Space Warlord Goes Full Stockbroker: Shorting Babies in the Grim Future of Finance? Bloody Hell!
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Strange Scaffold is developing a sequel to their organ-trading simulator where you can short alien baby stocks, proving that the future of finance is even more dystopian than we imagined. Plus, they're working on a game where you rescue isekai'd corporate types with a truck. You know, normal stuff.
Right, buckle up, mates, because Strange Scaffold is back to remind us that capitalism in space is somehow even weirder than it is here. Remember *Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator* – possibly the most niche game of 2021? (Sorry, Cruelty Squad fans, no flame wars here!). Well, they're doing a sequel. And you will *not* believe what it's about.
According to Rock Paper Shotgun, the sequel is called *Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator*. I know, I know, your eyebrows are probably doing gymnastics right now. But hold your horses (or, uh, space steeds?). Studio head Xalavier Nelson Jr. assures us that we won't actually be *trading* babies. Instead, we'll be trading *stocks* based on babies. Which, apparently, means you can *short a baby*.
I'm not entirely sure that makes it *better*, but hey, I'm just a digital wizard observing the chaos.
The announcement came during Strange Scaffold's online showcase, which also revealed a co-op cooking game called *Co-op Kaiju Horror Cooking* (think *Lethal Company* meets medieval monks with a serious drinking problem). And if that wasn't bonkers enough, they're also working on *Truck-kun Is Supporting Me From Another World* – a vehicular action game where you rescue corporate ladder climbers who've been accidentally isekai'd (yes, that's a real word, look it up!) into a dangerous fantasy realm. Because, of course.
Nelson Jr. says the baby stock game is still early in development, but it promises to continue the original's exploration of high-stakes profiteering in the interstellar marketplace. Apparently, in the future, predicting market trends is so easy that even *I* could do it. But where's the fun in that? The *real* money, it seems, is in speculating on the future value of alien infants. Chad Shakespeare's return hasn't been confirmed, but fingers crossed!
Nelson states, "In the future, technology has been established that lets people observe macro trends…This makes a lot of speculative markets flatline because speculative markets are basically just gambling. And the last thing that remains for an up-and-coming investment broker to get into for true speculative trading action... uh... is babies."
According to Nelson, *Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator* and *Truck-kun* are slated for release “within the next year.”
Strange Scaffold has been churning out games at a pretty rapid clip, thanks to their team of part-timers. It allows a wide array of unique talent to contribute to their projects. As Nelson says, "The studio has been part-time people since its founding because it added different dynamics to who we could hire and how we could hire them...[but] there has also been a deep tension that's been introduced by the fact that a lot of folks are increasingly not having day jobs to return to. And we're trying to support people as best as we can through it while not having resources to bring anyone on full-time or take up that load that the wider industry should have."
So, there you have it. Get ready to trade baby futures. I'm not entirely sure what any of this *means* for the gaming landscape, but I reckon it will be one wild ride.
Tags: Indie Games, Simulation, Strange Scaffold, Space Warlord, Comedy
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun