Most survival games ask you to build a shelter from the elements. Hello Sunshine takes a very different approach — your best chance of staying alive is following a gigantic walking war machine across a deadly wasteland and quite literally living in its shadow.
Developed by Norwegian studio Red Thread Games and published by Megabit Publishing, Hello Sunshine is an upcoming third-person survival mystery RPG set within the ruins of a collapsed corporate empire. Players take on the role of the “Final Employee,” travelling towards a mysterious white tower while attempting to uncover what happened to the world around them.
The game’s most distinctive mechanic revolves around its enormous wandering robot. During the day, the desert is subjected to extreme heat and dangerous radiation, making direct exposure to the sun potentially deadly. The giant machine casts a moving shadow across the landscape, giving players a relatively safe area to travel within.
There is a catch, however. Some of the best resources and locations can be found away from the robot’s protection, meaning players will regularly have to decide whether valuable supplies are worth risking exposure to the sun. Abandoned settlements, military installations, supply drops and destroyed war machines can all be scavenged for useful materials.
When night arrives, the survival rules completely change.
Temperatures drop dramatically and the wasteland becomes freezing cold. The robot eventually stops at Sunshine Service Stations to recharge, allowing players to establish a temporary camp nearby. Staying close to the machine provides warmth while giving players an opportunity to cook food, craft equipment, repair gear and prepare for another day on the road.
The robot itself is more than just a moving source of shelter. Players can gradually repair and upgrade the machine with improved sensors, defensive systems and other mechanical enhancements. It can even be customised with decals and new paint.
Your relationship with the machine will apparently develop throughout the journey as well. Initially, the robot barely acknowledges the player, but helping repair and improve it will eventually unlock additional interactions. In return, the enormous machine can reveal hidden locations, lift players over obstacles, protect them from threats and fight hostile war machines.
Hello Sunshine also includes a more traditional survival crafting system. Resources collected while exploring can be broken down into components using Sunshine Recyclers, which can then be turned into new weapons, tools and equipment.
Players will also be able to construct small programmable robots known as “Little Guys.” These machines can automate several jobs, including gathering resources, mapping the surrounding environment, hunting and defending the player against drone attacks.
There is even a strange corporate progression system tied into the game’s world. Completing tasks increases your employee level and unlocks additional benefits at Sunshine’s automated service stations, including vending machines, restricted areas and other corporate perks.
Behind all of those survival mechanics sits a larger mystery. Sunshine was once a powerful corporation that promised humanity a better future, but the world has instead been left filled with automated machines that continue operating and fighting long after the people responsible for creating them disappeared.
Players will gradually discover what happened to Sunshine, learn more about the identity of the Final Employee and uncover the purpose of the enormous tower waiting at the end of their journey.
Hello Sunshine can be played entirely alone, but it will also support two-player co-op. Two players can explore and scavenge together, exchange resources and experience parts of the journey from different perspectives. Steam currently lists online co-op, LAN co-op and shared or split-screen co-op support.
Hello Sunshine is currently being developed for PC and is listed as “Coming soon” on Steam, with no confirmed release date announced yet. A Steam Playtest is also available for players interested in requesting access ahead of launch.
With a mobile base that literally walks across the world, deadly sunlight forcing players to remain in its shadow and an environment that transforms from scorching heat to freezing cold every night, Hello Sunshine is bringing a particularly unusual idea to the survival genre.