Hopetown - A Journalistic CRPG

Hopetown is inspired by narrative-first RPGs such as Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment, and is being crafted by video game industry veterans, including ZA/UM founder and Disco Elysium writer Martin Luiga, Disco Elysium writer and editor Olga Moskvina, Veljo Hagu - Disco Elysium’s first software developer, Piotr Sobolewski - oversaw all technical development on Disco Elysium, Lenval Brown - the narrator of Disco Elysium, Paweł Blaszczak, music composer on The Witcher & The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, renowned art director Astri Lohne, and prolific novelist Stark Holborn, lead writer on indie detective hit Shadows of Doubt.

Join our Discord community for developer updates at https://discord.gg/qfmXbcZZAp, subscribe to our mailing list and wishlist on Steam via www.hopetowngame.com.

With 5 of the original writing team on Disco Elysium having contributed to Hopetown so far, and coverage of our work in The Financial Times, New York Times and beyond -  we are aiming to build a game that enhances what players loved most about the 'dialogue reel' and narrative-first cRPGS and take this further with new mechanics, systems, and a completely fresh narrative and world. 

In-game screenshot from pre-alpha build

With Hopetown, we aim to continue that legacy. We're drawing inspiration from modern classics, while paying tribute to days gone by — but making something new and resonant. And we're doing it in a safe, healthy, and sustainable way: there's a lot of chaos, prejudice, exploitation, and worse in the world.

What is Hopetown?

Our game takes place on the fictional mining island of Eastern Entre, decades after “The Flare” - a coronal mass ejection that fried all electronics and communication devices across the globe. It was here that the De Luna Corporation unearthed Quicksilver, a substance capable of linking the world once more. Until now. In the wake of a storm of the century, there are whispers of missing miners and disruption to the flow of Quicksilver, and the cracks in the system are beginning to show. 

The people want The Truth - a job usually reserved for the best, but you’ll do for now.

In-game screenshot from pre-alpha build

You play as Zola: freshly graduated Flashwriter employed by The Days, a tawdry outlet whose reputation is fast on the decline. A horrific case of writer’s block has left you without a story for a full week, and the swashbuckling editor-in-chief Van Hausen is far from happy. According to him, the storm is exactly what you need to shake things loose - a coup de grâce against The Blank Page. You just didn’t expect it to also shake loose a potential global conspiracy…

In-game screenshot from pre-alpha build

The island is a political powder keg, rife with segregation and censorship, each brutally enforced. The De Luna Corporation has recently rolled out policies of The Alignment - a political system aimed to subjugate the local Betweener population and ensure the mining operations on the island remain stable. You’ll need to decide if you want to shine a light on things, cover them up, or spin something a little “sexier”. You’re a journalist, after all. What matters are eyes on the page, right?

The zoomed-out view

We are keeping our narrative methodology close to the old guard. Like Baldur’s Gate, Mass Effect, and the original Fallout titles, Hopetown’s narrative is kaleidoscopic in its choice-based mechanics.

No relationship comes second-hand. Your actions towards others and the world around you will reflect themselves accordingly. Do you choose to preserve The Alignment or commit sabotage on behalf of the Betweeners… or play them both against each other for personal gain? All decisions present a unique avenue for your character to explore, with plenty of surprises lurking behind the game’s many instances of micro-reactivity.

In-game screenshot from pre-alpha build
 

A game like this is nothing without a meticulously curated cast of characters, each with their own distinct voice, backstory, and goals. As assignments are hurled at you by your swashbuckling editor-in-chief, you’ll recruit your trusty photographer to make or break the next big story, amongst others. Your relationships with the residents of Eastern Entre will open and close doors in delightfully unexpected ways. It’s all a matter of approach - whether you use people as stepping stones, put yourself in harm’s way for the benefit of others, or stand idle and watch as molten chips fall where they may, your actions will curate a narrative that encourages self-expression.

Hopetown’s narrative is uniquely shaped by British and South African history - in fact, the game is named after the town in which the first diamond was discovered in South Africa, leading to events that forever reshaped a nation of tens of millions.

