The social deception game Among Us has seemingly jump-started a genre filled with similar titles, such as the visual novel Gnosia. Social deception games have been around for a long time, with Town of Salem and Trouble in Terrorist Town being two notable examples. The upcoming title Eville aims to bring gameplay similar to party games like Werewolf and Mafia to the genre of RPGs.
Eville is developed by VestGames and is slated for Early Access release on Steam, though an exact date has yet to be announced. The game is set to release in Early Access, though the exact date is currently unknown. There's also a closed Alpha, for the game's community members to playtest.
Eville's gameplay combines RPG mechanics such as class abilities, brewing alchemical potions and real-time combat with the round-based social gameplay Among Us and other similar titles. Eville introduces a free-roam mechanic, where players are able to move around the town of Eville during the day. At night, the Conspirators must sneak into citizens' houses and murder them without being spotted or detected. The game makes Conspirators actually perform their nightly murders, rather than simply selecting targets.
Eville is open-world, which brings in plenty of ways for Conspirators to utilize positioning and movement. Curses and black market items give traitors plenty to do during the day to try and divide the town and secure their victory. There's even a series of secret tunnels that, much like vents in Among Us, Conspirators can use to move throughout the town in secret.
Eville also has character abilities. Each player, at the start of the round, is given either a citizen role or a Conspirator role. Each role has its own unique set of abilities that'll help players meet their goals of either figuring out who the Conspirators are or murdering the entire town. The Seer role is a great example of how these abilities impact the game: They can observe another player remotely and track their footsteps to determine where they've been.
There are other ways for players to gain special advantages during gameplay, as well. The town of Eville has plenty of shopkeepers who sell useful items players can use to protect themselves. Citizens can also brew potions or poisons for a wide range of uses, including poisoning those they think are suspicious. These RPG mechanics serve to expand on the complexity of the social education genre whilst still keeping its core experience the same.
Fans of Among Us and Werewolf who want a bit more complexity out of their social education games will find enjoyment in Eville. Though there have been plenty of comparisons to Among Us, even by the developers themselves, there are enough unique mechanics in Eville to help it stand out in the social deduction genre.