Strange Scaffold has announced Gods With Badges, a narrative tactics game examining police power through patrols, dialogue and turn-based combat. Revealed at the Triple-I Initiative, the game can already be wishlisted on Steam. Players take the role of Harrow McClellan, a disgraced officer reassigned to her hometown after a scandal, with decisions shaping how she uses her authority and responds to the reputation that follows her.
The setting is Scarhelm, a futuristic dystopian city where policing involves confiscating contraband, issuing fines, collecting evidence and handling both criminal and civic complaints. Conversations lead into decisions about arrests and lethal force. The narrative explores how the incentives, institutions and people surrounding the justice system gradually distance Harrow emotionally and psychologically from the citizens she is supposed to protect.
Her bodycam forms a direct link between those themes and the game systems. Temporarily switching it off removes public scrutiny and unlocks specific dialogue choices and tactical options. Harrow and her colleagues also operate with legal immunity, making their authority over citizens’ lives part of the decisions players face. During an intervention, the amount of force used must be considered alongside protecting fellow officers and responding to the situation.
Combat uses an isometric perspective, with cover, hostage rescues and customisable equipment. Accessories alter the squad’s tactical setup, while arrests and executions present different ways of dealing with suspects. Strange Scaffold is also experimenting with a system in which almost every opponent attempts to flee after a set number of turns. Suspects have separate arrest and kill values based on criminal records that players cannot see. Limited actions therefore interact with incentives that assign value to individuals, feeding into decisions about capture, killing and the risk of escape.
The project has its roots in an earlier game developed by Artificer, which was set aside as the studio moved towards Showgunners. With the trust of Artificer and the original publisher, Strange Scaffold is building new artwork, narrative and mechanics on that foundation. The anthology campaign comes from the creators of I Am Your Beast and Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator, with a noir soundtrack composed by Kris Kirk. Mature subjects arising from police patrols and complaints are addressed primarily through playable conversations.
No release date has been announced. For readers following the game’s launch plans, the Playority PC release calendar provides a way to track upcoming titles, add them to an account and receive updates when release dates are announced or changed.
n-based combat.
