The Machine GBC StandardBoxCover
Image: Incube8 Games

You can't keep the Game Boy down, with the humble handheld still getting used for various projects while its game library also grows. A small number of dedicated developers and publishers embrace the challenge of working with the system, and now you can sample one particular upcoming release - The Machine.

Announced last year, it's a dystopian tale in which an early aptitude test determines your fate and career prospects, kind of like the 11+ test in some British schools but turned up to... well, 11.

This world is hierarchical.

It has always been – the powerful few atop the masses – but here, we embrace this infallible truth fully. In our society, we can find your place in the world with a simple test; we can determine where you fall into society with unprecedented efficiency, and we can put you there to ensure you may reach your full potential, however high or low that potential may be.

This is what is good for the machine.

In The Machine, you’ll have the opportunity to pursue numerous different storyline paths in an original dystopian world, experiencing each playthrough as a factory worker, a police officer, or more. Explore the inner workings of a gigantic machine and the people who inhabit it in the throes of an election that could dramatically shape the future. The Machine is a nonlinear experience with many endings depending on the choices you make, and will be playable on Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance consoles.

The game now has a new website that has a link for pre-orders - right now the page shows as 'sold out' but worry not, as orders aren't due to open until 16th February. In addition you can play a demo in your browser, which will give you a taste for the tone and gameplay approach.

It's an intriguing project; are any of you Game Boy fans planning to check it out?

[source themachinegame.com]