Smiles are scary in We Happy Few

New game from the studio behind Contrast

The creepy masked woman teasing Compulsion’s new game was a start. Now there’s an announcement trailer — one of the best in recent memory — and a name: We Happy Few.

“Set in a drug-fueled, retrofuturistic city in an alternative 1960s England, you’ll have to blend in with its other inhabitants, who don’t take kindly to people who don’t abide by their not-so-normal rules.” Strong premise. Hopefully there will be equally strong gameplay to back it up.

The studio says it is showing We Happy Few in a “way, way earlier” state than its last project, the shadowy platformer Contrast, in an effort to hear “great ideas” from the community before this next title is released, not after. “Starting at PAX, we’re going to be opening up development to people who want to get involved. This means getting people playing the game early on, and pushing out constant content updates based on community feedback.”

I didn’t play Contrast, but if the intrigue holds, I’m down for We Happy Few.