Earth Must Die shows first signs of life

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Cartoon adventure by the creators of Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentlemen, Please! to feature voices of "British comedy royalty"

A name like the upcoming Earth Must Die sure doesn't sound like a laughing matter, but in the hands of Dan Marshall, Ben Ward and Size Five Games, creators of cult hit adventures Ben There, Dan That; Time, Gentlemen, Please! and Lair of the Clockwork God, we can expect humankind's imminent destruction to come with plenty of side-splitting guffaws. 

VValak Lizardtongue assumes the self-appointed mantle of "Grand Shepherd of the Tyrythian Empire" following the death of his father, who definitely did NOT intend his megalomaniac son to inherit all his power. Unfortunately for VValak, the 1950s-esque "wobbly alien empire" of Tyryth he rules over is no match for Earth's "much better, more organised and deadly empire." When the "Terranoids" invade, he unwittingly surrenders control of the planet and is forced to go underground as the "de facto rebel leader." Now he's determined to do everything he can to stop the humans and resume his rightful place as tyrant – and by "stop" he means "make them very, very dead." With help from his floating "trusty sidekick and childhood nursing bot Milky," VValak determines to exact "infamous revenge against Earth and everything it stands for" with a simple, what-could-go-wrong plan: "whizz over to Earth, turn it into a stinking pile of rubble, and be back home in time for a warm glass of milk before bed." 

Unlike the indie UK developer's previous adventure games, Earth Must Die leaves behind the retro pixel art look for a beautiful high-resolution hand-drawn art style. In all other respects, however, it very much shares its predecessors' wonderfully comedic cartoon sensibilities. Gameplay promises to be classic point-and-click with a linear progression and breezy pace (no backtracking!), filled with fantastical environments to explore and outrageous alien (well, technically indigenous) characters to meet. There will be puzzles as well, but as the arrogant VValak "wouldn't stoop to touching things with his fingers, or keeping an inventory," the challenge for players here is in manipulating others to do his bidding for him. Better yet, all that dialogue will be fully voiced and provided by some of the top names of "British comedy royalty," including (but definitely not limited to) Joel Fry, Alex Horne, Ben Starr, Tamsin Greig, Matthew Holness, Martha Howe-Douglas, Mike Wozniak, Don Warrington, Stevie Martin, and Alasdair Beckett-King. Whew! (There's more, but you get the idea.) 

It's not clear yet just how long VValak will need to amass his forces, but Earth Must Die is due to arrive sometime later this year on Steam for Windows PC.