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Neo Cab
Neo Cab is a game from Chance Agency (whose staff has worked on games like Firewatch) that's billed as an "emotional survival game," touching upon themes like the gig economy, technology, and human connection. Taking influence from ride-sharing apps like Lyft and Uber, Neo Cab puts you in the shoes of a driver who must manage both their emotions and riders.
You play as Lina, a young woman who is a newcomer to the city of Los Ojos. In the not-too-distant future, she's one of the last remaining cab drivers since most have been replaced by robots. She's empathetic and knows when to speak up or when to bite her tongue depending on who gets in her car. This insight is helped by an item she wears that helps track her emotional status. When rude customers make her angry or sad, this item will flash a certain color to let her know. This way, she can keep her emotions in check so that she can be level-headed and careful with how she interacts with riders.
Outside of conversations with riders and your resulting emotional health, you also have to manage your finances and reputation in order to progress.
Rather than describing it as a cyberpunk game, creative lead Patrick Ewing tells The Verge that he sees the game as "now punk," since it takes its inspiration from today's technology. Instead of trying to send a message through the game that technology is harmful, Ewing hopes that it instead has us contemplate the "human cost that exists within these systems."
Neo Cab is still in early development and it doesn't have a release date just yet. It plans to launch on PC through Steam and itch.io. You can learn more by heading to Chance Agency's development blog.
[Source: The Verge]
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