Off the Record: What is Hopetown Really?

“You can bury a lot underground. Doesn’t mean it stays put.”

Welcome to the first entry in our monthly Hopetown dev blog. A space for peeking behind the curtain at our development work as we continue shaping this strange, wonderful game.

Now that Kickstarter and late pledges have wrapped, the team have returned to full production mode. In the upcoming months we’ll be sharing a mix of developer insights, community moments, character reveals, and behind the scenes systems talk.

But first, let’s talk about where you’re going…

A Town With Too Many Versions of the Truth 

Hopetown is a narrative RPG about contradictions. It’s a place where you play a journalist, but every source lies and you decide the truth you’ll tell. A place where the town changes shape depending on what you believe–and what you choose to ignore.

There are factions here. Systems. Conflicts that play out in slow-burning conversations and internal wars. But beneath all that is something more intangible:

This is a town built on broken stories, buried truths, and forgotten choices. And you’ll need to decide which truths are worth telling, and which ones you’d rather rewrite.

OFF THE RECORD: Dispatch 001 

What We’re Working On 

Since the campaign closed, our team has shifted back into focused production mode. Here’s a quick look at what’s happening:

• Expanding the narrative structure and dialogue system

• Refining core mechanics and building early prototypes

• Refining and finalising concept art of new characters and locations

Join the Conversation 

Want to help shape the feel of Hopetown as it develops? Join our Discord community where the discussion is already flowing. We’re hosting weekly questions, joining in your discussions around fan theories, and getting excited over your fan content!

We’ll be back in September with our next blog - Off The Record: Drawing the Line Between Real & Unreal where we'll take a more in-depth look at Hopetown's art direction and visual design.

Until then,

– The Hopetown Team