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A gritty dice-driven RPG, in a steampunk city. You escaped the War, but how to survive? Explore the city. Build up your skills. Decide who to trust. Choose carefully: you might just spark a revolution!

Some caveats!

  • The masses learn through EXPERIENCE more than through media, so I am under NO illusions that a game like this will suddenly trigger an uprising or something. I’m not daft!
  • BUT, I am an active Communist and this stuff interests me, and I do think the portrayal of revolutionary possibilities can be an expression of the working class waking up to new possibilities.
  • Yes, this is how I make my living. I’m a filthy petty bourgeois!

Anyway, this is a sort of resource-management RPG where you survive, thrive and spark a revolution. The setting’s inspired by World War 1 Germany, Petrograd and London. The revolutionary uprisings are inspired by the Russian and German revolutions. There’s a national Soviet, but I don’t call it that because people wouldn’t get it. Some parts are heavily inspired by the movie “October”, an old Soviet film that portrays the October revolution.

Anyway, I’m posting it here more as an example of propaganda and not so much as part of the marketing push. If you’d like to buy it that’s awesome, but I thought it might be of interest to comrades who are thinking about propaganda, and portrayals of revolutions. (Because I am so done with how revolutions are usually portrayed in media.)

There’s a free demo, too, if you just want to try the first few hours. –

  • purpleworm [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    7·
    1 month ago

    Yeah, I mean the more plausible thing is usually to put the player in charge of a faction or something rather than an individual if that’s what you’re going for. It could be interesting for the player to represent the bulk of a vanguard but not the leadership, so you need to evaluate the cases they make when there are disputes.

    • clockworkbird [he/him]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      7·
      1 month ago

      I agree, that would be an interesting game and a more accurate exploration of historical materialism in action. But I wanted to put you in the shoes of one person, down on their luck, scraping by, hunted by the authorities, as they get swept up in a movement way bigger than they are that lifts the whole city. I wanted to focus on the emotional aspect of those experiences; that’s what makes this art rather than a simulation.

      • PorkrollPosadist [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
        8·
        1 month ago

        Liberal Crime Squad, a game created in 2002 by Tarn and Zach Adams (much more commonly known for Dwarf Fortress) has a sort of hybrid dynamic. You start as a single character attempting to recruit members and start a radical organization. This character’s stats and backstory are generated by a series of questions asked to the player in the beginning of the game - a unique process which establishes the setting for the game and does not occur for any other characters. In most play-throughs, the organization disbands and the game ends immediately if this character dies, but if you recruit enough members and have the right stats (I don’t remember the exact mechanics), one of the members can take on the leadership position and the game continues.

        Not trying to argue that you should hammer this mechanic into your game or anything, but the discussion reminded me of this relevant example of RPG design.

        Edit: Cheers on the launch, btw! I’ve dabbled with game development since I was a second grader and started making custom levels for Doom. I always bite off more than I can chew when it comes to personal projects. It takes a lot of commitment to see it through! I look forward to giving it a spin this weekend.