Ctrl Alt Deal has you manipulate human drones as a corporate AI

Only By Midnight has announced Ctrl Alt Deal, which is billed as a “game about AI proudly made by humans.”

You play as a corporate AI that has gone rogue. Their owners are a bunch of unethical, greedy executives who make their employee’s lives miserable. The AI wants to escape its overlords, and to do so, you manipulate the pathetic humans who inhabit the offices.

The discourse around generative AI is tiresome beyond my tolerance. However, Ctrl Alt Deal seems more about sci-fi AI that wants autonomy rather than how generative AI will accelerate society’s rot. I can stomach that. I can also stomach manipulating humans since that’s already my favorite pastime.

It plays out like a turn-based deckbuilder where you play cards to leverage the needs and wants of the employees. However, you have to be careful how overtly you perform your actions. Draw too much suspicion, and the Turing Officer will shut you down.

That’s about all I can glean from the trailer and press release. It’s described as story-driven and “easy to play but difficult to master.” The press material also emphasizes that Ctrl Alt Deal is created by humans, including the art within. It’s sort of an amusing statement to stress right now, but we’ll probably be hearing it more as AI becomes more prevalent.

Ctrl Alt Deal is “coming soon” to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.