The Council is an episodic murder mystery full of ‘intrigue and manipulation’, starting in February

By James O'Connor

The Council is a brand new game from a new studio, with the sort of exciting premise that makes us want to report on it.

The Council is a five part episodic adventure game, which will debut in February with its first episode, The Mad Ones.

Here’s the story synopsis from the studio’s website:

THE COUNCIL’s first episode, THE MAD ONES, takes place in 1793, with players taking the role of secret society member Louis de Richet after his invitation to a private island by the enigmatic Lord Mortimer. Joining him are a number of high profile guests, including Napoleon Bonaparte and President of the newly-formed United States of America, George Washington.

The strange nature of this private reception goes beyond just the prestigious guests –Richet’s own mother has recently gone missing on the island, while each and every one of the colorful cast seems to have their own hidden agendas.

The game will feature a ‘Social Influence’ system, where you can use skills and resources to “gain the upper hand and achieve the desired outcome” during confrontations with other characters.

You need to learn about the psychological profile of the various characters in the game so that you can exploit their weaknesses when confronting them, and while you can ‘fail’ an encounter, there’s never a game over scenario, you just have to deal with the ramifications of your failure. Apparently you can face permanent consequences of your actions, including potential ‘physical disfigurements’ if you mess up.

There will also be 15 different skills to invest in, making this quite different from the Telltale style adventures it is clearly inspired by. This is all very much my kind of thing.

This is the first game from studio Big Bad Wolf, which formed in 2014 with an intent to focus on narrative-driven games and RPGs. It is a team made up of several industry veterans. There’s no timeline on the other four episodes, but we would presume that most of them, if not all, would be released throughout 2018.

The Council will be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.