Nobody remembered Fort Nowhere. The gang did.
A first-person co-op game for 1–4 players. Your patrol truck is in the river and the forgotten border post is yours. Work the gate, hold the fence while a smuggling gang escalates, and get through the nights.
- 1–4
- players, online co-op
- 7
- chapters, 7 bosses
- 13
- tools on the belt
- Mature
- violence, gore and horror
A border post everyone forgot about.
You and your crew of rookie rangers were posted to Fort Nowhere. On the way in, the patrol truck slid off the washed-out crossing and into the river. HQ's response: “Congratulations. It's yours now.”
Rebuild the post station by station: the intake shed, the Impound Lot, the workshop, the command tower and the holding house. Across the valley lies Willowbreak, a small town whose residents depend on the gate working. Upriver, the Dust Bunnies, a gang in mismatched tracksuits and cardboard disguises, have plans for your stretch of fence.
Fort Nowhere
The post. A trailer, a fence and a truck in the river to start with.
Willowbreak
The town across the valley. Its residents are never targets.
The Dust Bunnies
The gang. Fictional, nationality-neutral, and not funny for long.
Your first shift is the gate.
Travellers queue at the Intake Gate. You get their face, their Transit Permit and HQ's Day Sheet with today's rules. Admit, reject or detain, and live with it: a smuggler waved through brings the raid sooner, and an honest traveller turned away costs the town's trust.
HQ Day Sheet
Day 3
- Suspended posts
- Eastern Relay
- Luggage limit
- 4
- After dark
- Nobody in
- Wanted
- Sun hat and a red scarf. Goes by Sunny Sal.
At the window: Hattie Crane
“My sister's in Willowbreak. She makes a pie when I come.”
Transit Permit
- Holder
- Hattie Crane
- Issuing post
- Salt Flats Post
- Valid until
- Day 5
- Purpose
- Visitor
- Declared luggage
- 2 bags
A paper version of the game's gate, using the game's own rules. Everything stays in your browser.
Everything on the end of the line fights back.
Contraband drifts down the river, drones buzz overhead, critters burrow. Lasso it, net it, harpoon it, keep the line in the sweet band or it snaps, then subdue whatever you caught and haul it to the Impound Lot. Nothing is done until it's secured.
- 01
Spot
Crates in the current, drones in the sky, something under the sand.
- 02
Snag
Lasso, grapple rod, net gun, magnet rod, harpoon cannon.
- 03
Secure
It thrashes, runs or bites. Bonk it, zap it, bean-bag it.
- 04
Haul
Carry it, throw it, pass it to a crewmate, or drive it in.
- 05
Sell
The cash counter rolls up with the full Style Bounty.
Then they stop using the gate.
The West and East patrol gates start chained and padlocked. The Dust Bunnies escalate as you rebuild, and every new way in raises the stakes for the town.
- 01
Forged papers and rushes
First they try the Intake Gate with bad permits, or just run for it.
- 02
Tunnels
After the crossing reopens they dig under the fence. Collapse the hole with dynamite or board it over.
- 03
Ladders
After Big Muddy they bring ladders. Runners climb; you kick them down.
- 04
Buses
A bus parks on the far road, in plain sight and out of reach. A bus is a warning. A wave is coming.
By day it's a job. After dark it's something else.
The fog closes in and the lamps flicker. Something screams across the valley and the tunnels groan. The mutant wildlife is wrong in small ways, with boils, extra eyes and the wrong teeth, and it dies wet.
The violence is real and it leaves marks. You can knock a runner out, cuff him and book him for the bounty, or you can kill him, and a body pays nothing. This website shows no gore.
From the river to the ghost town.
Each chapter is a biome with its own verb, its own critters, a legend that turns up now and then, and a boss with medal times and Heroic rematches.
The Wash
A slow river under the fort
- New verb
- River snagging: crates, critters, and what the current brings
- Boss
- Big Muddy. A mutant catfish towing a contraband barge.
Bring three friends. Or a dog.
Online co-op for 1–4
Proximity voice chat, lobbies up to eight, and bosses and timers that scale with the crew.
A belt of thirteen tools
A stick, then a bat, a lasso, a taser that arcs through the whole river, a beanbag shotgun, a net gun, a magnet rod, a harpoon cannon, a grapple hook, a revolver, a scattergun, a Long Tom and a great deal of dynamite.
Ranch dogs
They fetch, dig up stashes, point at rare catches, sniff bags at the gate and go after runners. Yes, you can pet them.
The Border Empire
Stations, automation that keeps earning while you're away, hired officers on the fence, a homestead to furnish, and a prestige after the final boss.
Something every session
Daily bounties, weekly contracts, Most Wanted outlaws, derbies, seasons and a 50-rank Ranger ladder.
Photo mode
A free camera with depth of field and letterbox, for the clips.
In development.
Protect the Border is being built by Doganci Systems in Denmark. There is no release date and no store page yet. The screenshots on this site are in-engine frames from current development builds, and some of them still show the HUD.
- Platform
- PC, Windows and Linux. A Steam release is planned, and the game targets low-end PCs and the Steam Deck.
- Players
- 1–4, online co-op. Fine alone with a ranch dog.
- Engine
- Godot 4, flat-shaded low-poly art, first person.
- Content
- Frequent violence, blood and gore, and horror. Intended for adults.
When does it come out?
There is no release date yet. When there is a store page or a playtest, this site will say so first.
Where can I buy or wishlist it?
Nowhere yet. The Steam page isn't live. Write to us if you'd like to hear when it is.
Can I play alone?
Yes. Bosses and timers scale down for a smaller crew, and the ranch dog fetches, digs, sniffs bags at the gate and chases runners for you.
How violent is it?
Very. People can bleed, bruise and die, mutants burst, and nights are meant to frighten. Everyone in it is fictional and nationality-neutral: no real countries, borders or agencies. Town residents can never be targeted. An optional corrupt path lets you sell detainees to the gang. The game treats it as the crime it is, and HQ notices. It is never required to progress.
Are there real-money purchases?
No. The slot machine and the armadillo races in the Saloon use in-game money only.
Who makes it?
Doganci Systems, a Danish company. Most of the game is made by hand and with our own procedural tools; the voice lines, sound effects and music were generated with ElevenLabs during development and mastered by us.
Follow development, ask for a playtest, or say hello.
For press, playtests and anything else about the game, write to
contact@protect-the-border.devYour email goes to Doganci Systems and is only used to answer you.