Death Inc infects Kickstarter - £300,000 to unleash the plague

Death Inc, the strategy management game about spreading plague through 1660s England, has arrived on Kickstarter . The team at Ambient Studios - comprised of former Media Molecule, Lionhead and Criterion staff - are looking for £300,000 to unleash their game on the world.

According to the pledge page , Death Inc is "a unique mix of real-time strategy, god game and business sim, harking back to some of the classic Bullfrog games like Theme Park and Dungeon Keeper." Players propagate their plague by painting paths, replacing the usual click-heavy RTS system with an easy-to-use system that lets you direct and split infected troops.

The game also promises special abilities, including plague rats, dive-bombing pigeons and exploding livestock. I mention this mostly for an excuse to include this excellent concept mock-up:

Early backers can secure a download of the game for £10, after which the lowest reward tier becomes £15. Pledge rewards go all the way up to £5,000 to become the game's king or queen, and the main target for protagonist Grim T. Livingstone.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.