I've been grappling with the AI future of humanity through playing D-topia, a cozy narrative mystery that asks us to consider just how much friction we need to thrive

Games that evoke a cozy vibe often aim to get players to unwind in a soothing virtual world, allowing them to escape the stresses of the real world. However, for the upcoming narrative puzzle-adventure game D-Topia from developer Marumittu Games, it's all about immersing players in a supposed utopia that's warm and inviting – yet it also raises some profound questions about the very nature of what a utopia is.

I got to play an early build of D-Topia at Tokyo Game Show 2025, which is one of publisher Annapurna Interactive's latest offerings. During my hands-on time with the cozy, introspective narrative game about living in a utopia, I spoke with lead artist Hiroco Shiino and lead programmer Akira Mitsuhashi to learn more about their mysterious puzzle-adventure game, which explores questioning the world around you and your place in it.

Paradise lost?

Set in a far future where humanity has established a utopian society, D-Topia focuses on a community of workers and their AI assistants living together in a world that has been curated for their well-being. Playing as a new resident to the community called Paradise, you're assigned to help keep the community going by making repairs to the mainframe on a daily schedule.

As you establish a routine that involves going to work, interacting with your neighbors, and learning more about Paradise, questions will begin to arise about the nature of your cozy and carefree existence, and whether peace and harmony can truly be curated for people.

D-Topia has such an interesting premise for what appears to be a warm vibes narrative adventure game. As the protagonist, you gradually become accustomed to the routine of being a worker, which involves solving puzzles that also serve as assignments to help keep the community running. In between jobs and after work, you'll also encounter other residents who have either embraced life in Paradise or are starting to ask questions in their own odd way.

Speaking with Hiroco Shiino, the lead artist on D-Topia, she explains the origins of the game's concept, which involved extensive historical research and contemplation on what constitutes a Utopia.

"The concept for the game centered around the idea of how humanity would evolve if they moved beyond a life with smaller conflicts and obstacles, what would it be like if characters lived in this utopian world where everything was set for them?" says Shiino. "Those are the questions I had when coming up with the concept, and something I wanted to explore in a game."

In my demo, I play through some of the protagonist's early days as a resident in Paradise. Starting with getting the day going, which entails preparing breakfast and getting my outfit sorted, I get to experience a day in the life of a city worker, allowing me to take in the sights of Paradise. The art style of the game has a very clean look with bursts of blue and green color sticking out among huge swathes of white and grey, which works wonderfully for setting the tone.

During working hours, the protagonist must fix glitches in the city's mainframe, which transports them into a digital world where they must rearrange blocks and panels to free up resources. One of the puzzles I encounter is similar to Match-3, where you can amplify the numbers by combining them with similar blocks and then have to move them to their corresponding tiles.

Between running around Paradise and completing these maintenance tasks, the protagonist also has many opportunities to interact with other characters, including AI assistants, throughout the city. This is where the game's deeper narrative unfolds further, allowing your choices to influence relationships and events.

Of course, the game's focus on AI assistants and their interactions with people immediately reminds me of the current and distressing pace at which technology is evolving in our present times. However, the developers are clear that the AI characters and commentary aren't hiding anything nefarious exactly. Still, the game's larger themes will focus more on what humanity will become if we embrace a 'utopia' that's curated for us.

"Our version of AI in D-Topia is not quite Skynet," jokes the lead programmer. "In the setting of D-Topia, AI characters are present in the game as a supporting resource for the human characters, and they're primarily there to help purge much of the negative elements of their lives. This, of course, leads to a larger topic of agency within the world, and what will humanity become if we live in a utopia that's about a curated existence."

There's a sense of mystery to D-Topia that I find compelling, but it's also very charming and cozy, which is so inviting. It felt like playing a more laid-back version of the excellent 1000xResist, which has really piqued my interest in what's to come in the final release – and I hope it'll fully commit to its existential questions about what it truly means to live in a so-called utopia.

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