What Is We Happy Few? Everything You Need to Know

Story

We Happy Few is set in a dystopian, retrofuturistic, 1960s English city that has been ravaged by effects of war. In an attempt to suppress the horrible memories its citizens had of the war, and rebuild a much happier society, the government has begun distributing a pill called Joy. Joy is essentially a ‘happy pill’ that controls the sense of fulfillment the user receives, and covers up all of the negativity and concerns in the world around them.

We Happy Few tells the tale of a bunch of people who, having suffered from this Joy-focused regime in Wellington Wells for long enough, decide they’re going to escape. Of course, that’s not going to be easy when you’re surrounded by a bunch of overly happy and deluded psychotics.

The game has you playing as a few different playable characters throughout the story. Each one has their own storyline which will change and shift depending on the events that happen around them. This means that although all of your characters are trying to achieve the same ultimate goal, the means by which they arrive at this will ultimately differ as you progress, forcing you to master all skills at your disposal to be successful.

While We Happy Few’s Early Access build has given us a taste of the story, a lot of it remains largely under wraps until its full release, so for now, there isn’t all that much to tell.

Gameplay

We Happy Few’s gameplay is a lot less about combat than you might at first think. You wouldn’t be judged for mistakenly assuming that in a world full of psychotics you’d be having to fend them off with whatever you could lay your hands on. Instead, We Happy Few’s gameplay focuses more on survival and therefore, combat is a last resort in Wellington Wells.

You’ll be required to attend to your basic needs of hunger, thirst, and sleep, all the while ensuring that your actions and words don’t attract attention from the locals. Collecting recipes, scavenging items, and crafting weapons will all become imperative to your success, meaning a dash for the finish line won’t always suffice. Of course, there will be the occasional time where you will have to take down a couple of the dosed-up locals to allow you to continue on your quest, though always trying to beat your way to freedom isn’t going to have the desired effects

You’ll spend a lot of your time simply trying to blend in with the Joyed-up citizens as you wander around (for the most part) completely sober looking for the means to get out of this deceptively happy hell. Conformity, stealth, and combat are key if you want to escape.

Release

Currently, We Happy Few is out on both the Xbox One and Steam stores. However, this is currently the Early Access version of the game. Those who are wanting to get their hands on the full release of the game will have to wait a little longer.

Compulsion Games is yet to give a confirmed date as to when the full release of the game is due to come out. What they have said, however, is that they require “solid feedback to make sure that we create the best game we can, and we think Early Access is the best way to do that.”

With that in mind, the developer intends for We Happy Few to be in Early Access for between six and twelve months. This, of course, is not final and could always change depending on the feedback they receive from those playing the Early Access build.

What to Expect from Full Release

While the Early Access release of We Happy Few is a great way to get an idea as to whether you’re going to like the gameplay and premise, it’s missing a lot of functionality and content that will be coming in the full release.

The Early Access build focuses largely on the gameplay and only a tiny bit of the game’s story is included. Alongside the story that’s missing in the Early Access, Compulsion Games has also stated that there will be a bunch of features and areas that players will only get access to in the full release of the game.

With that in mind, those who want to get the true immersive experience of We Happy Few may be best waiting it out until the full release of the game. After all, we felt the story and setting were the stars of the show. However, for those just wanting to get in and see what We Happy Few has to offer, albeit in a limited amount, the Early Access build awaits.