Following a first teaser in May, Citizen Sleeper creator Gareth Damian Martin revealed Sign city. Martin describes their new game as a “fungalpunk” RPG. In an all-too-brief trailer, we’re introduced to the game’s stark monochrome visuals and City 17’s mushroom-infested setting, while the post-punk drone of the band SPRINTS plays in the background. “You are a parasite, in a city where strange technologies and radical ideas take root,” reads the game’s description on YouTube. “Grow in and through its people, discover and change their stories, and witness the final season of Signet City.”
“Unlike traditional RPG protagonists, players Sign city exist as a parasite moving through the social body of the city, shaping conversations, influencing residents, and navigating the game’s beautifully designed locations,” writes publisher Fellow Traveler Witness in its press release for the game. “This allows the game to dig deep into the inner lives of the parasite’s hosts, in powerful, touching prose that has become a signature of Jump Over the Age’s games. » An information sheet adds that Sign city is partly inspired by the turbulent decade that the United Kingdom experienced in the 1980s, with its northern industrial cities serving as inspiration for the setting.
Martin’s previous games, In other watersand the Citizen Sleeper series, were all set in the distant future, so for them to explore what could be an alternate reality for their latest project is something new. When it comes to art style, screen-printed manga, pen-and-ink drawings, and black-and-white photography are cited as points of contact. Sign city also sees Martin working with a new set of collaborators, with Eli Rainsberry taking over from Amos Roddy to produce the game’s soundtrack and audio, and Tom Kitchen helping with his environmental art.
I imagine many people will compare Sign city has The last of usbut I’d say the game sees Martin exploring ideas they’ve been interested in for years. In the interviews following the release of Sleeping Citizen, they cited that of Anna Tsing The mushroom at the end of the world as one of the game’s main influences. Tsing’s book critiques capitalism and our current era of precarity and ecological devastation, through the prism of matsutake, one of the most expensive mushroom varieties. Matsutake, along with chanterelle and other species of mushrooms, occupy an important place everywhere Sleeping Citizenits sequel and In other watersin which the player guides a xenobiologist through an alien landscape teeming with life.
Sign city will come to PC via Steam later this year. No word yet on other platforms.
