Brainshell demo makes you saw your limbs off as a conscious nuclear missile

Brainshell sets its world in 1963, where computers have been replaced with human brains. The nuclear arms race has reached a point of no return, and the state uses propaganda, brainwashing and body modification to produce a conscious nuclear missile. I decided to try the demo.

Development is credited to Brainshell Team, which describes itself as '4 Finnish game devs making weird and experimental games.' The intro cuts between skeuomorphic lever-pulling and ominous warnings about a low chance of survival. The gizmos feel reactive as you are gradually indoctrinated into your new role.

A simple tutorial quickly raises the pressure with screeching sirens and 'murder disco' lights. You click through a pulsating flesh maze while the protagonist recounts events, then enter an operating room where the small detail that the character hates the taste of clean water lands as especially chilling.

Finland

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