Gareth Damian Martin, known for critically acclaimed indie games like Citizen Sleeper and In Other Waters, has unveiled their next project: Signet City, a dystopian narrative RPG set in a monochrome metropolis. The game, announced far in advance of its 2027 release, casts players as a parasite inhabiting the minds of multiple hosts in a city facing overlapping crises.
Playing as a Parasite
“You play as a parasite,” Martin explains. “And it felt natural that it should be a game where you see the world through the eyes of your hosts, very literally. You wake up in the mind of a person called Sid at the same time as she’s waking up in the river of a city.” Players slowly discover their larger objective while navigating the lives of hosts, each tied to a specific district and its challenges.
Inspiration from Literature and Photography
Martin draws inspiration from multi-perspective city novels like China Miéville's Perdido Street Station and Jeff VanderMeer's Ambergris series. Visually, the game is heavily influenced by 1980s British social photography, particularly the work of Tish Murtha. “I love the way that in black and white photography you get imaginary detail that’s created from grain,” Martin says. The striking monochrome style combines hand-drawn characters with photographic environments, enhanced by a complex post-processing effect.
Gameplay Mechanics
Classic Martin elements return, including tabletop-style dice rolls. Players have a limited number of actions per day and must balance their parasitic objectives—growing in power and influencing the city—with each host’s personal goals and emotional state. “There’s a dice-based tabletop element to it, governing actions you can find in the world, and those are affected by the emotions of the host,” Martin notes. For example, getting a host into a pub argument may anger them, making it easier to kick down a door. The narrative and mechanical systems are deeply intertwined.
A City in Crisis
Signet City itself is a living structure, blending sci-fi with elements of 1980s northern English urban life. “I’m trying to dig into this idea of a city as a living structure—not just as a space that contains people, but also contains ecology and different animals, and layers of systems that are overlapping with each other,” says Martin. The game references historical events like the winter of discontent, casting a long shadow over the contemporary setting.
Signet City is due for release on PC in 2027.
