Most of us are probably too young to remember a time when a computer game involved a bunch of text on a screen that required people to type in commands to play. They were probably the latest things in interactive entertainment during the era where everyone walked 20 kilometers each day to get to school. Fast forward to today and this seemingly archaic command line interface plays a central role in the fascinating new indie sci-fi game Event[0]. A game that looks to take this concept and translate it into a mechanic that feels new and innovative. Whilst also featuring some pretty amazing visuals.

The basic premise is this, you're alone on spaceship and the only thing you can communicate with is an AI entity named Kaizen.

Set in a retro-future inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, Solaris and Brave New World, Event[0] is a game about building a personal relationship with a machine using natural language. Kaizen can procedurally generate over two million lines of dialog and the AI entity has a strong personality influenced by human input. Players communicate by typing messages into a computer, and Kaizen responds. As in any relationship, there can be gratitude, disappointment or jealousy, and Kaizen reacts differently depending on its mood. By working through the fears and anxieties of your virtual companion you can ultimately find your way back to Earth—while unraveling the cryptic history of the ship and the 1980s society from which it emerged.

Development on Event[0] began as a short student project before expanding into a fully developed indie release. And based on that short description above, it's no secret why. The game sounds absolutely fascinating. Plus, the spaceship itself is gorgeous, with clear nods to sci-fi classics from the '60s through to the '80s.

Check our the announcement trailer below.



Event[0] is headed to PC and Mac in September.