It’s a superb setting that’s brimming with lore, stories and a real sense of unease quite unlike any other.

Pointedly, these are people who have rejected Joy and are attempting to piece their lives together, and if you want to blend in with them, so too must you look like them and mirror their affinity for torn clothing in order to fit in.

The kicker however, is that away from the hustle of the central town, there are various hamlets and villages stuffed with vagrants and mentally broken folk. The 1960s British dystopian setting of We Happy Few is enticing to say the least.Īs one of three individuals who have decided to shun the regime and escape the clutches of Wellington Wells, you must dress and act like your Joy-addled compatriots lest they catch wind of your insubordination and beat a hole in your face with a cricket bat/rolling pin. Speaking of which, it is actually the very notion of conformity that not only stands as a cornerstone of We Happy Few’s dystopian setting, but also one that bleeds through into the game itself. Much more than just an ‘upper’ to perk yourself up with, Joy makes everyone manically cheerful with the creepy effect being magnified by the silver face masks that the various denizens of Wellington Wells adorn themselves with.Īnd of course, this wouldn’t be a dystopia if there wasn’t a conformity dynamic involved where you must blend in with the rest of the hopelessly indoctrinated souls if you want to survive. We Happy Few’s Dystopia Is A Compelling Nightmare Unlike Any OtherĪ first-person adventure that packs in a range of action, RPG and stealth elements into its creative fold, We Happy Few whisks players off to the fictional British 1960s town of Wellington Wells, where the population are under the thrall of a psychotropic drug called ‘Joy’.

We Happy Few encapsulates this ordeal almost perfectly fashioning a dystopian hellscape that is rich in satire and social commentary, but which sadly doesn’t boast a good enough game to compliment it and do its astounding setting proper justice. As a Brit who has grown up through the 1980s, I can say with some conviction that the notion of a very British, stiff upper lip dystopia with all of the nightmarish trimmings that might go along with that is one that both appalls and compels me.

We happy few has it cracked