Funded over 200% on Kickstarter, Metaphor Games’ Celestial Return blends dice-driven choices, cyberpunk noir, and cosmic corruption—backed by Shoreline Games.
14 Jan, 2026
Survival is optional in Celestial Return, a cyberpunk-noir, dice-based narrative RPG from storytelling veterans Metaphor Games, launching on PC via Steam in spring 2026 in partnership with publisher Shoreline Games.
Celestial Return is a story-rich, boldly stylized sci-fi adventure where dice are your bullets, your bribes, and your last breath.
Don the well-worn loafers of Detective Howard, a man with nothing left to lose, as he traverses the neon-washed streets of the decaying Netherveil City, where its corpses are clawing back to life and horrors loom in the shadows.
You will investigate a string of suicides that reek of cosmic horror and corporate corruption, where your only tools are your rusted badge, a loud-mouthed sentient rose, and a pocketful of stolen dice.
“Celestial Return has always been about creating a deeply immersive narrative experience that resonates with fans of both video games and storytelling-focused board games.
We are so honoured by the outpouring of support from our community, and we never imagined our gritty noir game would achieve 200% funding.
Partnering with Shoreline Games allows us to amplify our vision and ensure the game reaches the widest possible audience. We’re excited to see how this collaboration will bring our community’s dream project to life in new and exciting ways.” Bilge Gul Cakir, Co-Founder / Author at Metaphor Games
“This team has an undeniable work ethic and penchant for storytelling and developing rich, narrative-driven storylines. But not only that—their community has spoken, and the support for the game’s development has been incredible to watch.
So, to be a part of their journey, translating those narratives from board games to video games, is something we absolutely wanted to be a part of, and are incredibly grateful to do so.” Keith Kawamura, CEO of Shoreline Games
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 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.
Expanding the world of Celestial Return beyond the world of video games, Metaphor Games has also released the first in a series of Webtoon comics that delve deeper into the seedy underbelly of Netherveil City, with more episodes planned to release in the run-up to the game’s launch.
Designed as a living companion to its video game counterpart, the comic’s narrative ties directly into the game, blurring the line between game and graphic novel, with the final episode ending exactly where the game begins.
Celestial Return launches in spring 2026 for Windows PC via Steam.
Metaphor Games Background
Metaphor Games is the digital gaming partner of Metis Creative. While Metis continues its work in the TTRPG space, Metaphor Games is a dedicated studio for channeling that same expertise in narrative and world-building to digital experiences.
Metaphor Games sees games as a unified art form, where visuals, writing, and music fuse into one living whole. This philosophy is at the heart of Celestial Return, their first digital title and a true passion project.
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