will be Y Press Games third Steam game and first horror game. Let's make it a good one!
Last edited by ypressgames on Thu Dec 06, 2018 2:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#2 Post by AstralWire »

This is a very unique premise, and I'm quite interested in how this will turn out.
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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#3 Post by Offworlder »

The term "cannibal" sticks out to me, because technically cannibals eat their own species by definition. As far as I can tell from the summary, these beings only prey on humans. That would just makes them a normal carnivorous species, rather than a cannibalistic one.

Aside from that, though, this is definitely an interesting concept. I can't really think of any comparable games/movies/books/etc. Even the stories I know of that touch on the theme of sacrifice are presented quite differently. I can't say I agree with the protagonist's complacency, even if she's doing it for the greater good. But, I am interested in finding out how she handles this situation. Beyond that, I'd really like to learn how she could ever form a close friendship with anyone from the group responsible for her husband's murder. Interspecies friendships are always my cup of tea, either way!

On another note, all of the art you've shown thus far is also quite good! It's a bit of a different style than what we usually see around here, which is refreshing.

All in all, I wish you guys tons of luck with your upcoming Kickstarter!

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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#4 Post by ypressgames »

Thanks, AstralWire!
Thanks, Offworlder! We mention early on that the 'Providers' eat their own dead as well as the humans to make them honest to goodness cannibals. I'm very grateful for your feedback. We know it's uncharted territory and want to be sure we hit the right notes. We'll have a demo up in the coming weeks.
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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#5 Post by parttimestorier »

This sounds really interesting! I like the art style, and I enjoy things that mix dark themes and violent content with some silly stuff - I'm looking forward to seeing the after scenes with the mascot! The choices sound like they'll be really engaging too. I'll definitely have to check out the kickstarter for this once you've launched it.
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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#6 Post by ypressgames »

Thanks, parttimestorier!!
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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#7 Post by Preseva »

Wow, I love this! I have an aversion to body horror and sustained tension, so I don't watch a lot of horror unless it's psychological horror - which I quite like - but the puzzle aspect, management aspect, hard choices, atmosphere, characters, and dash of zany comedy really appeal to me!

I am crazy about the female character designs. These are the type of female characters I love but hardly ever see. Masa Murda looks like a lot of fun, and sexy as hell in a quirky and classy way that is refreshing and more appealing to me than the ubiquitous crop tops and armor bikinis out there. (Alright, I've got a thing for women in suits.) Faleena is likewise a heart throb with her no-nonsense, capable look, and I love that she's a pragmatist. It's realistic and sensible. Too often I see characters in charge that are like her husband, always doing the idealistic and morally "right thing" that ends up screwing someone else over, and it's hard to believe they ever got into a position of authority in the first place. She's definitely an avatar I will enjoy inhabiting. I've also got to mention that I love that these characters look like adults. I'm used to seeing child-like women that are supposed to be in their twenties but look and act 15, so this is so welcome to me!

I like the high stakes and how much Faleena has to lose, and has already lost.

I think it's smart that you've hidden the cannibals' faces in these pictures, and I hope that occurs for most of the game as well. It makes it easier to take them seriously (they do look a bit goofy and cheesy with their giant teeth) and to see them as people, which I'm assuming you want to do to some extent. There is also always something scarier about the unseen and hidden. The hiding both humanizes them and it also highlights their monstrousness and the threat they represent - they look like people superficially, but seeing those hidden mouths, you can't help but think about the danger lurking underneath.

The images themselves are well chosen and get across the aspects of the game I think you're trying to show: the first one is a bit cheesy and over the top, a little scary, and Masa Murda lets you know not to take it too seriously. The second one is fun contrasting a grim dystopia. Faleena... well, I said it before, she's just wonderfully designed, and that steel background sets a grim sci-fi mood. I love the intimacy suggested by the picture of Faleena and her cannibal friend. Their proximity to one another suggests a closeness between the two; the cannibal looks like she's making an appeal to Faleena, but at the same time her hulking figure is intimidating; Faleena doesn't look scared exactly, but she looks uncertain. I can't wait to see what kind of story the two have to explain their strange friendship. The last screen gets the gameplay premise across clearly: the scary monster is looking to you for an answer, and you'd better give him the right one!

I wish I could mention something I don't like, but I can't. Sorry about that. I'm hyped for this and I'll be looking for your kickstarter next month.

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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#8 Post by ypressgames »

Wow Preseva,
Thanks for that in depth appraisal! We really tried hard to hit the right notes, and you're reception was what we were hoping for.
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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#9 Post by Red-Baby »

Sounds really interesting!
I'm not usually a fan of horror but I like the ethical and moral questioning side of the game. It's an interesting concept and I would like to see more. The art work looks very detailed as well

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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#10 Post by ypressgames »

Thank you, Red-Baby!
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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#11 Post by ypressgames »

Hi Again Everyone,
So we're working on our first puzzle for Cannibal Lottery, and it's a literal puzzle (the jigsaw kind). Players will find pieces during key scenes in the first 5 chapters, and will unlock an extra scene if they find them all.

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We want to add more puzzles and do something more interesting than just finding pieces to put a puzzle together. We're using the Ren'Py engine. In the past we've been able to do Hidden Object mini-games with it. What are some other puzzles we could put in our game using Ren'Py? Does anyone have some ideas?
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Re: Cannibal Lottery [Horror]

#12 Post by papillon »

Certainly a different premise, interesting to see where this goes.

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