We Happy Few of his father three weeks before "Contrast" shipped. During this time, he had reflected on his state of life, and came up with ideas for "We Happy Few" in his emotional distress, particularly the idea of a society fixated on drugs and masks. Provost presented this to his creative team, who saw the possibilities of expanding on this. Narrative director Alex Epstein considered the idea similar to "Prozac Nation", and where in current times, there is a prescription drug for every conceivable malady. The title of the game comes from the St Crispin's Day Speech from "Henry V": Narratively, the
We Happy Few Wells and came to be known as "Wastrels". Others who voluntarily refuse their Joy are known as "Downers" and seen as a threat; if caught, Downers are either force-fed Joy, are taken to a Joy Doctor to get a potentially lethal liquid injection of Joy, or are outright killed on the spot. As a result, Wellington Wells has become a dystopian police state on the verge of collapse. The game features three different playable characters, each with their own story arcs that intersect throughout the game: Arthur's Story: Arthur Hastings works as a "redactor", censoring and approving old news articles