We Who Are About to Die is a small indie game about gladiatorial combat. This game was developed by independent developer, Jordy Lakiere. The game is still in early access and has its fair number of bugs, but not anything game breaking and if anything, they add to the game as a whole. The game is also perma-death, which means that if the player dies, they must start from the beginning with a new character.
In We Who Are About to Die, the gamer plays as a randomly chosen gladiator from a list of backstories that all impact the player’s gameplay. For example, the player may roll the slave backstory, and this will cause the player to earn less gold in fights but more fame as they will be seen as an underdog.
The game has two currencies, fame and gold. The player will spend gold on healing, training their gladiator and buying new equipment. The player will spend fame on keeping certain equipment in the shop longer than normal as equipment changes after every fight, revealing hidden effects of matches and ordering special equipment that the player needs or wants. Both currencies are earned from winning gladiator matches.
The player is given a choice of four gladiator matches every week. The matches are all randomized and will occasionally have bonus effects tied to them. For example, it could be a situation such as seven against seven, but all combatants will enter the arena without any equipment, so the player must rely on whatever they can find in the arena. This provides a very addicting gameplay loop that will have gamers constantly making new characters to replace their old ones after they perish in hopes that they will get farther this time than the last.
The goal of the game is to see how far the player can go and how much they improve with every new chance, but it also has specific victory conditions for each backstory. For example, a backstory called “Thrill-Seeking Civilian” victory condition is simply killing 80 gladiators.
We Who Are About to Die is currently celebrating its one-year anniversary and is available for purchase on Steam for $16.49.
by Trey Jones
