Lifeless Planet began as a pure indie development by David Board, funded by an overwhelmingly successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign and was recognized as a 2012 Lunarcade selection. Lifeless Planet is scheduled to be released digitally and in retail stores on PC and Mac in Q3 2013.
Lifeless Planet is a third-person sci-fi action/adventure game in which players assume the role of an astronaut on a mission to a new world filled with life. However after a rough landing, the promise of a new Earth soon fades when the astronaut discovers that the planet is now barren and inhospitable. Alone in this wasteland, his fellow astronauts missing, and his oxygen tank leaking, the astronaut’s situation turns desperate. He begins to explore the planet for his missing crew members, only to discover a deeper mystery evidence of prior human habitation. When he comes across an abandoned Soviet-era Russian town, he begins to question his mission. Is he a pawn in a cold-war propaganda stunt? Or did he travel so fast that he has time-travelled to another era?
“The game story was inspired by old sci-fi stories I enjoyed as a kid. During the cold war, science fiction was strongly influenced by events of the day. With Lifeless Planet I’m trying to evoke the contradictory feelings of hope and fear that came with the scientific advances of the space race.”
Key to the mystery of Lifeless Planet is an elusive Russian woman, Aelita, who is somehow able to survive in the inhospitable world. For unknown reasons, Aelita’s skin interacts with the soil under her feet, causing it to glow bright green. These strange footprints help guide the player across the vast alien planet as they try to survive and uncover the purpose behind Soviet-built structures scattered across the world.
The gameplay uses elements from adventure and 3D open world action games. Lifeless Planet features low-gravity platforming and jet-packing challenges combined with interesting and unusual puzzles. Seeking answers to the mystery of the Soviet presence, players will explore the distant planet, carefully navigating hazardous terrain in a space suit, making use of low gravity to jump across giant abysses and traverse mountainous regions. Tools like a robot arm will help players interact with strange objects they encounter along their journey.
