A gamebook by definition, This Is Not a Test mixes RPG elements with a choose-your-own-adventure-styled comic book. Choosing skills, scavenging items, and bringing companions will affect your odds of survival. All scenes and all of the user-interface is hand-illustrated by comic artist Jeff Edwards, in a gritty, apocalyptic style. The writing is blunt, pulpy, and cruel, hurling you into the skin of a victim racing for survival in the final moments of humanity. As a gamebook, it is shorter and punchier than its long-winded rivals. As an RPG, its mechanics are streamlined, and won’t have you drowning in numbers. As a survival game, it pushes you ruthlessly toward your eventual demise — unless you do something about it.
This progression shows the creation process behind the game art in This Is Not a Test.