Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville
By Charlotte “Charlie” Humphries
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The survivors found me cowering in a dustbin.
“We have food and shelter better than this bin. Join us.”
There were five of them all with different skills – builder, scavengers, soldiers. The leader – Naomi – sat me down and explained a few things: everybody in their community has a role; we have to band together to survive; the goal? Rebuild.
She gave me a golf club and put me on guard duty near the outskirts of their settlement. That first day was uneventful but it was a nice change from fleeing the zeds.
On the second day I was reassigned to the small farm on the other side of the settlement to help bolster the food stores. While I worked I watched the builder demolish an office block – the space was to be reused as apartments, more space for more survivors. It started to dawn on me that this small group of people were serious when they said they were going to try and rebuild a community.
“We need another small farm before we try attracting any newcomers,” Naomi told us one evening, “Newbie, there’s a perfect plot next to the market on the east side. Catch? A couple of zeds are milling about. Clear them out so that our builder can get in and reclaim it. Then I’ll go chat to the couple we spotted in the church and see if they’ll join us.”
That night a pack of rabid dogs forced themselves under the fence. I killed the leader of the pack and the rest fled. If I hadn’t been so alert, they would have destroyed half of the supplies.
The next morning I set off on my mission. Gripping my golf club to my chest, I paused by the boundary of the settlement – wire fences, wooden boards. This was the first time I would leave the safety of the community –the last time somebody had gone outside the fence, they’d been bitten and Naomi had put them in quarantine. She’d had to shoot them through a crack in the door the very next day.
There were only two zeds on the farm. It didn’t take long to remove them. Over the next couple of days the builder extended the fence around the farm and I was put to work on it. Naomi managed to convince the couple in the church to join our small community. One was an engineer – “With a laboratory I can develop anti-zombie armour, basic traps.” – and was put to work immediately.
Another office block was refitted into a school where I was sent to learn how to scavenge with a couple of the others.
There are rumours – fuelled by the traders come to barter – that there are other settlements nearby. Not all are looking to trade and rebuild. Naomi doubled the guards on the perimeter, traded electronics for a shotgun. In church she reminded us over and over again: “The zeds are not our greatest threat – other people are.”
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Game Info
Game : Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville
Developer : Northway Games
Platforms : Pc / Mac / iOS / Android
Current Status : Alpha
Note : You can pre-order Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville from it’s official website. Back it for $25.00 or more and you’ll get access to the Alpha version. To learn more about Rebuild be sure to check out the Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville Wiki.
[…] of this reminded me of a recent GDC talk by Sarah Northway (developer of the successfully funded Rebuild 3) in which she specifically focuses on Kickstarter being one of the best places for funding indie […]