PLAYISM is proud to announce that we will be co-publishing Boyhood’s End, the newest game by WSS playground, the creator of NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD.
Boyhood’s End will be released globally on Steam Early Access, and is planned to receive a chapter update every 2 months in a “serialized” format starting from Autumn 2023.
First Ever Playable Demo at TGS 2023!
We will be showing the first ever demo for Boyhood’s End at the PLAYISM booth at TOKYO GAME SHOW 2023!
Those who play the demo for Boyhood’s End will receive an exclusive ticket for the galactic railroad!*
*While inventory lasts
TOKYO GAME SHOW 2023 – Event Details
Business Days: September 21–22, 2023 (10:00am–5:00pm) Public Days: September 23–24, 2023 (10:00am–5:00pm) (Note: Public Days may start at 9:30am depending on the circumstances)
It has a lot of meanings within the game’s universe and story, of course, but as a producer, I think it also represents the end of the childhood of Tobita, the creator.
I have a gut feeling that this is a game that will become a major milestone in her life, and so I’m supporting her as much as I can.
I’m sorry for writing a comment that doesn’t even mention the content of the game, but I believe that indie games are defined by how you can almost taste the developer’s life story through them.
What we’ll be showing at TGS is really just a fraction of what we’re going to offer in the full game, but I hope players will enjoy the taste test of the demo at the event!
Game Overview
A boy marked as the most worthless human by the ruling AI puts his life on the line to embark on a journey on the galactic railroad, with a shady yet charismatic boy who could be his friend… or foe. Boyhood’s End is a serialized juvenile science fiction horror adventure brought to you by WSS playground, the producer of NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD, and buriki clock, the developer of the horror adventure game Chloe’s Requiem.
About the Game
When does childhood end? Both humans and the inhuman will find the answer at the end of a cycle of fight and flight.
Boyhood’s End is a juvenile sci-fi horror adventure game, in which the world is ruled by a mechanical overlord “R. Karellen”. Every aspect of every person’s life is rated with a “human score”, and R. Karellen decides everything from academic and professional careers, romantic interests, to one’s daily meals.
The game will be updated in serial form, releasing one chapter update every two months.
The protagonist, Giovanni, has the lowest human score among the entire human race. Every day, he receives “special treatment” for everything including his meals and classes. On top of that, he gets bullied relentlessly by his classmates at the Gymnasium, both in real life and online.
But one day, everything and everyone in the school starts attacking Giovanni, trying to “remake” him and raise his human score by making him “more human”. A senior student, the famously eccentric genius Campanella, reaches out to Giovanni, and they hop onto (and take over) a driverless train on the galactic railroad. And so, Giovanni gets swept up in a journey to find the “Crimson Southern Cross”, located at the farthest edge of the universe.
On their journey, the boys will meet great leaders of the past and pull reckless and destructive “pranks” on them all. Through their encounters with the history, twisted mysteries, and various horrors of the world, they will eventually have to confront the end of their own childhood.
Oh, did you hear that? The boys are (pointlessly) sounding the train whistle. Looks like it’s time for the galactic express to depart. Why don’t you join them on their journey?
Characters
■ Giovanni
“Shut up! I couldn’t care less about your twisted logic, but here’s the thing: I’m a human! And you’d better start treating me like one!” Has a wanted criminal as a father and the lowest human score in the universe. Gets treated like trash by other people and even the system itself.
Has a cynical personality and a sharp tongue, but has a soft spot for his family. Always has to earn money to pay his sister’s hospital fees.
Although he lives in an age where humans haven’t had to write programs by themselves for generations, Giovanni knows the ancient craftsman technique of writing his own code from scratch. He frequently uses his coding skills to do shady side gigs on the dark web.
■ Campanella
“Come on, show me! Show me the true potential of humanity! Show me something unpredictable, something that could ruin the world as we know it—something a man-made thing could never do!” Has the highest human score in the Gymnasium, and very talented in everything from academics to sports, but also has the highest total score deduction in the Gymnasium due to his frequent eccentric behavior. Talk about extreme.
Campanella holds “humans” in high regard, and acts arrogantly around the inhuman and artificially intelligent R. However, many claim to have seen him chatting and playing around with R for no reason in particular.
I’m Saito, the producer of Boyhood’s End.
