Hitcents’ Orwellian cinematic platformer, Ministry of Broadcast (MoB), today launched for Nintendo Switch on the Nintendo eShop for $14.99. MoB has Switch players fighting for their lives in an absurd reality TV show sponsored by the all-seeing Regime. In the coming weeks, a free update patch with a new ‘Story Mode’, which has been delayed due to COVID-19, will be available (see details below). In ‘Story Mode’ there is an ‘easy’ experience that includes all the same levels and puzzles but with relaxed controls, allowing players to more readily focus on the narrative being woven around them. Hitcents has also partnered with PM Studios to release a physical version of the game. The Standard Edition and the Collector’s Edition Steelbook will come later in 2020.
“Well crap. We dreamt up this absurd look at fake news, reality TV, government rule… and now we’ve been totally eclipsed by the craziness we’re living in,” said Jordan Taylor, Studio Head at Hitcents. “If you need an escape from it all, I invite you to download Ministry of Broadcast on Switch. If you long for the simpler days, check out MOB’s old school platformer gameplay. If you want to support an indie dev and an indie publishing house, please spend your money on my game. But for the love of it all, stay the hell home!”
Ministry of Broadcast features:
- Themes Ripped from the Headlines: The Wall divides a country in two, and a man from his family. To see his family again, the game’s ginger-haired protagonist has to become a contestant on “The Wall Show”, a Regime-organized TV show allowing competitors the opportunity to escape to freedom. As our protagonist progresses from arena to arena and day to day, he soon realizes exactly how the Regime and the show operate.
- Old-School Style – In the spirit of classics such as Prince of Persia (1989) and Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus, Ministry of Broadcast revives the gameplay of classic 2D cinematic platformers, where players need nimble run-and-jump reflexes to avoid mortal dangers, and a sharp mind to discern the real-life parallels. In this style of gameplay, the controls put a bit of distance and delay between the player’s actions and the character’s reaction.
- Developers Drawing on Life Experiences: The game is developed by Ministry of Broadcast Studios, a group living in the Czech Republic. Motivated by their own lives in Eastern Europe and some of the atrocities they’ve seen and experienced, the group created a game offering a satirical examination of prevalent sociopolitical issues – groupthink, privacy, fake news, consumerism, and more.
- Death-Defying Gameplay: To reach freedom and family, you must lead the protagonist through each of the Arenas while under the ever-watchful lens of the Regime. Encounter the requisite variety of hazardous, dilapidated obstacles along the way (leg-shattering drops, flaming barrels of garbage, inconveniently placed spike pits, hanging steel beams), but bear in mind: the promise of freedom is not exactly what it seems. The realization that truth is interpreted by those who share it hangs heavy on your mind. What, or who, do you sacrifice?
- Awards: Ministry of Broadcast has been nominated and won several awards for its unique gameplay and art at Indiecade (Santa Monica, CA), Game Connection (Paris), and Game Access (Brno, Czech Republic).
- Free Update Coming Soon: The new update, available in a few weeks, will include:
- A new ‘Story Mode’ allowing players to more readily experience MoB’s story and gameplay through more compliant controls, relaxed timing in time-sensitive sequences, and less aggressive enemies.
- Language support for 12 additional languages
- New animations
- New and tasty chapter screens between each day
- More and optimized existing checkpoints
- Refined movement controls – some things are quicker and a little more responsive
- Performance optimizations/reduced loading times
