Longdue Games, a developer that previously worked on titles like Disco Elysium and Kentucky Route Zero, has wrapped its Kickstarter campaign for its new title, HOPETOWN. With an original goal of $33,152, HOPETOWN raised $149,434 or £112,688, achieving 450% of that original goal. Let’s take a look at HOPETOWN and what Longdue Games hopes to accomplish with that money.
The games cited are some pretty solid heavyweights in the realm of narrative gaming. HOPETOWN boasts both Martin Luiga (Founder/Writer) and Piotr Sobolewski (Technical Developer) as pulls from ZA/UM Cultural Movement, along with Lenval Brown who narrated Disco Elysium. Coming along with them is Ben Babbitt, one of the developers on Kentucky Route Zero, and Paweł Blaszczak, the composer of The Witcher & The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The Kickstarter video above, the one that was used to raise so much money, mainly focuses on the writers. It really gets going when the narrative director, Grant Roberts, begins talking about ‘psychogeography.’
The choices you’ll make won’t just shape the story but the world around you, metaphorically, emotionally, and physically. Psychogeography is also the longest name for a system that I’ve encountered in 25 years of game development so we’re proud of that one.
HOPETOWN very much looks like Disco Elysium in the current state of development which isn’t a bad thing. Though one can hope that the art becomes distinct enough to truly make the mark on narrative-driven RPGs like the developers hope. So what is HOPETOWN?
What is HOPETOWN?
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. The village where our story begins 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.
I do love a game where capitalism is the enemy. You play the role of the middle child of one of the richest men on the planet. A journalist, exiled by their family, with the only goal of finding out what happened in this town, covering it up, and spinning a better story. Intriguing is the interest in journalism. Written on the HOPETOWN Kickstarter is ‘Journalism is about exposing the truth, holding those in power accountable, and giving a voice to the voiceless,’ which is a beautiful and hopeful sentiment. Especially when you consider how journalism is currently being used to stifle voices, promote hate, and shield the powerful, especially in the United States.
In Hopetown, you’ll meet dozens of memorable characters below the surface and milling about town. You’ll explore and return to places new, familiar, and unrecognizable. But it’s the connections between it all that you’re here to uncover — and join. There aren’t any hotshot detectives coming to solve anything, so the only red string board around is the one in your head. Meet a new face, learn about them, and add them to the board. Find surprising information, tie it to someone, and unlock the next chapter. Keep it up until you’ve figured it out, or gone mad in the attempt.
HOPETOWN is really coming across as the CRPG players CRPG, with lots of intricate systems, text to read, and choices to make. Disco Elysium shocked many, not just because it was an incredibly well written, poignant, and just plain good game, but because of the mass appeal. It managed to sweep the Keighleys in 2019 and won 4 BAFTAs, namely Best Narrative and Best Debut Game. HOPETOWN has a strong legacy to live up to and, more importantly, is the world ready for another game like this? Strike while the quicksilver is hot, I suppose.
How Can I Contribute?
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.
£25,000 is a small percentage of the total budget for Hopetown. But even this level of funding will show our investors how much demand there is for the game — and convince new investors to join us on the journey.
The Kickstarter is still accepting late pledges if you want to get in early or grab some of those rewards. HOPETOWN is very close to reaching that £150,000 stretch goal and I can only imagine the end product will benefit greatly from a larger budget and proof of larger interest. Kickstarter itself has a strong lineage of CRPGs getting successfully funded. A lot of people forget that games like Pillars of Eternity, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Wasteland 2, Divinity Original Sin, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, and Shadowrun Returns were all originally successful Kickstarters. Supporting a Kickstarter is a personal decision and should not be taken lightly, depending on the amount you’re looking to pledge.
On the Kickstarter, Longdue Games outlines their goals for HOPETOWN with the money they’ll receive:
- Enhanced choices and consequences: Meaningful decisions that ripple out into characters and the world
- 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
Lofty goals but considering the team, I HOPE they’re up for the challenge.
HOPETOWN Key Features
- A Place of Ruin and Wonder – Step into a world like ours, turned sideways — brought to life in a hand-crafted, painterly style. From glittering fields to mineshafts humming with myth and memory, this is a world of uncanny beauty, flickering tension, and layered histories — where every detail tells a story, and nothing is quite as it seems.
- Everyone Has a Story – From miners to footballers, old friends to unreliable allies, the town’s denizens are richly drawn and quietly dangerous. Everyone carries secrets, contradictions, and beliefs — shaped by the world, and ready to shape it in return. Conversations aren’t just for information — they’re how you navigate, connect, provoke, manipulate, and protect. What you say matters. What you don’t say might matter more.
- Words Are Your Weapons – Journalism isn’t just what you do — it’s how you’ll play. Will you throw yourself into chaos as a Gonzo, turn sentiment into madness as a Conspiracist, bloviate your way through it all as a Pundit… or mix your own incendiary signature cocktail? The truth is yours to make. Just be ready to live with it. Words are your weapons — and they might be your salvation, or your damnation.
- The World as You See It – The world doesn’t just respond to your choices, it reflects your mind. This is Psychogeography: a narrative system where the boundary between inner self and outer world is porous. As you search for truth — out there and within — the town bends with you, warping around your beliefs, your instincts, your way of seeing. What’s real is up for negotiation. And the map is written in your image.
- Everything Is Connected – Every choice is a thread in a tangled web — tug one, and the whole tapestry shifts. Small moments ripple outward, reshaping lives, places, and possibilities far beyond their origin. Everything transforms everything else, and so everything matters. Change the world, and you change yourself. Change yourself — and you might change everything. Just be careful what you set in motion.
There is no information on a release date, of course, as this is a recently funded Kickstarter. However, keep an eye on MonsterVine as we provide ongoing coverage of HOPETOWN and what’s going on over at Longdue Games.
