I was fortunate enough to play the demo of D-topia during the Summer Game Fest this year and really enjoyed the bit of it I got to experience. Now that the full game is out, it’s time to find out if any of my predictions were correct. Is the city of D-topia as perfect as they claim? Is there something more sinister beneath the surface? Why can’t I get the stupid fire extinguisher to sit in its spot? Let’s jump in and find out.

Promises, promises…

D-topia centers around an alternate world where life is completely run by artificial intelligence, with the goal being to maximize the health and happiness of everyone living within the titular D-topia, an obvious play on the notion of a utopia. You play as the newest Facilitator (an employee meant to aid in system functionality), and it’s your job to keep the residential facility running smoothly. Sometimes this involves fixing broken equipment, getting rid of bugs in certain systems, and other times it will involve helping the residents solve personal problems.

Every day you’ll report to the Factory to do “work”. However, this isn’t work in the traditional sense. Instead your work consists of solving one of four types of puzzle designs. These include math block puzzles, maze-like number puzzles, numbered pathway puzzles, and Minesweeper-esque puzzles.

Nope. Can’t relate to that at all.

The math block puzzles start off pretty straightforward. You’ll either have to move the numbered blocks into slots that are designated for that number, or try to move the blocks in ways that amount up to the necessary target for each section. Some puzzles also include sliding block elements. These involve some stationary blocks that act as barricades for certain pathways, while other blocks are free to move. As is the case for many of these types of puzzles, some target slots are behind barriers you can’t access unless you press a switch to deactivate the obstacle. This means you’ll have to come up with strategies on which blocks to move first, where to leave them, and in what order you need to deactivate switches in order to get every block into its place.

Going through the dotted line will increase the number on the block by one and it disappears once a block has passed through it.

The maze number puzzles involve trying to work your way through maze-like pathways and hitting all the numbers as you go. It sounds easy, and at first it is. However, eventually new elements will be added in, such as numbered tiles that multiply the amount of collected numbered tiles you’ve acquired, and the dreaded mirrored sections. These feature sections of the puzzle that produce another line that acts as a mirror to everywhere you go. So if you run into a blockade on one side, but the other side is clear, guess what? Both sides are prevented from progressing. The upside is that if a numbered tile you need is on the other mirrored side, then you can guide your mirror image towards that tile to collect it and it will count.

The numbered pathway puzzles are (at least in my opinion) the easiest. These involve a grid of tiles with you having to move across each one which increases your number. There are certain numbered tiles within the grid that you have to hit by passing over the right amount of non-numbered tiles in a row before being able to access them. Basically, you have to find the right pathway over the grid system to hit each numbered tile in the sequence and make it to the end. What’s funny is while I did find these puzzles to be the easiest, there was one secret puzzle section in the late game that had far more complicated versions of each of the puzzle types, and this version of the numbered pathway puzzle was the only one that stumped me in the entire game.

It seems simple, but these can actually get pretty tricky.

Last are the bug-eliminating puzzles, which are the types I referred to as the Minesweeper-like puzzles. These involve numbered tiles that indicate how many selected tiles can be touching any number of their four sides. So if a tile has the number “2” on it, you know that you can select two tiles that touch its sides, but no more or less. The numbered tiles are placed on a grid, meaning you have to pay careful attention to which surrounding tiles you select to ensure that you’re not upsetting the balance of the other tiles. It’s very much like the old-school game Minesweeper, but thankfully, there are no bombs in this game.

These might sound fairly simple, and they are by design, as D-topia is meant to be a casually paced puzzle adventure. Don’t mistake the simplicity of the puzzles as being boring either. The difficulty is slowly ramped up throughout the game, adding new twists to keep you thinking. As far as the puzzles during your “work” sections, these remain fairly casual, but there are some hidden puzzles that will give you quite a challenge.

Was it the Four Horsemice that brought about the apocalypse?!

That said, D-topia is not just a simplistic puzzle-solving game. A lot of what you’ll be doing involves helping the residents with their issues. Or not. This is one area of D-topia where you can alter the events of the game. You can choose to help as many people as you can and bring peace to the city, or you can ignore them entirely. You can even report some characters to the AI that runs the city, which can have dire consequences for them. What kind of Facilitator do you want to be?

There’s also a mode called the “Block Side”, where you can essentially see things that normal residents can’t. This is due to your role as a Facilitator. Once you enter this mode you can discover things such as hidden puzzles, technical issues, and even rodents you can’t see under normal circumstances. You’ll have to enter into the Block Side in order to repair broken equipment and malfunctioning systems, but it’s a good idea to occasionally check out places in the Block Side even if everything seems fine. You never know what secrets are being hidden from normal eyes.

Entering the Block Side is the only way you can fix any malfunctioning robots or systems.

There are also certain parts of the game where your protagonist has to make decisions on how to handle certain situations, which will have lasting effects on the rest of the game. You can alienate certain characters by pointing out their flaws, or you can make them feel accepted by celebrating their individuality. You can cover for a misguided troublemaker, or report them to the AI and have them expelled from D-topia. What I love most about D-topia is how it makes you think about morality. More than that, it often challenges the player to ponder what it truly means to be human in an ever-increasing technological age.

I know you’ve asked me an important question, but hold on, I must consult my own thoughts in a Brain Meeting.

Visually, D-topia, like the gameplay, is fairly simplistic. This isn’t a bad thing, merely an artistic choice that I feel fits the overall feel of the game. The environments and character models are are minimalistic, but there are moments when you can see some nice detailing and lighting effects. This is especially noticeable in the food and the protagonist’s home, which you can fully deck out by spending your “hard earned” units, which is very easy to do.

There’s no voice acting in D-topia, instead only relying on sound effects and music. The sound effects are usually more understated (aside from some occasional alarms), but they’re serviceable. It also has a chill, subdued soundtrack that fits the overall tone of the game well.

Check out my sweet pad.

D-topia is a game that I was intrigued by after playing the demo, but I wasn’t prepared for just how much I’d end up enjoying it. It surprised me in a lot of good ways. Beneath its cutesy exterior, D-topia is an unexpectedly thought-provoking game. It addresses some deeper topics such as an overreliance on technology and what it means to be human, all in a charming manner. If you’re looking for a relaxed puzzle adventure with some gentle wisdom and a lot of heart, look no further than D-topia.

D-topia is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch/2, Xbox Series X|S.

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2.

A copy of D-topia was provided by the publisher.