Bully for Minotaur and its successful Kickstarter campaign

Written by Pascal Tekaia — May 27, 2017 at 11:36

The Universe of Seven is a complex science-fantasy world that has been developed by a group of imaginative and dedicated individuals calling themselves the U7 Committee. This Universe is already fully realized, consisting of a dystopian world filled with “blackjack and hookers, demons and penguins,” and has its own history, geography, characters, and rulebook. The Committee’s first interactive foray into the Universe of Seven will be in the form of Minotaur, an upcoming first-person point-and-click adventure that was successfully funded on Kickstarter.

Minotaur takes place in the Domed City of Nova, just one of the many metropolises conceptualized by the development team. A life-and-death thriller inspired by the likes of Zero Escape and Danganronpa, the game features a cast of nine primary characters who find themselves unable to leave their home, the Royce high-rise apartment complex. Now they must find out who is keeping them captive against their will, and for what reason. Investigating the rooms and hallways while finding solutions to the many death traps they contain may just offer the key to freedom.

The developers are aiming for total immersion: the photo-realistic HD environments are all animated in some way and the dialog is fully voiced. Over the course of the game, players will control five members of the principal cast in order, ranging from an android tutor to a guitar-playing penguin, each with his or her own unique skills. They all have established relationships to each other that inform their narratives, and players will make decisions during special emotional events that influence which of four different endings is reached. Along the way, puzzles must be solved – both traditional and those requiring item and environment manipulation via the contextual cursor, which aims to eliminate random clicking and pixel hunting – boss battles (of sorts) won, and environments explored, though how deep down the rabbit hole of world-building one goes is up to each individual player.

Anybody who missed out on the Kickstarter but whose interest has been piqued by Minotaur is encouraged to try out the hour-long demo for a real taste of what the finished game will have in store later this year. You can follow that up by checking out the maps and character profiles, music, art, and a full historic account of the world available on the game’s website as well.