The eggplants are very subtle!
Thanks. It was inspired by Cleve's stories about his work for Sir-Tech.
However, Argo's tweet implies that Riaz Moola may be no longer affiliated with Dark Math games: https://x.com/mixedmartialarx/status/1857451478585049319 ("baseless legal threats from zaum with whom Moola is collaborating against myself, Dora, Summer E and Dark Math Games."). That would be a scism following the scism.
This one is going to be a banger!
So it's basically a made up word by some guy?
Called it!
HERE IT IS.
Our first project — HOPETOWN — a game where words are weapons, and every choice leaves its mark. Set in a mining town teetering on the edge of collapse and reinvention, you play as a rogue journalist — a chaotic, self-destructive provocateur uncovering buried truths, exposing fragile systems, and unravelling a world shaped by ambition and decay.
Will you spark chaos as a gonzo journalist, twist events as a conspiracist, or reveal brutal truths as a calculated investigator? Every choice shapes the story, and now’s your chance to help us shape ours.
This is the kind of bold, complex, and deeply personal game bigger studios won’t make. At LONGDUE, we’re crafting narrative-driven RPGs that respect your choices and challenge you to think deeply.
“Having overseen the team of 15 that was credited with ‘saving’ Disco Elysium and which worked on it for nearly six years, pre- and post-release, I’m excited to work with the Longdue team to create a rich RPG experience to serve fans of the genre.” — Piotr Sobolewski
Sound like your kind of game?
Our crowdfunding campaign launches soon, and by pre-registering now, you’ll gain first access to the options for backing our game and studio, with some of these options being limited in quantity availability, or for a time period from when we go live.
ON GIANTS' SHOULDERS
The isometric RPG has been home to some of the most beloved stories and characters in the history of video games. From feeding a canine companion an iguana kebab, to whistling on a swingset with a fellow detective, there's a strong legacy of rich narrative and unforgettable moments.
With HOPETOWN, we continue that legacy. We're drawing inspiration from modern classics, while paying tribute to days gone by — but making something new and resonant. A story set in our world, turned sideways: where what you do and say literally affects everything around you. Every choice matters. Every moment leaves a mark. So, what will you change?
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
What burns bright eventually burns out of control. Workplace tensions became shouting matches, which escalated to brawls. Pressure bubbled under the surface, spilling above ground, but management didn’t seem to mind as long as the work continued — until the incident five days ago. Now people are dead, others are missing, but even worse: mining operations have screeched to a halt.
The town is a powder keg, and everything is a match. It's all chaos, threatening to explode into something bigger. The situation needs to be dealt with, swept under the rug, and forgotten about.
Enter you: middle child of one of the richest men on the planet. You've drifted through life knowing only luxury and power, shielded by privilege and surrounded by sycophants. Your stiletto wit and sandpaper charm have kept everyone at arm's length, except others as insufferable as you.
So here you are, exiled by your family after yet another scandal. You've just stepped off an impossibly long train ride, wheeling an overpriced suitcase across the muddy cobblestone and nursing a four-star hangover. Your mission, or punishment, seems simple enough: figure out what happened, cover it up, and spin a better story. You’re a journalist, after all.
UNDERNEATH IT ALL
That journalistic background suffuses every part of the game, giving you the tools to shape the world — and yourself. You'll embrace chaos as a gonzo journalist, spinning wild, attention-grabbing narratives. You'll twist reality as an unhinged conspiracist, bending events to suit your own ends. You'll dig deep as a calculating investigator, exposing brutal truths to spark rebellion, sow complacency, tear people apart, and bring them together.
And it's not just people's lives and loves in your hands. With the psychogeography system, traditional mechanics like keys and levers are replaced by emotions, memories, and conversations. Your mind, and the minds of everyone around you, are the tools that unlock doors, alter landscapes, and reshape relationships. Progress isn't just gated by puzzles or items — it's hard-won by navigating your own fractured psyche, and surviving the physical and emotional aftershocks.
How the hell do you do that? By talking to people: finding out what makes them tick, what makes them cry, what makes them scream, what makes them... them. You'll engage characters in thoughtful conversations with unimaginable consequences. You'll be tempted by the worst thing you can possibly say, and taunted by the perfect retort that's stuck behind glass. Your environment will shape the way people see you and speak to you. Your journalistic instincts will guide you, betray you, argue with you, and maybe just change everything.
