Cosmo D announces Moves of the Diamond Hand, a surreal narrative RPG heading to PC this year

Demo available now; explore a dubby jazz-noir mystery in Cosmo D's grandest title to date

Brooklyn, NYC, United States - February 19, 2025 - Award-winning indie developer Cosmo D Studios is today pleased to announce Moves of the Diamond Hand - a brand new first-person narrative RPG set in a surreal dystopian jazz-drenched city.

The game will launch for PC, as a multi-chapter title into Steam Early Access - with the first full chapter of the game available as a free demo today. The demo will also be a participating title in Steam Next Fest, which begins next week.

Moves of the Diamond Hand builds upon the mechanics of Cosmo D's previous game, the award-winning Betrayal At Club Low (Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Nuovo Award at the IGF Awards 2023), but is much grander in scope - delivering deeper dice-driven gameplay, a richer, more mysterious narrative and plenty of player choice and consequence. It evokes a feel of a multi-session tabletop RPG experience, with all player stats represented as dice; offering tons of opportunities for drama and strategy.

Set within the uncanny streets Off-Peak City, Moves of the Diamond Hand will see players on a quest to become a part of the legendary Circus X - an actual circus and artist crew of the highest caliber - in a bid to mint their destiny. However, Circus X isn't hiring and there's plenty of people who also want a piece of their magic (and money). To become part of this elite crew, players will need to figure out a way in. Sure, they'll find leads, but they'll also find trouble...

As they explore the neighborhood, players will meet a cast of odd characters, each with their own agendas, perspectives, and secrets; slowly becoming entangled in the strangest Mayoral election in the city's history. One of the candidates isn't even a real person, he's the clone of a Mayor from a hundred years ago! Furthermore, someone called The Diamond Hand is playing all sides against one another. No one knows who they are or why they're causing trouble. Players will have to decide if they are a potential collaborator, or a pawn in The Diamond Hand's game?

Moves of the Diamond Hand is the culmination of Cosmo D's previous work, a statement of intent going forward and his grandest title to date. As such, the game will be split into four chapters, each of which offering a few hours of playtime.

Chapter One is free for all to experience and now available to download via Steam. Chapter Two will go on sale in mid-2025 and mark the beginning of the Early Access period. Chapters Three and Four will follow in late 2025 and early 2026, respectively.

Anyone who purchases the game during the Early Access period will gain access to all released content as soon as it's ready. Pricing and further information on future chapters will be announced at a later date. Dates given are development targets and are subject to change.

Moves of the Diamond Hand Features

A Full Embrace of the Spirit of Tabletop RPG Gaming - Your stats are all represented as dice. These dice offer opportunities for drama and strategy. Items are dice. Conditions are dice. Disguises are dice. These dice are all customizable in a myriad of different ways.
A Tight Narrative Full of Twists and Turns - Explore a dubby jazz noir mystery. You, along with your dice, will determine how it all plays out, right up to the very end.
Choices and Consequences Aplenty - Three very different mayoral candidates offer stark points of view and personality. But their race for The Key to the City is as close as it gets.
A City of Personalities - Odd characters, each with their own agendas, perspectives, and secrets, await your arrival. Some of them might have connections to previous Cosmo D games, but knowledge of those games is not required.
A Vibe Like No Other - Cosmo D games put a premium on head-nodding music and thick atmosphere. Moves of the Diamond Hand continues to elevate this approach.
A Collaborative, Transparent Approach to Release - Starting with Chapter One, all players will have access to a bug reporting and feedback menu in-game. Bug fixes, balance adjustments and quality of life improvements will be ongoing and continuous.

Moves of the Diamond Hand is scheduled to launch into PC Early Access later this year. Chapter One is available in its entirety today as a demo via Steam, where you can also wishlist the game.

For more information on Cosmo D Studios and Moves of the Diamond Hand, please visit the official website, or follow on Bluesky and X.

About Cosmo D Studios

Cosmo D is a game designer based in New York City, with a background in cello performance and music composition. One rainy night in June 2013, he was struck by a car while crossing the street and found himself unable to play or make music for several months.

While convalescing, he took it upon himself to learn the Unity Engine. The result was Off-Peak, released in 2015. A homage to Cosmo D's home city of New York, as well as a commentary on the commodification of art and music in the urban space, Off-Peak gained a cult following, with hordes of press nods, let's plays on YouTube, and a fanbase eagerly awaiting the follow-up.

With assistance from NYU Game Center's Incubator program, publisher Alliance Digital Media, as well as the New York game development scene at large, Cosmo D released a sequel, The Norwood Suite, in October 2017. Building on the momentum from this release Cosmo D released Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 in Spring of 2020, the award-winning Betrayal at Club Low in Fall 2022, and is now developing Moves of the Diamond Hand - his biggest project to date.

For more information on the weird and wonderful work of Cosmo D, please head over to the official website at cosmod.net.