OFF GRID, which was playable at the Sweden Game Conference, will have you snooping on data on networks, manipulating it to affect the machines and people around you.
A technophobe father can finds himself thrown into danger when his tech-savvy daughter is taken by government agents in the dystopian (and uncomfortably-close to real) world of OFF GRID. With a set of smart glasses with a built-in security-focused operating system, you’ll have to skim data from nearby networks in order to break into facilities and systems as you work to locate her.
OFF GRID‘s in-game app, Spectrum, allows you to see data coming from any devices close by. This data can be copied, deleted, or resent, allowing players to forward embarrassing information onto work colleagues, confuse work schedules, and otherwise mess with people you need to move from their posts to sneak by. Likewise, you can also manipulate internet-connected smart devices, causing machines to malfunction in useful ways. You’ll have many tools to play around with data and hack devices, offering a variety of means to accomplish stealth missions.
With this focus on hacking and some of the real-world consequences of how data is handled, OFF GRID will also feature representations of real-world hackers. Former members of LulzSec and Anonymous Mustafa Al-Bassam, Jake Davis, and Darren Martyn will be in the game, as will digital rights campaigner Lauri Love and whitehat security researcher “March” O’Neill. They will all contribute conversations that players can take part in, each focusing on that hacker’s real-world expertise. More than just this handful will be in the full game, as well.
OFF GRID looks to make hacking approachable for non tech-savvy folks, while also making the conversation around it and data approachable as well. With this sharp premise, the developers hope to have players breaking into systems in 2019.
OFF GRID’s developers are currently raising funding for its creation on Kickstarter. A demo for the game is available on Itch.io, and interested players can wishlist it on Steam.
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