Concept art for Hopetown by South African artist MJ Lourens

Over 90% of all diamonds and over 70% of all gold and platinum in the real world once came from South Africa alone. Hopetown will explore deep political themes linked to the discovery of these minerals, and the narrative takes inspiration from how these minerals shaped the nation of South Africa and the UK, but also how parts of this political journey are mirrored in the history of Estonia and the personal backgrounds of many of our key team members. 

We’re putting these types of political themes and history into the world of Entre and putting the decisions of how you present facts in this world in the control of the player.  As an up and coming Flashwriter, the dichotomy of information rests solely in your hands. Will you wield information as a shield for the downtrodden, or turn malicious phrases to sow violence? The wealth of information to gather within Hopetown is vast - ensuring an armoury befitting a journalist.

We live in a world where information is consistently distorted to service a narrative strung by the few. So what is The Truth? Hopetown’s exploration of that very question is a core pillar in its development. We want to deconstruct the moral faculties often attributed to what is “right” and “wrong” in the world of journalism. Can one lie for the greater good? If the truth harms the innocent, is a journalist still obligated to express it?

The answer is rarely black and white, and so Hopetown’s moral complexities reside comfortably in the grey, where a player’s decisions must be considered very carefully.

Because one person’s truth could be another’s death sentence.

Journalism

You’ve pledged yourself and taken your vows. Now, as a Flashwriter, it’s on you to uncover the many hidden truths lying beneath the world’s barbed surfaces. Expose corporate negligence and restore the voice of the people if you so choose, or maybe you wish to maintain order - suppress the anarchists and keep the machinations of the capitalist agenda well oiled.

It’s up to you.

Shape your character’s background and gender to compose a narrative uniquely your own.

You’ll delve into the island’s seedy underbelly and scale the caustic ivory towers of corporate surveillance as one of three distinct journalism classes: 

Correspondent: the investigative journalist - eyes like a camera, hands like a clock. 

Columnist: the voice of culture and taste who decides what’s in and what’s out. 

Gonzo: the clickbait mouthpiece, willing to say anything to keep eyes on the page.

Utilise distinct journo mechanics during your investigations, each designed to interweave and produce multiple outcomes.

Photography: your camera lets you extract meaning from images, uncovering details and hidden connections through photographic inspection sequences.

Interviews: question a wide range of characters, drawing on investigative instinct, cultural critique, or gonzo exaggeration.

In-game screenshot from pre-alpha build 

Observations: read and record people, places, and objects for contradictions, tensions, and details others may overlook.

Publication: the system that brings it all together. What evidence you present (or even decide to fake), the quotes you use, and the observations you make allow you to pick your story, define your angle, and write in your chosen style.

Concept UI showing interactive Observations as part of a Publishing event 

Psychogeography: Your mental map of the world - told through the  stories you choose to publish - changes the state of the playable environment and the unfolding story, altering relationships between characters, your standing with different factions, your popularity with the public, and the fate of the island’s future... because word travels fast.

RPG & Skills

We stand on the shoulders of giants - no question. However! We’ve made an explicit point to carve our own space within the ecosystem of skill-voices, ensuring they play a pivotal role in the mechanics mentioned above. By the end of Hopetown’s development, we hope to have added at least one rung to the legacy ladder.

In-game screenshot from pre-alpha build 

A total of twenty-one distinct voices will accompany you on your journey - three of which are writing disciplines - with Gonzo favoring Sensationalism, Correspondents favouring Investigative, and Columnists favouring Vogue.

Your chosen style will present interesting effects not just within the world at large, but also in specific interactions with companions and other notable characters. Writing a sensationalist headline might spur the actions of a paranoid reader, prompting a unique quest that might be otherwise unattainable.

Each skill is attached to one of seven personas - Nobody, Abacus, Journo, Animal, Fashionista, Huntress, and a seventh persona that may or may not reveal itself depending on the choices you make.

