Killing people: it's what video games are about. Usually you're just some low-grade, supposedly-admirable sociopath, though, but Ambient Studios' real-time strategy Death Inc. puts you in the grand robes of a freelance reaper, Grim T. Livingstone, to help spread the plague. To support its crowdfunding campaign, the developer founded by Media Molecule veterans today released a short demo, letting you try spreading your pestilent horde across merrye olde Englande.

The demo introduces how you'll go about spreading the plague, starting with a few infected weaklings but swallowing up archers and axemen as you shamble through a village to defeat the local lord. Control is pretty streamlined, having you draw down paths for particular classes or the entire horde to follow. It works well, as you'd only be click-dragging groups anyway, and does still allow for tactical positioning and planning.

Download the demo over here.

Death Inc. has only been in development for ten weeks so it's clearly early days, not even having sound, but it demonstrates the broad strokes. Outside the combat missions, it have management elements as you expand Death Inc.'s base to upgrade and unlock new units and abilities. Before you know it, you'll be tossing exploding cows, infected food, and vile pigeons at the peasantry.

Death Inc.'s Kickstarter campaign is seeking £300,000 (about $460,000) to bring the game to PC, Mac and Linux. With 15 days left to go, it's only around 20% funded, so a demo is a sensible move to whip up interest. Pledging at least £15 ($23) will get you a copy of the finished game.

Here's some of the Ambient gang last week, demonstrating the basics on a different level: