Key facts
- Players control Harrow McClellan, a disgraced police officer returned to her former post after a scandal that became law‑enforcement legend.
- The game takes place in the dystopian city Scarhelm, where players patrol open hubs, seize contraband, investigate complaints, and search back alleys for evidence.
- The body‑camera switch mechanic is used to explore themes of police authority, accountability, and the consequences of actions taken out of public view.
- Gods With Badges began as the unreleased project Hard Justice from strategy studio Artificer; Strange Scaffold revived it using the original foundations and development materials.
Strange Scaffold announced Gods With Badges, a narrative tactics game that examines police power and accountability, for PC via Steam in 2027, though they have not set an exact launch date.
Players control Harrow McClellan, a disgraced police officer who returned to her former post after a scandal that became law‑enforcement legend. The game takes place in the dystopian city Scarhelm, where players patrol open hubs, seize contraband, investigate complaints, and search back alleys for evidence.
Gameplay blends exploration with isometric turn‑based combat, a view where the battlefield appears from an angle and players take actions in turns. It lets players seek shelter, save hostages, determine the amount of force to apply, and temporarily disable Harrow’s body camera to unlock tactical and dialogue options, though doing so erases the public record of those actions. Body camera is a wearable recorder that captures an officer’s view.
The body‑camera switch mechanic explores themes of police authority. It also examines accountability and the consequences of actions taken out of public view. Gods With Badges began as the unreleased project Hard Justice from strategy studio Artificer. Strange Scaffold revived it using the original foundations and development materials.
The title is the latest entry in Strange Scaffold’s Project Share initiative. The initiative encourages technology exchange and sustainable development, and an earlier Project Share product is Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 1: Re‑Raptored.
Kris Kirk composes the soundtrack. Kris Kirk created the score for Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator for Strange Scaffold.
Studio head Xalavier Nelson Jr. called Gods With Badges one of the studio’s most ambitious projects and thanked Artificer for trusting the team with the source material. He said they treat the game seriously to achieve cultural impact and he holds the role of studio head at Strange Scaffold.
The release is via Steam. The planned release year is 2027. They have not set an exact launch date.
Join the discussion