Through skills like Middle Child, you can easily avoid attention - pierce the social veil without tearing any of the fabric. With Vogue, you are the sage materialist, attuned to the zeitgeist with a glamorous third eye. Or perhaps you’ll want to strongarm your obstacles with Bodyguard’s Pupil, where pain and suffering are entirely optional. 

Our skill-voices are not just functional. They are every bit as considered and curated as real characters.

They’ll serve as your trusted guides… reliability pending. Some may offer a helping hand while others laugh in your face - but none will ever leave you alone.

Martin Luiga, Narrative Lead: Founding member and editor-in-chief of the ZA/UM Cultural Association. He designed and wrote several characters in Disco Elysium, and is one of that world’s first contributors. Martin has loved RPGs for decades, but his current interests are psychoanalysis and critique of history.

Olga Moskvina, Writer & Editor: Writer and editor on Disco Elysium, key writer for several major characters, and credited with being responsible for the ‘final sheen’ of all writing quality on Disco Elysium.  

Astri Lohne, Art Lead: A professional artist and illustrator with over a decade’s worth of experience working with studios like Blizzard, Wizards of the Coast and Sharkmob.

Veljo Hagu, Tech Lead: Disco Elysium’s earliest programmer, created the first playable prototype before any funding was raised for the games development, laid the foundational systems that allowed the game’s designs to flourish.

Piotr Sobolewski, Tech Advisor: oversaw all technical development on Disco Elysium as CEO of the Knights of U. 

Stark Holborn, Senior Writer: The lead writer on indie detective hit Shadows of Doubt and writer on Nivalis. Stark is also a prolific sci-fi/western author who can’t for the life of her stop writing books. 

Paweł Blaszczak, Music Lead: music composer on the original soundtracks of The Witcher & The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and other amazing games such as The Ascent and Dying Light. 

Lenval Brown, Voice Actor: The unforgettable voice of Disco Elysium’s narrator. He is also the lead singer of ska & rap band Maroon Town.

These powerhouse developers are also joined by new and emerging talents from a wide range of multi-faceted backgrounds, each with their own tricks and superpowers. 

It takes a village. And this one is bustling.

Why Kickstarter?

Life imitates art; we’re at a pivotal moment in creating this game where every thought matters, each interaction has weight, and everything is connected. So far, we’ve fueled development with personal funds and backing from private investors, but as is often the case in this industry, our creative vision is limited by capital.

While we successfully hit our initial target of £25,000 - this represents a small percentage of the total budget for Hopetown. We continue to raise funds via Kickstarter to fuel development of the game.

In-game screenshot from pre-alpha build 

With your support, we can expand our team to bring in creative talent earlier in our journey to deepen the experience, transforming this from a great cRPG to an unforgettable one. Our vision requires more hands, more ideas, and more resources to truly bring this world to life. Your contribution will help us expand our core team — writers, artists, designers, and engineers — focused solely on adding depth and discovery.

Our goals are ambitious:

• Enhanced choices and consequences: Meaningful decisions that ripple out into characters and the world based on the articles you choose to write, choices in quests, dialogue options 
• More companion characters: More unique dialogues, character and quest interactions based on your companion 
• Diverse paths and solutions: Multiple approaches to conflict, each with lasting effects
• A richer world: New areas to explore, filled with unique inhabitants and secrets to uncover

Together, we can create a world that’s more than a game — a living, breathing universe of stories, surprises, and challenges. Every dollar raised will go directly into expanding and refining the experience, making it as dynamic and captivating as we’ve always envisioned. With your help, we can craft an cRPG that not only meets expectations but redefines them.

Press links

• The Guardian: Disco Elysium ‘spiritual successor’ in development at new video game studio
• Kotaku: The Race To Reclaim Disco Elysium's Bungled Legacy
• Eurogamer: Hopetown plans to "redefine" psychological RPG genre
• Rock Paper Shotgun: The psychogeography-est of Disco Elysium's spiritual successors is a gonzo journalism RPG named Hopetown