Debtors' Club Announces Release Date

indie.io :

[Santo André, Brazil] August 13, 2024 — mecagames, in cooperation with independent publishing platform indie.io, is proud to announce that Debtors’ Club will be released on Steam on August 26, 2024. Debtors’ Club is a unique narrative-driven resource management game set in the murky world of tax collection,forcing players to achieve their daily recoupment objectives through a careful balance of negotiation tactics.

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Players step into the cluttered head office of a tax collection department in a shady city hall. The goal is simple: convince debtors to pay the taxes they owe, by whatever means necessary. Persuade, intimidate, dig up incriminating information, send goons to ransack the place, and collect their money. All that matters to the mayor is that the quota is filled at the end of the day and the city's treasury doesn't hit rock bottom.

Moral ambiguity is essential to successfully navigate each day’s challenge in Debtors’ Club; while the city is awash in corruption, players can choose to either succumb to it or resist. A straightforward case might lead to an agonizing choice between fulfilling the collector's duty and ruthlessly stripping a debtor down to the shirt on their back… or showing compassion,  putting their own moral principles to the test. Each of these decisions matters, shaping the game's narrative and causing ripples across the city.

The game combines hand-crafted content with an innovative dialogue-generation system, allowing players to engage in dynamic conversations with debtors. Players will also manage a team of City Hall employees, each with unique strengths and weaknesses, requiring strategic assignment to various cases. Throughout the game, engaging minigames and various tasks reflect the challenges faced by the mayor's favorite employee, while uncovering deeper layers of corruption festering at the heart of the city. Ultimately, the decisions made will impact the tax collector's fate, leading players through one of the many narrative paths and different endings the game has to offer. 

A standout feature introduced by mecagames is Streamer Mode, which brings a new level of interactivity to content creation. This Twitch integration allows streamers to engage their audience in real-time decision-making. When Streamer Mode is activated, a purple envelope appears on-screen, inviting viewers to vote on how the streamer should tackle challenging situations. Each vote influences the outcome, turning every decision into a collective choice and adding an exciting, unpredictable element to the gameplay. The results are revealed instantly, making each call an interactive experience that keeps both streamers and their audience on the edge of their seats.

“From the very beginning, the game's design was crafted to ensure high replayability, so that watching the game through a stream wouldn't spoil the experience for those who want to play it solo later on—something that's particularly challenging with a narrative-driven game,” says Caio Paifer, creator and lead developer at mecagames.  

“This is why the game has far more content than can be seen in just one playthrough, content that will reorganize itself differently in each session. With this in mind, it was a natural step to go further and add a way for interaction between the streamer and their audience”.

mecagames is an indie game studio founded in Brazil. Debtors’ Club is their second title, after the 2021 Karma City Police, which places players in the unenviable role of a police dispatcher. Both games tread the fine line between comedy and tragedy, merging unique art styles, black humor, and sober social commentary. "We love to portray real-life situations, especially those that people tend to have strong opinions about, and place them in a scenario where they can put their ethics to the test," says Paifer. 

Debtors’ Club will be available on Steam on August 26. Follow mecagames for the latest updates and community support.

ABOUT MECAGAMES

mecagames is an independent Brazilian studio founded in 2019, focused on games with an emphasis on narrative, management, and moral choices. In 2021, it released Karma City Police, a JRPG set within a police station, and is about to launch Debtors' Club, a narrative roguelite centered on debt collection carried out by a corrupt city hall.

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