Rue Valley

With its 2D parallax art style, inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Rue Valley is reminiscent of Disco Elysium. However, Disco Elysium is a completely different game, being a role-playing game and one of the best of its kind. However, Rue Valley is an isometric, narrative-driven mystery game with light RPG elements. The game follows a man caught in a time loop. Players carry memories across loops, unlocking new dialogue, perspectives and ways to interact with the world. Along the way, they encounter a cast of characters, each grappling with their own emotional complexities. The time loop resets everything, giving players the chance to experiment with different actions and responses in order to solve the mystery.

Important memories can be stored in a graph (like a mind map; think of the Sherlock Holmes games), unlocking more interactions and mindsets to help develop the main character. Apart from the fact that there is a lot of reading involved, players must be in the right place at the right time and meet specific conditions to make progress. "Commit to quirky mindsets for unexpected and hilarious dialogues, and experience personality-altering Status Effects: become more outgoing when drunk, or extra sensitive when anxious," the developers said. It is a narrative experience with a slow pace, in particular, the middle section drags on for too long.

Rue Valley focuses on dialogue, mystery and addresses psychological stress. It is more of a moderately to well-written journey of self-discovery and resilience. Those who want to make deep and meaningful decisions are better off choosing the outstanding Dispatch or Disco Elysium.

"It was really important for us to craft an engaging yet poignant story highlighting the struggles many of us face every day. We're confident that it will resonate with people in a way that conveys that they're heard, they're seen, and they matter." - Marko Smiljanić, Creative Director of Emotion Spark Studio

Rue Valley was developed by Emotion Spark Studio, which was founded in Belgrade, Serbia, in January 2020. The game's publisher is Owlcat Games, a developer and publisher with a passion for RPGs and narrative-driven games. Founded in Moscow in 2016, the studio released its first game, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, in 2017. In 2021, they followed this up with Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader in 2023. Headquartered in Cyprus, the studio now employs over 450 people across offices in various countries. They are currently working on Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy and The Expanse: Osiris: Reborn. Rue Valley was the first game they published. The next is Shadow of the Road, developed by Another Angle Games.

Rue Valley was released on 11 November 2025 for PC via Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store, as well as for consoles on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4/5, and Nintendo Switch.

Conclusion

Rue Valley is a slow-paced narrative game with a great style and an emotional storyline. However, the pacing of its time-loop narrative tends to be a little uneven.