Taking the mantle of Detective Howard in this dice-based RPG Celestial Return, players can get involved… today! Developed by Metaphor Games and Shoreline Games, the game goes one step further than ‘standard’ dice-based games, as the dice aren’t just a gameplay mechanic, but an all-too-rare, all-too-important currency, as well. Full details below.
Per Metaphor Games and Shoreline Games:
Metaphor Games and Shoreline Games have launched dice-based narrative RPG Celestial Return on PC via Steam.
With dice acting as players’ bullets, bribes, and their last breath, they will step into the well-worn loafers of the disgraced Detective Howard as they take to the bloody neon streets of Netherveil City, where survival is optional, and death is an inevitability.
And the story is only just beginning. We can also reveal Shoreline Games and Metaphor Games are already planning to bring Celestial Return to PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo consoles by Q1 2027, alongside support for at least three additional languages, opening the streets of Netherveil City to a much wider audience.
With a pocket full of stolen dice and a loudmouthed sentient Rose in tow, players will dig deep into the seedy underbelly of the city – unearthing long-forgotten secrets and exposing corruption that runs deeper than anybody could imagine. Each roll of the dice offers a chance at salvation or a shortcut to more suffering, and the most valuable resource is also the easiest to lose, so players will need to be strategic in their engagements and exploration, filling their pockets for the best chance at success.
Each decision made in Celestial Return will have consequences; ghosts of past choices catch up to players when they least expect it. Inner monologues will guide players down certain paths as they make dialogue decisions, with Foolishness, Intelligence, and Virtue all vying for the top spot, but if players lean too far into one vice whilst ignoring the wisdom of the others, certain paths may become unreachable later down the line.
Celestial Return Key Features:
- Doomed Gameplay Loop: Earn and spend your dice while leveling up your own personality to gain the edge needed to survive conversational combat. It’s sometimes violent, but always desperate.
- Simple Currency: Dice aren’t just tools. They’re oxygen. Earn ’em, spend ’em, lose ’em. Hoard them too long, and opportunities vanish. Roll recklessly, and resources burn.
- Welcome to the Crossroads: Discover a vast sci-fi story, rich with twists, turns, mind-bending crossroads, and a branching narrative fully shaped by your decisions.
- Sounds & Visuals to Bleed For: Immerse yourself in a completely hand-drawn world where manga’s precision meets the raw nerve of American comics
- Choices Matter: Your choices are the weapons, and your mind the battlefield. Decide the outcome with each small step. Just remember: Intelligence picks locks in silence. Virtue pleads for mercy. Foolishness laughs at the abyss.
Will you be jumping into Celestial Return? Is it your sort of game? Let us know in the comments below!
For your next read, go see how successful MOUSE: P.I. For Hire has been since its launch, or our interview over Lassen’s Loop, the music-making game.
Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
