Disco Elysium is one of the most revolutionary and groundbreaking video games of the last decade. Saying this is nothing strange or new: it has been said since before its release. It is such a special and unique game that it is inevitable that it causes a stir and many people want to imitate it. Even if so far there have hardly been any imitators. Although there is a logical explanation for that: making a video game takes time, now more than ever, and time has to be allowed for the imitators of this great success to arrive.

But they are starting to arrive. With more or less grace, understanding better or worse what made the original game by ZA/UM special, many are inspired by it to create their own RPG. And perhaps the most notable of the first wave of games clearly inspired by Disco Elysium, ironically, has no connection to anyone who worked on it. Its name is Esoteric Ebb and, even more surprisingly, it is the work of a single developer: Christoffer Bodegård.

A game with the essence of Disco Elysium

Esoteric Ebb puts us in a very uncomfortable situation: we are a cleric who wakes up in the morgue after what we are convinced has been our death. We cannot take off our helmet, so we cannot know what our face looks like. And worst of all, we have no exact memories of what has happened.

Fortunately, we soon discovered a few things. To begin with, we might not be a cleric: it is perfectly possible that we are a rogue, a warrior, or a wizard. And that will be decided by what we ourselves choose to be through conversations. Also, our attributes speak to us. Strength, constitution, dexterity, charisma, wisdom, and intelligence will constantly intervene to give us advice and guide us, not always in the most accurate way possible, depending on the numbers we have in each of them. This adds a very interesting twist to Disco Elysium by associating it with the logic of Dungeons & Dragons.

But what is our mission? To discover why and who was behind the explosion of a tea room. And if possible, to find out why we appeared dead in the sea before being rescued by anonymous fishermen. We will have to do all of this within a very specific time limit: five days. Why? Because in five days, the first elections in the history of the city will take place, and such a serious situation cannot be left unresolved before the election results.

Being able to focus on the investigation case or get involved in the political life of the city, being able to support any of the political parties —which represent socialist, liberal, monarchical positions and, justly, also the possibility of being chosen as an all-powerful wizard king—, how much we get involved and to what extent is up to us. If we want to know more about our character, the world, and how they will evolve, it is in our hands, but we can also ignore it and focus on the investigation case. Something for which we will have the assistance of a goblin who will try to help us get through these five overwhelming days.

With a more cartoonish artistic style and less baroque writing than Disco Elysium, but equally brilliant, Esoteric Ebb stands out for knowing how to capture the spirit of the ZA/UM game while creating something unique with it. Creating a game with a strong personality of its own.

With its release scheduled for March 3, 2026, this could be one of the big surprises of the year. One of those games that redefines the path of upcoming RPGs, demonstrating that what Disco Elysium achieved was not a fluke. That it can be repeated. But it requires curiosity and interest and a desire to do something different with the elements that made the original game great. Because Esoteric Ebb, if it proves anything, is that the formula of Disco Elysium is not exhausted.