Hope in the City

Hope in the City is a narrative mystery game developed by the team behind Sky of Tides and Eternal Spring. Set in the Chinese city of Shenyang, it follows Hope Song, a 17-year-old artist who returns home from school to find her parents missing and the apartment in disarray, with no note or explanation left behind.

Players explore the city and its interiors to find details that seem out of place, such as misplaced shadows, unusual objects, or inconsistencies in what people say. These observations are recorded as sketches in Hope’s notebook. The game’s core mechanic involves connecting these sketches into insights, which can then be developed further into breakthroughs that reveal more of the story behind Hope’s parents’ disappearance.

Shenyang is depicted through a stylised art direction, with streets, storefronts, and alleyways designed to be explored as players piece together the mystery. The narrative unfolds gradually as Hope uncovers secrets hidden beneath the surface of everyday life in the city.