Masters of Albion’s god hand is the meatiest part of its Gamescom trailer

Watching world reveals and announcement trailers at an event like Gamescom 2024 is always interesting; I enjoy seeing what titles are on the horizon that I might enjoy. One of these trailers, however, is stuck in my mind like a bit of steak might get caught in your teeth. I’m immediately obsessed with Masters of Albion’s god hand, which hovers above the inhabitants of a city as both protector and threat.

Masters of Albion is the next game from 22cans, the game studio headed by Peter Molyneux. Molyneux is known for his work on titles like Black & White and the Fable series, and Masters of Albion seems to pull from this familiar territory. The announcement trailer shows one of the most important aspects of Masters of Albion: the god hand, the player’s avatar in the world.

The god hand can do all sorts of things, like pick out the ingredients for a meal, move building blocks about, or pick villagers up. The poor pawns seem utterly helpless once the hand picks them up; they simply dangle, like a cat who is resigned to receiving affectionate cuddles, until the player puts them down somewhere else. The giant hand can also reach out and take control of one of the village’s heroes, turning him into essentially a vessel to be puppeted by a divine force.

This isn’t unprecedented territory for a Molyneux-led game; the developer is known for similar franchises where the player has god-like control, including Black & White and Populous. But the hand in Masters of Albion benefits from modern visuals. While the game’s graphics are relatively simple and stylized, they’re just realistic enough to put the hand in an unsettling uncanny valley. Being able to inflict evil acts upon the villagers is just more unsettling when you’re watching that big paw hovering overhead, the tendons moving as the fingers flex and roll.

I can see the appeal of Masters of Albion, as someone who enjoys other colony simulators. I just find the big hand to be a little unnerving; it has a real sense of weight and meatiness. There is no release date yet, but Masters of Albion can be wishlisted on Steam.