Quick Guide
- Assignments in A Better World are time-travel missions to alter historical events.
- Objectives are provided, but players have flexibility in how they achieve them.
- Decisions during assignments impact your employee score and career progression.
- Replaying assignments is a key mechanic to improve outcomes and unlock new content.
- Your virtual assistant, Globos, guides you through mission objectives and choices.
Welcome to the A Better World Company, where history is your playground and the past is ripe for revision. In the narrative adventure A Better World, available on Steam, players step into the role of a new recruit tasked with completing crucial assignments. Understanding how these assignments function, what your objectives entail, and the impact of your choices is paramount to succeeding in this unique time-traveling role. This guide will clarify the core quest mechanics, helping you navigate your path to a "better" world.
The Nature of Assignments in A Better World
At its heart, A Better World revolves around a series of assignments given by the mysterious A Better World Company. As an employee, you're granted access to the most powerful time machine ever created—a Computer that can transport you across millennia in seconds. Your job is to travel to "key historical moments" and make decisions that reshape events. These assignments are the primary way you engage with the game's story and mechanics, acting as distinct missions with specific parameters.
Each assignment is a unique opportunity to intervene in history, offering scenarios ranging from ancient civilizations to the Space Race. The game emphasizes that your role is to be "both a witness to AND an actor in history," implying a deep connection between your observations and the actions you take.
Understanding Your Objectives and How to Achieve Them
While the overarching goal is to "make the world a better place," each assignment comes with specific objectives. The game designers give you the "what," but the "how" is largely up to you. For instance, the game highlights examples such as:
- Preventing JFK's assassination.
- Deciding whether to give the nuclear bomb to Gandhi.
- Shifting humanity's focus to Mars instead of the Moon.
These examples illustrate the magnitude and ethical complexity of the choices you'll face. The crucial point is that "ABW Company will give you objectives for each assignment, but YOU get to choose how to achieve them." This flexibility means there isn't a single "correct" path, but rather multiple approaches to fulfilling your mission. You might turn an ordinary person into a "movie star, a cut-throat businessman or, why not, the first ever female president of the USA!" if that aligns with your assignment's objective.
Embrace experimentation: Since you choose how to achieve objectives, don't be afraid to try different approaches on subsequent playthroughs of an assignment. Your creativity is key to success.
Employee Score and Career Progression
Your performance on each assignment directly impacts your standing within the A Better World Company. Upon completing a task, your HR Team evaluates your choices and assigns an "employee score." This score is more than just a number; it's your key to unlocking new content and progressing within the game's corporate structure.
A high employee score grants you authorization to "access the upper floors of our office building." Conversely, "screwing things up" can hinder your progress. This system creates a tangible incentive to not only complete your objectives but to do so efficiently and effectively, according to the company's (sometimes ambiguous) internal policies. The game features 17 Steam Achievements, some of which are tied to completing assignments and objectives, such as "Complete all of the second assignment's objectives" and "Complete all of the third assignment's objectives" (as seen in community reports).
Replaying Assignments for Optimal Outcomes
A core mechanic designed to help players achieve higher employee scores and explore different "completion routes" is the ability to restart assignments. If you feel you could have made better decisions or achieved a more favorable outcome, A Better World encourages you to try again. This replayability is essential for mastering the game and seeing all possible consequences of your actions.
The game explicitly states, "you will be able to restart assignments if you think you can achieve a better ending and thus, a better employee score." This feature allows for extensive experimentation with choices, letting you analyze consequences and refine your approach to each objective. It's how you'll eventually reach the elusive "7th floor" of the office building.
Guidance and Support: Your Virtual Assistant
You're not alone in your temporal endeavors. The A Better World Company provides you with Globos, a "cutting-edge virtual assistant." Globos acts as your dedicated guide throughout your assignments, offering answers to questions and even programmed jokes. She serves as your primary source of in-game information and support, replacing the need for "boring gossip and useless tips with soulless colleagues at the coffee machine." Rely on Globos to help you understand your current objectives and the implications of your decisions.
For more information on the game and its unique time-traveling premise, visit the official Steam page for A Better World.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main objectives in A Better World Steam?
In A Better World, you're given broad objectives for each assignment, such as altering historical events like preventing JFK's assassination or influencing major technological advancements. The specific details of how to achieve these objectives are left to your discretion and choice, making each playthrough unique.
Can I replay assignments in A Better World to get a better score?
Yes, a key feature of A Better World is the ability to restart assignments. This allows you to experiment with different choices, analyze their consequences, and aim for a higher employee score or a different historical outcome.
How do my decisions affect my progression in A Better World?
Your decisions during assignments are evaluated by the in-game HR Team, resulting in an employee score. A higher score grants you access to new areas of the company's building, effectively serving as your primary progression system in A Better World.
Does A Better World offer specific objective lists or walkthroughs?
The game emphasizes player choice in how to achieve objectives, rather than providing strict step-by-step solutions. While the game provides examples of historical interventions, specific mission-by-mission objective lists are discovered through gameplay, and your virtual assistant, Globos, will provide guidance.