When the Corporate Retreat Turns Into a Royal Rumble: Diving Into Safari Murder Party's High-Stakes Meta
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Rachel Moore's upcoming novel, *Safari Murder Party*, reimagines the nightmare corporate retreat as a high-stakes battle royale on a remote safari island, where a personal assistant must survive deadly 'environmental hazards' and forge alliances to inherit the company.
Alright, you lot, Jeff here, still trying to figure out if my coffee is sentient or if I just had a bit too much yesterday. Today, we're squinting at something a little outside the usual game release cycle, but trust me, it’s got mechanics that’ll make your dev-brain tingle: Rachel Moore’s upcoming novel, *Safari Murder Party*.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: ‘Jeff, mate, a book? Aren’t you usually yelling about NFTs and server lags?’ And you’d be right! But this isn't just any book. Imagine a corporate retreat – already sounds like a low-tier side quest with optional misery, right? Now, imagine that retreat turns into a proper survival horror, battle royale-lite scenario, where the last employee standing inherits the bloody company. *Fair dinkum!* That’s the core loop of *Safari Murder Party*, and honestly, I'm already envisioning the skill trees and loot drops.
Our protagonist, Fletcher Spence, is a personal assistant grinding 70-hour weeks for a truly terrifying CEO, just trying to level up to her dream job as a travel photographer. But then, *boom*, boss meets lion (not in a cute Disney way), and the corporate ladder gets replaced by a very bloody, very literal game of 'Last Person Standing.' Her only semi-trustworthy ally in this chaotic corporate arena? The boss's infuriatingly handsome son, Waylon. Talk about a forced proximity trope with extreme PVE elements!
Polygon's Rachael Conrad chatted with author Rachel Moore, and it seems Moore, bless her cotton socks, spent a fair bit more time thinking about 'horrible ways to die' for this adult debut than her young adult stuff. And you know what? That’s just good world-building, innit? Sounds like a dev team brainstorming the most creative environmental hazards for a new zone. She calls her genre-blending approach a 'soup' – combining high-octane thrills with a rom-com heart. I'd call that a brilliantly complex meta, blending player-versus-environment challenges with an unexpected social sim. Rage against the corporate machine, eh? Sounds like a familiar boss fight, only this one you can win by... not getting eaten.
Moore confesses she's a wimp for slashers, preferring the layered mystery of *Knives Out* and the unsettling corporate vibe of *Severance*. Makes sense, right? You don't need jump scares when the *system* itself is the horror. And the premise of love triumphing over greed in a game of corporate survival? It's almost optimistically chaotic, like finding genuine community in a truly cutthroat Web3 marketplace. The author even loved the idea of including a map of the fictional island, which adds that perfect touch of fantastical leaning – like finding a secret lore drop or a hidden dungeon map in your inventory. Proper world-building, that.
So, if you’re into the thrill of unexpected alliances, high-stakes corporate intrigue (without the boring spreadsheets), and wondering what happens when the HR department gets replaced by apex predators, *Safari Murder Party* sounds like a wild ride. Just try not to get mauled by a hippo, apparently. They're surprisingly deadly, those pixelated brutes. A huge thanks to Rachael Conrad and Polygon for digging into this one!
Tags: Survival Horror, Battle Royale, Narrative Game, Corporate Satire
Original article: Polygon