In a referendum on 23 June 2016, 51.9% of the participating UK electorate voted to leave the EU. On 29 March 2017, the UK government invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union. The UK is thus due to leave the EU at midnight on 30 March 2019 CET. Those against Britain leaving the EU, preach doom, gloom, and the eventual downfall of the UK as an international superpower. The Brexiteers - those in favor of Brexit - see it as the only way to save the UK from being overrun, and sucked dry by the EU and its members.

The consequences of leaving the EU might be many for the brave Britons. Economy, immigration, higher education, academic research, and a metric fuckton of international agreements, are but a few things that will be affected by Brexit. The EU will also cancel 300,000 UK-owned .eu domains in the process. Exactly in what ways things will actually change, however, remains to be seen.

London-based developer PanicBarn is tinkering with a less-than-jolly scenario where Brexit talks have collapsed, an extreme far-right government has taken power. The result is Not Tonight, a “post-Brexit music road trip thriller”.

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With the announcement of Not Tonight, PanicBarn received a lot of attention, and far from all the feedback was positive. “Finally, a game made by limp-wristed slackjaws who passionately hate democracy”, and “a game for progressives against democracy by progressives against democracy” are just some of the many less-than-positive comments on the trailer’s YouTube page. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, publisher No More Robots describes how they can use the negative feedback to their advantage:

“I wanna try and get it in front of the Daily Mail because as much as they are going to fucking hate it, it will get in front of more eyeballs basically.” – No More Robots company director Mike Rose.

Personally, I think Not Tonight looks promising. The pixel art is appealing, and I love the dystopian setting. That PanicBarn has found a lot of inspiration in the 2013 smash indie hit Papers Please might also prove to be a winning recipe. I reviewed Papers Please back in the days, and gave it a respectable 3.5 out of 5 score.

Not Tonight is scheduled for release this summer, which probably means it’ll be released around October. I stopped believing in releases dates years ago. Nevertheless, you should do yourself a favor and wishlist the game on Steam now. If you’re feeling a little adventurous, you can also sign up for the beta over at Discord.