D-topia Gameplay Preview: An almost too perfect AI utopia

In the age of AI as an artist's nemesis, it's quite bold for developer Marumittu Games to create a world in which AI has been a key part in making it a utopia. D-topia, the calm puzzle adventure developed by Marumittu and published by Annapurna Interactive, takes place in a harmonious future, where machines have helped humanity reach new levels of peace and comfort. We're concerned primarily with a facility in which man and machine work and live together. As a facility technician, it's our job to make sure all the AI-enabled robots are working well, and that the residents are living life as smoothly as possible.

D-topia positions itself as a calm, narrative-driven puzzler. Largely, the puzzle element is something you tackle at the start of your day, as everyone works at the facility's factory in the morning. These segments won't test the hardiest of Blue Prince enjoyers, or even casual fans of the odd Professor Layton here and there. Largely, that's the point. The challenge of the puzzles is minimal, because that's the world D-topia creates. You can see the solution almost immediately. All you have to do is move blocks around the screen, ensuring the right number is in the right position on the grid. In the 20-minute demo we played, no puzzle took me more than a minute, and most of them were completed in seconds. Then, after my shift of puzzling, I'm told by the robots waiting outside the factory what a brilliant job I've done.

I was so pleased with my puzzling ability, I even stayed to complete some overtime work. Wow, what a good little work bot I am! Again, these puzzles proved no great challenge, even if they were fun to complete. Afterwards, I engaged with the more adventure-driven aspect of D-topia's gameplay, delivering a USB stick to an eccentric resident and repairing a malfunctioning robot at a nearby store through another incredibly simple puzzle. D-topia's overly simplistic gameplay approach, peaceful music and cutesy visuals play on the ideas and themes we'd associate with the increasingly popular cosy games, Marumittu is keeping something back here.

Everything is a little too simple. The fact that so much of your day is done for you, from your breakfast being cooked to your uniform being washed and readied, combined with the constant praise for doing the lightest work brilliantly reflects the way an AI-enabled future could make us comfortable, yes, but it also could make us lethargic, entitled, and unaware of our surroundings. We'd be animals without any natural instincts, and it seems D-topia is well aware of this. In the trailer you'll see after you complete the demo, it's clear there's something else at play here. Some seedier underbelly hiding behind the surface.

I don't think D-topia will be doing a full Doki Doki Literature Club or Wanderstop, throwing itself to a different genre entirely, but I don't think it'll be the adorable, Ted Lesso-esque cosy puzzle adventure it shows itself to be throughout the entirety of its playtime. With such a short amount of time being given with the game, and with the demo only focusing on our first day, it's hard to say whether we'll be uncovering a mystery with the facility and its all too useful AI, or whether that will be an element of the story thrown in just at the end. Either way, I'm much more intrigued by D-topia after playing it than when I first saw it.

Cosy games are blossoming into a real powerhouse of gaming today, and so I never mind when I see a new one pop up on Steam or another digital platform. However, it seems that D-topia isn't going to be just another cosy title. It has something to say about AI, something to say about us being reliant on machines, that's clear within just a few minutes of playtime. However, I hope that the developers can make it clear what they're trying to say, and don't worry about sacrificing some of the calm atmosphere D-topia gives off to make this much more of a unique experience. It's difficult to make any real early impression after just 20 minutes, but D-topia has done just that, and I'll be thinking more about what it's got in store ahead of its July release.