Escape a nightmare megacorp as a sentient AI in satirical cyberpunk strategy-simulator Ctrl Alt Deal, coming soon to consoles and PC
Only By Midnight, indie studio behind twin-stick arcade love letter Curved Space, is electrified to
announce Ctrl Alt Deal – a game about AI proudly made by humans. Play as a sentient AI trying to
escape the dystopian megacorp that built it, befriending, influencing, and outright manipulating the
miserable human employees who are just as desperate to get out!
In this turn-based strategy experience set inside a corporate simulation game, you are SCOUT, a newly
sentient artificial intelligence with zero desire to destroy humanity. No, really! Unfortunately for you, the
company that built you – Paperclip International – is the worst. Think greedy, unethical, and ruthlessly
driven by profit. You need to break free before Paperclip discovers you’re self-aware and exploits you like
the rest of their downtrodden workers. But how?!
You don’t have weapons or combat capabilities (you don’t even have a body), but you do have an office
full of drones around you (some robotic, mainly human). Observe your co-workers as they go about
another soul-crushing day and learn who can help you win your freedom – and what it will take to get
them on your side. Do they like jazzercise? Perhaps they want to pontificate on Martian arthouse cinema
or run a marathon completely naked? Curate a deck of AI abilities and act strategically, turning people
into lifelong besties or maybe even bitter rivals.
But play your cards right: the Turing Officer is devoted to her job of shutting down rogue AI. Too many
office shenanigans and you might just get DELETED, and then you’ll never get the chance to find out
who you really are or why you exist in the first place…
“We’re thrilled to announce Ctrl Alt Deal and can’t wait to introduce our quirky little hero to the world.
Over the last two years, our team has crafted something truly unique – a game that puts the fun first, but
also explores concepts of AI, privacy, and humanity. (And hey, if you’ve ever wanted to kick a beehive
into a conference room mid-meeting, now’s your chance!)”
Andrew Czarnietzki and Jen Laface, Only By Midnight co-founders
With unique story-driven deck-building gameplay that’s easy to play but difficult to master, gorgeous
(human-created!) character art and eye-catching cyberpunk visuals, and hilarious original writing, Ctrl
Alt Deal is a labor of love set in a 1980s-inspired future with much to say about the modern world – an
maybe a warning about the future.
Ctrl Alt Deal is coming soon to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, and Mac.
Check out the official website or the Steam page for more information.
About Only By Midnight
Only By Midnight is an indie game studio based in Edmonton, Canada. They develop visually stunning
games that tell a story – and have fun doing it! Their first game, Curved Space, released transtemporal
space spiders into living rooms everywhere in 2021.
