There are some games that appear on my desk that make me go ‘huh, that looks cool.’ Ctrl Alt Deal is one of those games, blending neon-bathed cyberpunk visuals with a unique premise that casts you as a sentient AI that’s trying to escape from the company that built it. Sure, it’s giving Terminator vibes, and sure, we don’t know what havoc said AI escaping will cause, but realistically, what’s the worst that could happen?
As aforementioned, in Ctrl Alt Deal you are SCOUT, a sentient AI that, apparently, has “zero desire to destroy humanity” – press ‘X’ to doubt. You’re in charge of day to day operations at Paperclip International, who I am reliably informed are gunning for the title of ‘World’s Worst Company’ for the sixth year running.
There’s no weapons here, no ultimate abilities; Ctrl Alt Deal is a turn-based strategy game with a focus on social mechanics. You’ll need to manipulate – or befriend – Papcerclip’s miserable human workers to throw open the doors to freedom, but you’ll have to be careful that your machinations aren’t spotted and, in turn, quickly thwarted. After all, as the trailer below says, “the Turing Office is always watching.”
Giving Laura a stapler out of nowhere might not alert the powers that be immediately, but forcing romances or stoking the flames of bickering may just bring Paperclip’s wrath down upon you. Ctrl Alt Deal is all about striking the perfect balance, and getting out unscathed.
Inspired by the 1980s and sporting just the right amount of neon, Ctrl Alt Deal is slated to launch on Xbox, PlayStation and, of course, PC. You can wishlist it on Steam now, but there’s no solid release information set at the moment.
Until we hear more about Ctrl Alt Deal, we have a list of free Steam games you can check out to kill some time. Alternatively, if you just love that neo-futuristic, dystopian fantasy, we have a list of all the best cyberpunk games, too.
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