The Last Hero of Nostalgaia developer Over The Moon has announced Kill Joy, a “systems-driven exploration game” where players must escape a nightmare of rainbows and unicorns by making its happy creatures cry. It is inspired by The Outer Wilds. It will be available for PC via Steam. A release date was not announced.
Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:
About
A systems-driven exploration game where foul language is your only tool—and the world reacts in ways you’d never expect. Escape a deceptive nightmare of rainbows and unicorns by making its happy creatures cry.
A Genre With No Name
Kill Joy is an experiment in complex systems design where a single interaction (swearing) can produce many consequences. That also means that because exploring the rules of the system is the fun part, we won’t hold your hand. You’ll have to make sense of this insane world yourself.
Swearing is Not Combat—It’s How You Explore
In Kill Joy, you don’t shoot, punch, or cast spells. You swear.
Swearing at creatures is how you interact with this world. Sometimes a creature laughs, sometimes it panics, and sometimes it weeps—and when it cries, the illusion breaks. Every reaction is a mechanical clue. Every rude word is a probe into the rules of a place that desperately wants you happy, calm, and blind.
A Pastoral Hell
On the surface, this world is a manic dream of rainbow meadows, talking bunnies, and friendly unicorns. Underneath, something is very wrong:
- Happy creatures with glossy, empty eyes.
- Joyful clouds humming in unsettling harmony.
- Perfect little critters who desperately want you to smile.
You know better. You can feel something gnawing at the edges.
Break the Illusion
Some illusions are “anchored” to certain entities. Their happiness is a spell holding reality together. Make them cry, and the spell cracks. Behind each illusion is something real:
- Hidden passages.
- Suppressed memories.
- Twisted, half-digested hints left by previous victims.
- And the scattered fragments of your own mind.
Reassemble Your Mind
Your mind has been shattered and projected outward onto the landscape. Each dispelled illusion yields:
- A word.
- A question.
- A fragment of meaning.
Piece them together through small, elegant deduction challenges. Rebuild the logic of your thinking. Recover your identity. Find out what’s eating you—and why.
If you’re tired of games that tell you what to feel, where to go, and how to think…
If you want something genuinely new…
If you’re ready to swear at a unicorn until reality fractures—.
Welcome to Kill Joy.
Watch the announcement trailer below.