For every 1 Disco Elysium non game there are ten hiding in the shadows you've never heard of like: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2639990/Deep_Copy/
Sounds like stolen valor or at least a major exaggeration to me.
Oh please no, not another one of those Mary Sue characters. Makes it hard to forget that the creative director is Grant K. Roberts, who previously wrote Suicide Squad: Kill the Game Studio.
True enemy is the creator of the universe of the game, aka the gigafaggot that can come up with a Disco clone. He really has to be a subhuman to come up with such idea.
Why use your own money when you can use somebody else's?
On Giants' Shoulders
The isometric RPG has given us some of the most beloved stories and characters in the history of video games. From feeding a canine companion an iguana kebab, to whistling on a swingset with a fellow detective, there's a strong legacy of rich narrative and unforgettable moments in the genre.
With Hopetown, we continue that legacy. We're drawing inspiration from modern classics, while paying tribute to days gone by — but making something new and resonant. A story set in our world, turned sideways: where what you do and say literally affects everything around you. Every choice matters. Every moment leaves a mark. So, what will you change?
When the Sky Fell Silent
Decades ago, a coronal mass ejection sparked an impossibly huge solar flare and subsequent geomagnetic storm — wiping out electronics and global communications for what felt like years. And with no salvation to be found in the skies, humanity looked under its feet: a resurgence of mining swept the globe.
A village in the north of England is one of the hundreds of company towns that sprouted in the aftermath — a mix of small-town charm and big-time mining operations, teeming with life above and below the surface. In the years since the flare, it had slowly depleted the region's mineral (and spiritual) reserves, and was destined to be another casualty of capitalism resurrected...
...until they found the quicksilver.
The network of mineshafts, nearly depleted of precious ore, blossomed glittering treasure seemingly overnight. The parched and raw terrain sprouted green richer than any dale or highland. Residents of the town above, and workers in the mine below, say "everything burns brighter" these days.
Who Do You Think You Are?
What burns bright eventually burns out of control. Workplace tensions became shouting matches, which escalated to brawls. Pressure bubbled under the surface, spilling above ground, but management didn’t seem to mind as long as the work continued — until the incident five days ago. Now people are dead, others are missing, but even worse: mining operations have screeched to a halt.
The town is a powder keg, and everything is a match. It's all chaos, threatening to explode into something bigger. The situation needs to be dealt with, swept under the rug, and forgotten about.
Enter you: middle child of one of the richest men on the planet. You've drifted through life knowing only luxury and power, shielded by privilege and surrounded by sycophants. Your stiletto wit and sandpaper charm have kept everyone at arm's length, except others as insufferable as you.
So here you are, exiled by your family after yet another scandal. You've just stepped off an impossibly long train ride, wheeling an overpriced suitcase across the muddy cobblestone and nursing a four-star hangover. Your mission, or punishment, seems simple enough: figure out what happened, cover it up, and spin a better story. You’re a journalist, after all.
Underneath It All
That journalism background suffuses every part of the game, giving you the tools to shape the world — and yourself. You'll embrace chaos as a gonzo provocateur, spinning wild, attention-grabbing narratives. You'll twist reality as an unhinged conspiracist, bending events to suit your own ends. You'll dig deep as a calculating investigator, exposing brutal truths to spark rebellion, sow complacency, tear people apart, and bring them together.
And it's not just people's lives and loves in your hands. With the psychogeography system, traditional mechanics like keys and levers are replaced by emotions, memories, and conversations. Your mind, and the minds of everyone around you, are the tools that unlock doors, alter landscapes, and reshape relationships. Progress isn't just gated by puzzles or items — it's hard-won by navigating your own fractured psyche, and surviving the physical and emotional aftershocks.
How the hell do you do that? By talking to people: finding out what makes them tick, what makes them cry, what makes them scream, what makes them... them. You'll engage characters in thoughtful conversations with unimaginable consequences. You'll be tempted by the worst thing you can possibly say, and taunted by the perfect retort that's stuck behind glass. Your environment will shape the way people see you and speak to you. Your journalistic instincts will guide you, betray you, argue with you, and maybe just change everything.
