Dustborn

Dustborn (2024) is a road-trip adventure set in America 2030 where all information has been lost. You and your misfit friends must cross this divided world to deliver a package from California to Nova Scotia. It's unusual not only because of the setting but how you use persuasive language (as well as more direct means) to make your way in the world.

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You play Pax an ex-con and con artist, and Anomal who has superhuman powers fuelled by disinformation. You recruit and manage a band of outcasts with weird powers and unique personal stories. They won't always work together or agree, but it's up to you to manage your headstrong crew through your words and actions. Your conversations and decisions lead to a branching narrative.

As you progress you discover that in this world, words have real power. You take on enemies not only with physical combat but also with shouts. In conversations, you can also use your voice to manipulate people and talk your way out of hairy situations. Eventually, you are able to craft new words with different powers to create something of a lingual arsenal.

"It's a game about hope, love, friendship, robots — and the power of words." Along the way, you traverse an America irrevocably changed by civil war, mass migration, and global warming. Exploration is punctuated with encounters where your words have power. Fighting with weaponised verbiage, your conversations can manipulate people with the power of disinformation. As you progress you can find and craft new words to wield a lingual arsenal against enemies...and friends.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Dustborn 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 3 weeks ago.