History game experts Paintbucket Games have made a 'Disco Elysium-like' for the German broadcaster ARD, set in the Babylon Berlin universe. The free game works even without prior knowledge of Babylon Berlin, and features great German voiceover.
The German public broadcasting alliance ARD with the southwestern member SWR in the developmental lead wanted to make a game in the universe of their highly successful Babylon Berlin setting, and they went to experts in historical German settings to make it: A Night at Moka Efti: A Babylon Berlin Story has been developed by Paintbucket Games from Berlin, serious game experts and German Game of the Year winners with their historical antifascist detective game The Darkest Files.
Pascal Wagner
The Babylon Berlin TV series has run for five seasons now and is based on the books by Volker Kutscher, and as such, many elements from the books and of course the series are found in the game as well. The fifth season is the sole responsibility of ARD, while the four seasons before have been made in cooperation with Sky.
A Night at Moka Efti: A Babylon Berlin Story sees players take control of journalist Gabriele Miersch, investigating a case in the Moka Efti nightclub – but within her mind, from the couch of her psychologist. In a top-down perspective, Gabriele enters dream states and draws conclusions while exploring the club in her memory. The game features multiple timelines and endings, and plays perfectly with the ambiguity between reality, false memory and manipulation. It's not far-flung to call the game and perspective inspired by Disco Elysium, because they are; and the idea fits perfectly into the heady, heavy atmospheric setting of Babylon Berlin.
The game comes with full German audio and interfaces, and with English interfaces and subtitles as well.
A Night at Moka Efti: A Babylon Berlin Story has released 10 September 2026 on Steam for free.
Conclusion
A great detective story that works even without knowledge of the TV series. The German voiceover is especially commendable, catching the flair of 1930s Berlin.
