The Last Survey reviewed by Buried TreasureAug 13, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsEarlier this week Buried Treasure, an indie game criticism blog that focuses on games "you'd otherwise likely miss" wrote a fantastic feature on The Last Survey! You can read the post here: https://buried-treasure.org/2020/08/the-last-survey/ John Walker, co-founder of Rock Paper Shotgun, wrote glowing remarks about about my game and I'm truly honored by his deep read. He made a point to emphasize the strength of the writing in The Last Survey, as well as highlighting Lewis Kopenhafer's fitting soundtrack. Here's just a short excerpt that really stood out to me: This is clearly a project born of extensive research and passion, its knowledge of the impending disasters we face as we exhaust rare-earth metals matched by an understanding of the corporate condition. It speaks with such precise insight into the psychology of CEOs, of the hopelessness of presenting bad news to a force driven only by bottom lines. And perhaps most importantly of all, it’s such a pleasure to read. I'm so grateful for John's thoughtfulness and encourage you to go over and check out his other reviews of some truly excellent independent and small-studio titles. The Last Survey is Live!Aug 8, 2020 - Community AnnouncementsIT'S HERE! After two years of development and more than 1500 hand-drawn animation cels, The Last Survey is now available for download for PC and MacOS. The game released as part of an event hosted by Microscope Gallery in Brooklyn. To celebrate the occasion TLS director Nicholas O'Brien performed a play through and reading of the game with real-time audience voting via live stream. You can check out the VOD of the stream and also tune in for a Q&A with O'Brien and soundtrack composer Lewis Kopenhafer here: https://microscopegallery.com/the-last-survey-watch/ The VOD will be viewable until Monday August 10th at 10:30pm EST. Here's a brief description of the evening provided by the gallery directors at Microscope: Microscope is very pleased to present the debut of The Last Survey, a narrative essay video game by New York-based artist Nicholas O’Brien, which will be released on August 7th at 7:30pm along with a live online play-through performance by O’Brien and Lewis Kopenhafer who collaborated on the sound. The narrative of this interactive work — which presents the player with a series of alternative scenarios to choose from — concerns itself with human decision making that is put to test in the context of an international mining company dealing with uncomfortable truths. The game, which will be downloadable by attending the online event, is described by O’Brien as follows: “The Last Survey is an interactive fiction video game that explores a speculative future where the metals we use for everyday electronics and green technology are in sudden short supply. Audiences play as a geologist contracted by a Brazilian mining company returning from a year-long research project across the globe. As they navigate the conversation with their CEO employer, they try to negotiate between reporting the dire truth and understanding systems of power beyond their control. Will your choices help steer the direction of your employer away from global mineral fatigue? Or will the urgency of your research fall on unsympathetic ears?” The artist juxtaposes suspenseful narration with animated illustrations — often composed by hand using graphite and charcoal — that seamlessly morph into each other. The measured and mood-shifting sound score by Kopenhafer provides atmospheres of uncertainty and expectation, and gives players “insight into how their choices might sway or perturb their interlocutor.” Make sure to grab your copy of The Last Survey today! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1331620/The_Last_Survey/
