Hope in the City Is an Artsy Mystery Game where You Help Hope Find Her Parents

There are literally millions of titles for PC. So, a developer, especially an indie one, really has to stand out with something unique while making their game. In the case of Hope in the City, I think it’s the game’s sketchbooks.

A mystery game, Hope in the City, is developed and published by Lofty Sky Entertainment. It’s the same team behind Sky of Tides, which won Best in Play at GDC 2026. They also made Eternal Spring, Canada’s first animated movie, selected as the country’s Best International Feature Film entry at the Academy Awards.

Hope in the City has an emotional story

Seventeen-year-old Hope Song comes home from school one day and finds out her parents are gone. She starts investigating the disappearance herself, digging into clues and uncovering some ugly secrets in their normal, peaceful city life.

Hope is an artist, so the game’s major focus is on art and her sketchbooks. She uses sketches, observations, notes, and connections in her sketchbook to figure things out. The whole investigation system is built around how she thinks and notices details.

The sketchbook is like Hope’s inner world, where memories, thoughts, observations, and discoveries all overlap and interact with each other. The sketchbook sections are intentionally messy and expressive. It uses hand-drawn notes, layered paper textures, and imperfect visuals.

Meanwhile, the actual city has more cinematic realism. The structure of Hope in the City is non-linear, so you won’t follow one straight path through the mystery. You build connections between clues and ideas. Logic and intuition both work together while you investigate.

Hope in the City takes place in Northeast China. It’s a detective game built around sketching, intuition, memory, and connecting thoughts. If the idea interests you, you can check it out on Steam.

Also, read our news on Asymmetrical Couch Co-Op Lost in Tandem Coming to PC This July.

Amrita Sankar

News Writer

Amrita has been playing video games since she was a toddler, so writing about games comes naturally to her. Outside of Gamezebo, she has experience in webcomics and social media copywriting.