Today’s Spotlight is OBEY, an asymmetrical multiplayer game by Dez and The Lo-Fi Apocalypse, that recently left Early Access.

The point of the game is to end a match with the most money, but the way you achieve that goal is fairly unique. One player is in a giant robot turret, while the others are defenseless baby bunnies. The bunnies are all trying to get to the robot turret so they can claim it for themselves, and must rely on stealth and subterfuge to avoid getting slaughtered.

The turret gathers money at a much higher rate than the bunnies, and can easily destroy them if the robot player manages to spot them. However, outright killing all the other players might not be the best course of action. OBEY features coercion and bribery mechanics, and invites players to try and outsmart their enemies by tricking them into working against their best interests.

You can find the Official Game trailer below.

OBEY is available on Windows PC, Linux, and Mac (all via Steam) for $7.99.

You can find an abridged rundown (via Steam) below:

OBEY is a highly asymmetrical multiplayer game.

We’ve all played games where you send commands to AI units or teammates.
OBEY instead puts you in the position to command your enemies (human opponents), and to be commanded by them. Players are always free to obey/disobey. It is always up to players to deal with the consequences of their decisions in the game.

You win by bribing and coercing your opponents to do things against their own self interest (and in your interest).
If you are being coerced you have only stealth, intelligence, trickery, and creativity to escape.

OBEY is sort of like Counter Strike Jailbreak Mod meets Spy Party.
OBEY’s social aspects have also been compared to Trouble in Terrorist Town and Town of Salem.

To win, make more money than any one else by the end of the round.
To make the most money, take command of the giant robot (the robot player makes 10x more than the other players per second).
You take control of it by walking into a door at the base of the robot.
The player in the robot can easily destroy any player he sees trying to approach (IF he sees them).
That’s the basics – so superficially, it plays like ‘king of the hill’.

However…
Experienced robot players will know that it is not always in their interest to simply kill approaching players.
Why not? Because he can instead coerce them to do what he wants,
and that’s where the game gets interesting…

[…]

NOTES ABOUT GAMEPLAY:

• When playing as robo… you are free to shoot everything that moves (and this might even work against friends or new players), but if you just use this against experienced players you will get subverted, and you will lose. You want your opponents controlled, not hidden and out to subvert you…
• When playing as a bunny… trying to constantly subvert in the face of an experienced robo is a terrible idea: you will spend most of your game waiting to spawn. OBEY rewards using TRICKERY, STEALTH, and INTELLIGENCE. OBEY does not reward constant blind ‘guns blazing’ rushing to the robot. (But what did you expect? you are a baby bunny .vs an enormous mecha-canon-turret).
  REMEMBER: You will be playing against other human beings – they can not be fooled as easily as AI!

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