Surreal new adventure aims to shift expectations in upcoming Paradigm

Written by K R Parkinson — March 15, 2014 at 20:07

Fans of games featuring horribly-mutated Eastern European protagonists have likely been feeling ignored lately, but the upcoming comedy-adventure Paradigm promises to please this particular gamer demographic and, just maybe, garner a few more admirers in the process.

Developed by Jacob Janerka and Pavle Sanovic, the game is heavily inspired by “the late ‘70s and early ‘80s,” but takes place in the near-future. It’s set in a world where parents can genetically-engineer their children, and the protagonist, named Paradigm, began life as one of these engineered embryos. However, something went wrong during the growth process, leaving him with massive deformities. To preserve its reputation, the company who made him dropped Paradigm off in the nearly-abandoned town of Krusz to fend for himself. He now lives there with his dog, Igorshki, and aspires to be the “greatest electronic music artist the world has ever known.”

The plot of the game has not yet been revealed, but it is known that Paradigm’s past will play a role, leading him to become a “terribly ugly reluctant hero.” Played from a 2.5D, third-person perspective, it will be the player’s responsibility to point-and-click through this surrealistic world, where you will meet other strange characters along the way, such as a beat-boxing, mutated eggplant (the result of leakage from a nuclear reactor), and The Cone, a man who believes that he is “the protector” of orange traffic cones.

Janerka has indicated that he and Sanovic are attempting to fund as much of the game themselves as possible. However, a Kickstarter may be launched in the future if more financing is needed before the game can be released.

Paradigm is scheduled to be completed in late 2014 for PC, with releases on iOS and Android also a possibility. More of the game’s irony-laden sense of humor (and ‘80s nostalgia) can be seen at the official website.