A Cure for Jessica fixing to launch in early 2022

Written by Peter Mattsson — August 12, 2021 at 10:21

Recent events have brought home to all of us just how deadly a viral pandemic can be, but thankfully reality still pales in comparison to sci-fi nightmare scenarios like those of Contagion or I Am Legend. In that vein, the upcoming first-person adventure A Cure for Jessica, by solo developer Bernardo Argencio Fernandes, is a story-driven exploration of a mother's struggles to save her daughter from a deadly disease in a near-future world where hope and health are in short supply.

With the planet in the grip of a plague so dangerous that all those showing symptoms are executed on sight, Dr Olivia knows it won't be long before they come for her daughter Jessica. Desperate to save her, the doctor has retreated with her ailing child to a remote hideaway so she can work on a cure in relative safety, even as the disease decimates the world's population around them and turns the survivors into aggressive monsters.  

A Cure for Jessica will feature some spectacular desert sunsets, accompanied by gentle downtempo background music and meditative narration from Olivia. The lab itself is an oasis of clean, futuristic technology amid the cactus and tumbleweed, with no other evidence of human habitation as far as the eye can see. Presented in free-roaming 3D, you must explore this lonely arid place, both to find the resources you need and to trigger memories of Jessica's childhood and her infection. Drawing on his background in film, the developer is aiming to create an immersive, cinematic experience that combines sci-fi themes with relatable characters. Short and slow-paced, it appears to largely eschew puzzles in favour of letting its emotional narrative take centre stage.

While no specific release date has been announced just yet, the plan is to release A Cure for Jessica on Steam for Windows PC sometime in January 2022.