Fuelled by the success of their iOS game Distant Star, Scottish indie developer Blazing Griffin purchased the IP rights to the popular source engine murder mystery game The Ship from failed fellow-Edinburgh studio Outerlight, and has now announced development of a sequel: The Ship: Full Steam Ahead.

An article over on CVG details the whole turbulent tale, which will lead to a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for The Ship 2 on October 31st, seeking to raise a minimum of US$200,000.

As these early concept images suggest, Full Steam Ahead is a steam-punk re-imagining of the original. It will feature a completely revised visual design along with rebuilt AI and new game modes, and will move the game's world away from its oceanic surroundings and instead set it miles up in the sky.

Yet the inherent core dynamic remains: A large group of players will be stuck together on a single ship, each one assigned the task of assassinating another in secret. It is a unique game of spy versus spy, of out-thinking opponents and institutionalised paranoia.

We'll likely know a lot more about the game in a couple of days once the Kickstarter pitch video is made publicly available.