Ever come across something you hadn’t known existed, but that, learning of its existence, you wanted to seek out its makers and throw money at them until they gave it to you? Well, if you’re anything like me, the phrase “video game written by Neil Gaiman” is just about enough to induce that reaction in you. And if for some reason it’s not enough, the video Gaiman made to introduce the game will be.
Gaiman says the game, to be titled Wayward Manor will have you play as a ghost who is trying to spook the living folks into leaving the 1920s-era New England mansion he haunts, so that he can have a peaceful afterlife. If you know Gaiman’s style, that plot will have surprised you not at all. Various articles about the game have described it as macabre but light-hearted and humorous.
That description indicates, no doubt, why Gaiman chose to partner with the game studio The Odd Gentlemen, makers of The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, among other strange but entertaining games. Also working on the project is Moonshark, who are presumably doing the mobile piece of the work.
Wayward Manor is scheduled to be released on PC and Mac this fall (mobile release date forthcoming), but you can pre-order it now. In fact, the game’s website offers a variety of Kickstarter-esque tiers at which you can pre-order, providing better and better extras with each. These range from $10 for just a digital copy of the game to $10,000 for dinner with Gaiman (and stuff from lower tiers). If you live in the L.A. area, but can’t swing the ten grand, you might go for the $150 level, which gets you an invitation to the launch party. Gaiman says in the video that, if this game does well, he’ll be able to continue telling the story, which means more games to come!
Anyway, here’s Gaiman himself to tell you more about the game:
