4MinuteStudio presents Permission to Dock, a rambunctious science-fiction journey across the stars.

You’ll be on a mission to meet, greet, and mate a wondrous array of exotic and extraordinary lifeforms from across the galaxy. Aliens, machine intelligences, extradimensional entities, and even stranger things are out there – and they’re as curious about humanity as you are about them.

The Story So Far

In the 23rd century, humanity has conquered disease, infirmity, poverty, hunger, and even ageing. But the United Earth Authority is yet to conquer the human spirit – not that they haven’t tried.

Utopia has come at a price. The UEA has stifled humanity’s passions, even as it has delivered unprecedented prosperity. Its citizens live anodyne lives that are increasingly empty of surprise and adventure. The sudden discovery of intelligent alien life, once so fervently hoped for, seemed like it might finally break the spell.

Then came the Whoopsie War. First contact has never been so embarrassing.

In the (thoroughly humbling) aftermath, the UEA turned inward. It legislated for isolation and demanded purity. Its pioneering First Contact Vessels were decommissioned, their crews finding humble work as cargo haulers and glorified taxi operators.

But for the crew of the New Horizons, a seemingly mundane contract to escort a UEA politician ignites a spark – one that threatens to send the old order up in flames.

The old order does not appreciate this. They will oppose you, even as your exploits fan the flames of passions long thought extinguished. But if they want to stop you, they’re going to have to find you first.

And the galaxy is a very big place.

Meet the Crew

You won’t be setting out on your journey of discovery alone. As Captain of the FCV New Horizons, your team will be behind you every step of the way.

Executive Officer Gabriel Ryder will have your back in any situation. Especially those involving “first contact”, if you know what he means. Or she – it changes sometimes. Actually, it changes a lot. Don’t worry about it.

Medical Officer Caitlin Montague is a prematurely-retired doctor with a minor in xenobiology, and a major interest in the onboard pharmaceutical synthesiser. She will make sure you are fully briefed, and have all the anatomical parts you might need, for whatever the aliens might throw at you.

Science Officer Apollo Jacobs isn’t about to let his lack of formal qualifications get in the way of his new appointment. Getting inadvertently shanghaied by fugitives fleeing the solar system is the best thing that’s ever happened to him – because that’s exactly where all the hot alien waifus are to be found.

Penetrator Series 7 Advanced Expert System “Penny” was once a military-grade shipboard AI. Now she supports you in your mission to penetrate alien life in a manner unanticipated by her original programmers. And she will absolutely, positively, make sure you succeed, whether you like it or not.

Features

• Some as-yet-undetermined number of words. But probably a lot, let’s be honest.

• Hand drawn visuals, animated in hypnotic Live2D.

• A non-linear adventure composed of many self-contained “contact missions”, all bound together by an overarching story about humanity searching to rediscover its sense of wonder.

• The ability to play as a male or female Captain. And change freely between missions, so don’t hesitate to experiment! Some aliens may be looking for something specific, while other missions will vary based on your choice.

• No FOMO: you can freely replay any completed mission in the comfort of your ship’s very own holosuite. Explore what might have been, or just take a walk down memory lane.

• A fully dynamic synthwave soundtrack to accompany the action.

• Achievements, for the dopamine enjoyers out there.

• Weird alien sex, probably.