Fight Your Way Up The Corporate Ladder With CIBOS

Everybody works. This mantra is basically the adult version of the classic children’s book, ‘Everybody Poops’, but somehow more depressing. At least, it was depressing until the developers at I Am A Dog Studio decided to make it a party game.

Seeking $10,865 on Kickstarter, Dog’s first game CIBOS is already well on its way to completion. The game centers on the work-centric lives of little aliens called, (wait for it) CIBOS. Players start out as an intern and work to progress their career by collecting cogs and bolts across dynamic levels. Of course, everyone else has the same goal, and we can’t all be the best employee in the galaxy.

The art style has a very World of Goo feel, minimal, but lively and interesting. The campaign page is a little difficult to parse information from, since the team doesn’t seem to employ native English speakers, but what is presented certainly looks promising.

Corporate Caveats

That’s not to say the campaign for CIBOS doesn’t raise a few questions. The developer claims that the solo and local multi-player modes have already been financed and created. The Kickstarter is being used to fund the online multi-player. Despite apparently being so far ahead on development, there’s no demo on offer, which feels like a missed opportunity.

The environments are varied and interesting, but there’s no mention of how many levels CIBOS will have. This seems odds because the majority of the stretch goals are going towards adding more levels. Would be nice to know if the additional funds would be worthwhile at this point.

The game controls also posed a problem since the graphics show off gamepad compatibility, but don’t mention keyboard options. I’m always hesitant about native PC/MAC games that are designed to play with third-party controllers instead of keyboard/mouse. I understand that everyone wants to make the move to consoles at some point, but I hate when keyboard controls feel like an afterthought.

The game has an estimated delivery date of January 2017. Such a quick turnaround probably explains the lack of a demo, but doesn’t assuage my concerns about the controls. Still, CIBOS looks like a fun couch co-op experience and the risk for potential backers seems minimal. Definitely worth a look before your next team-building meeting at work.