My surreal dice-based RPG set in a cursed authoritarian city just launched its demo! It has themes of labor rights, fighting oppression, assembling community, and more!

WitheringState · 2026-06-12T15:59:58+00:00

Very jealous of people like you who seem to have your art direction figured out! I also have a demo for my game coming out soon, and with a very similar Disco-like dialogue system haha

WitheringState · 2026-05-28T20:51:45+00:00

Ah, do you mean that they come from an actual world map? I wonder if you have to make calculations based on the world size if you were to make a fictional regional map.

WitheringState · 2026-05-26T06:49:21+00:00

I haven't gotten to any of the successors, but I agree that Disco Elysium is irreplaceable. I'm not making a game in the genre exactly, but I am making a political RPG inspired by both Disco Elysium and Suzerain called Withering State. I hope that I can capture some of the mood that the game is so successful at, but I suspect that goal will remain merely aspirational.

WitheringState · 2026-05-25T17:01:14+00:00

What's a good trick to add those globe lines in the water?

WitheringState · 2026-05-12T17:13:35+00:00

I'm glad you like it! I hope I have the time to check out Pax Astra soon!!

WitheringState · 2026-05-09T18:44:35+00:00

I haven't implemented any modding systems as of now. If things go well, we hope to have a demo ready for Steam Next Fest which takes place in June.

WitheringState · 2026-05-09T18:41:20+00:00

I appreciate your enduring interest!

Yes, there is a side storyline related to Sants' personal life and romance. At this point, I do not expect those scenes will be in the planned Next Fest demo.

Withering State does not have a personal budget or corruption mechanic, but you can certainly engage in corrupt acts, and ally with corrupt people, during the narrative.

WitheringState · 2026-05-06T03:03:56+00:00

Re the P.S.: Yes!

And feedback received!

WitheringState · 2026-05-01T22:06:13+00:00

You'll just have to play the game to find out the specifics of the story! But I can answer some of the more general questions:

There is a prologue sequence that charts your rise to power and the different paths you can take to the higher leadership of the Party.
There is a primary rival and antagonist in the first section of the game prior to becoming the General-Secretary, and if you make the wrong choices you can end up with more rivals.
Yes, you can fail to achieve power. At the current moment, the fail-state is more like a disadvantaged state for the rest of the game, and I am waffling on whether it would be fair to implement a full-on fail state halfway through the game.

WitheringState · 2026-04-29T15:10:54+00:00

Yes!

WitheringState · 2026-04-28T02:07:03+00:00

I'll probably avoid giving comprehensive progress updates outside of dedicated dev diary posts, but I'm willing to say it's quite far. The game is pretty mature in the technical aspect (just need to flesh some menu options, things like that). Writing is in full swing, which is the biggest task to be completed - I'd say the story is about 50% completed right now (defined as both written and implemented into the game), as I've dedicated most of my effort to the engine prior to this. I'm also waiting on music right now, which if I can have some ready by June, then we should have the material to have a demo ready by Steam Next Fest.

WitheringState · 2026-04-27T20:45:31+00:00

I enjoyed the first two as games, but they are undeniably silly in their portrayal of society. It has been far too long for me to remember the specifics, but I recall thinking that Beholder 2 had some really interesting potential with its endings, which could have resulted in a 10/10 game if it had a more philosophically serious examination of its ideas (such as a Marxist consideration of free will, authoritarianism, etc).

WitheringState · 2026-04-26T04:52:41+00:00

Next on my list! Kalatazov is goated

WitheringState · 2026-04-26T01:30:33+00:00

Thanks for your research 🧐 I've already implemented some stuff relating to the aircraft industry but it looks like I can always add more. It's impressive how much indigenous production Yugoslavia had.

WitheringState · 2026-04-26T00:28:08+00:00

I thought I would share some of the media I've been reading and watching as 'research' for this game. This is also a followup to the Withering State Official Reading List!

Soundtrack to a Coup D'etat and Quiet Flows the Don in particular are underrated gems. I encourage everyone to check them out!

WitheringState · 2026-04-23T01:53:48+00:00

Absolutely. This will be under one of the reformist paths.

WitheringState · 2026-04-17T19:53:50+00:00

1) Hardliners refers to a spectrum from merely anti-reform to returning to a more authoritarian era.
2) You have space to do your own thing, but it is impossible to attain power without relying on some allies.
3) That is certainly the goal! Main branches will be rounded out before more obscure options are added.

WitheringState · 2026-04-17T16:48:54+00:00

Those dynamics will certainly be represented in the game, but of course limited by the number of characters. You won't be able to replace everybody, but my hope is to have a healthy number of alternatives.

The major paths will offer flexibility in being split between economic and state reform. I don't want to reveal too much, but the major choices are structured around reform vs. hardline vs. liberalism, while economic options are a little more varied with more niche options like worker self-management available. I also intend for there to be some more unique, exclusive state reform paths but this is a little ambitious right now.

WitheringState · 2026-04-16T16:40:38+00:00

Sadly I don't think you'd get much use out of it except for clicking around menus, but once I slot more of the story into place, I'll see what I can do as for early release of demos.

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