Fenyx Digital reveal The Money Man

As Brendan Gleeson says in Spider-Noir, the money never lies. I’ve said it countless times before that I love a game with a distinct art style or an interesting mechanic, and technically Fenyx Digital, developer of Lotus: Lost Memories, doesn’t do either of those with a completely refreshing idea, but it does it interestingly. Announced late last week, the two-person development team revealed The Money Man, another one of those choice-driven dystopian strategy sims that is heavily inspired by Papers, Please. Here is what the press release said on Thursday about The Money Man:

“Sava Beric and Ahamed Inhaam, the duo development team behind Fenyx Digital, are thrilled to announce their latest pixel-art narrative game – The Money Man. In this choice-driven dystopian strategy sim set in a decaying, sealed-off future New York, players are challenged to survive in a high-stakes criminal underworld, where spotting counterfeit bills becomes a matter of life or death. A demo for the game will be available on Steam soon.“

With a bit of alt-history or alt-something, the Steam blurb notes in the opening, “A century ago, the wealthy fled to Mars. Earth is rotting, and the underworld owns New York.” Meanwhile, there are those smoky clubs full of lovely jazz, men in suits, and attractive women out of your league… a bit like real life, I guess. There isn’t really a set 1920s or so similar year set out by the details shared thus far. Though on the gameplay and setting, the press release notes:

“Every day, debtors arrive to pay what they owe to the crime family. Real money needs to go into the vault, and counterfeits must be caught – or it’s you who answers for it. Your task is to inspect the cash using a variety of tools at your desk. Use a scanner to inspect serial numbers and portraits more closely, or set the bill on the UV plate or under regular light to see how the bill reacts. You also have your handy notebook and a ledger at your disposal to cross-check anything you find suspicious.

Between shifts, you’re free to leave your desk to socialize. Stroll through the speakeasy to gather rumors and chat with patrons for useful intel. Using the information you gather, you’ll find it easier to spot who’s a liar and who is being truthful when they pass bills to you.“

Going on to note, “You have 31 days to navigate this world and escape. Every morning, you’ll sit down and decide who walks out clean and who gets ruined. The choices you make in-game will determine which of the nine endings you experience. Will you stay loyal to the mob and pay your debt or become an informant for the police? Will you make your escape to Mars? Even one change could alter your ending.”

There is no release date yet for The Money Man, as the project was just revealed. We do have a 2027 release window, but of course that could mean six months or even seventeen months from now, so we’re not sure when exactly. We’re also not sure on the date for the demo, but the press release continues on to say:

“A playable demo of The Money Man will be available on Steam in early August. The upcoming demo will allow players to sit down to master their tools and experience a tense prequel to the main story with its own branching story and moral dilemmas with New York’s desperate debtors.” Early August is a bit more narrowed down, of course, but it could be next week or the next again.

With that said, you might want to do as I’ve done almost immediately when I first saw it; you can wishlist The Money Man on Steam right now. I know I’ll be trying to keep an eye on the project from here on out, hopefully providing updates here on the site when I can. Tell us what you think of The Money Man thus far below!