Don't get weirded out by this, but I have a bit of a thing for the ol' black death. Its various outbreaks are some the most fascinating events in centuries, an apocalypse tale straight from the history books. It's the best part of one of the best movies ever made. Hell, one of my favourite records is a concept album all about it.
So, yes, I am unusually (and morbidly) excited about Death Inc., (a game Evan's looked at previously), a PC (and Mac, and Linux) strategy game currently in development (complete with Kickstarter) at Ambient Studios. You play the Grim Reaper in 1660s England, and it looks gorgeous. It'd be easy to make such a game about as dark and bleak as humanly imaginable, but AMbient has guys who used to work on LittleBigPlanet and Fable. So that's out the window. Instead, there's a cheery, cartoon art style that flips the mood of the game on its head, and suits the comedic tone of the game perfectly.
You should stick around for the video above, because it explains something else worth looking at: the game's controls, which do away with more complex RTS mechanics in favour of gentler, simpler "brushstrokes".
Death Inc. [Official Site]