Strange Scaffold has announced Gods With Badges, a narrative tactics game in which players can switch off a police officer’s bodycam to open up new combat and dialogue options. The choice also removes the public record of what happens next, putting the consequences of recording-or not recording-a situation directly into the game’s systems.

Revealed during the Triple-I Initiative showcase on October 8, the game follows Harrow McClellan, a disgraced officer sent back to her original post after the scandal that drove her away became a law-enforcement legend. Every conversation and turn-based encounter gives players a chance to reinforce that reputation or try to move beyond it.

Bodycam decisions carry into combat and conversation

Harrow patrols Scarhelm, a dystopian city of the future, where she can seize contraband, investigate complaints and look for evidence in back alleys. Dialogue choices, arrests and uses of force affect her relationships with fellow officers, the public and the institutions around her.

When a situation escalates, play shifts to isometric, turn-based combat. Players can take cover and rescue hostages while deciding how much force to use; temporarily disabling Harrow’s bodycam adds tactical and dialogue options, but leaves the events that follow without a public recording.

Tactical combat gameplay in Gods With Badges – Image: Gods With Badges / Steam

That mechanic makes surveillance more than a visual style or a bit of set dressing: it is a decision with both immediate gameplay value and consequences for the story. The premise has a natural connection to other games built around being watched, including The Watcher, while bodycam-style shooters use the camera idea for a very different kind of tension.

An unrealised Artificer project gets a new form

Gods With Badges began as Hard Justice, an unrealised project from strategy studio Artificer. Strange Scaffold says it has built on the original project’s foundations and development materials, reinterpreting them in its own style rather than presenting the game as a straight continuation.

The project is also the latest entry in Strange Scaffold’s Project Share initiative, which encourages developers to exchange technology and explore more sustainable ways to make games. An earlier Project Share project resulted in Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 1: Re-Raptored, according to the announcement.

Strange Scaffold studio head Xalavier Nelson Jr. described the game as one of the studio’s most ambitious undertakings, citing its unusual production history and aim to make a cultural impact. He also thanked Artificer for trusting Strange Scaffold with the project and said the team was treating its source material seriously while reshaping it.

Gods With Badges release details Detail Information Developer Strange Scaffold Platform Steam for PC Release window 2027 Original project Hard Justice by Artificer

Gods With Badges is scheduled to launch on Steam for PC in 2027. Strange Scaffold has not announced a more specific release date.

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