The surface is no longer home. That doesn’t mean everyone has given up on it.
Otherkind: Lost Earth is a tactical PvP game in development, set on an Earth changed by an ancient catastrophe. Beneath the ruins, intelligent animals have built cities, made livelihoods, and found reasons to disagree. They are the Otherkind.
This is the start of our dev blog: a place for the world, the characters, and the decisions that go into making the game.
A life below. A reason to go above.
The catastrophe left the surface covered in curse dust. Underground, generations of animals developed a civilization of their own. On the surface, life followed a stranger path.
Advances in filtration made it possible to return. Explorers brought discoveries back down with them—along with risks that couldn’t always be contained. After contaminated cargo forced an entire district to be sealed, access to the surface became tightly controlled.
A mask is protection. An official one is also permission.
That leaves plenty of room for homemade equipment, stolen permits, and people who would rather avoid a checkpoint.
Nobody comes up here for the same reason.
Expedition maps ruins and brings discoveries home. Bureau agents track smuggling and dangerous cargo before it reaches the cities. Backdoor keeps the unofficial routes open, putting trust and promises ahead of the law.
There are other reasons to return. House Vane searches for the resources to reclaim its lost power. Peerless seeks opponents worthy of a reputation. The Foundation wants to build places where people can live.
And Terminus, formed from experienced former explorers, believes the routes should be closed for good.
These factions share the same ruins. Their reasons for being there rarely fit together neatly.
The game we’re building
Our first focus is PvP: encounters between other mask wearers. The combat is built around planned actions, positioning, and reading another player’s intentions. We’ll go into the details in our combat design notes.
Magic and science shape the look of the world—crystal filters, patched equipment, and old machinery. They give the setting its character; combat rules and balance are designed around the game itself.
The illustrations here are concept studies. The setting is taking shape, and the game is still in development. As the work moves forward, this journal is where we’ll share it.