by Michael Fertitta
Annapurna Interactive has always been a name I associate with developers and publishers that create games with fascinating and deep narratives. With the rise of AI in nearly every aspect of our lives, it opens the door for a larger conversation about the existentialism of working alongside technologies that can grow beyond human comprehension. D-Topia, an upcoming puzzle game from Annapurna, seeks to tell a story in a similar manner, and I was interested in checking out how far the demo dives into this increasingly relevant topic.
In the world of D-Topia, you are resident #46. You have just been assigned a job as a Facilitator, essentially a mechanic who fixes things around the factory. After eating your overlord-provided breakfast, you go out to the factory and solve puzzles to keep the factory moving. These tasks take the form of puzzles that involve math and moving numbered blocks into their proper spots.
It starts off fairly simple but quickly adds in factors of addition and solving equations. The demo was very brief, so there weren’t many opportunities to explore the complexity of the puzzles, but it gave me enough of an idea of what to expect from the gameplay.
When you’re not working your machine-assigned factory job, you can also explore the clean infrastructure of the Utopia Project you live in. There are plenty of NPC’s to talk to who are fascinated by living in such a perfect environment. However towards the end of the demo, you encounter a situation where a shop droid is malfunctioning and the shopkeeper can’t fix it. Being the good citizen you are, you choose to help them out even though you’re off the clock.
It’s in this scenario that you are introduced to the Block Side, a separate realm parallel to the real world where only Facilitators can enter to fix things. Mice can also talk in this realm, which is kind of funny. After fixing the shop droid, the demo ends with a cutscene of the AI mentioning unauthorized activity performed by you, and then it abruptly cuts off.
D-Topia‘s demo was a neat window into Annapurna’s next deep narrative adventure, but I think the demo would have benefited from being a bit longer. In that brief time, I could only grasp the basic gameplay fundamentals and a shred of the actual story. The abrupt ending left me with many questions about what is set to happen in the Utopia Project. Obviously, this is to create intrigue for the full game’s release in two months, but I feel like it was too short to really get a fuller picture of what the game plays like.
I can’t wait to hear more about it leading up to launch. I think D-Topia will provide a fascinating story with some entertaining puzzle-solving gameplay to boot.
D-Topia
