Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Dear Esther (pictured above) and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs developer The Chinese Room has teased their next game, Total Dark.

The game is described as an isometric RPG, which is quite the difference in comparison to their previous outings, which tend to fall within the “walking simulator” genre of adventure games.

Speaking with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Studio director Dan Pinchbeck teased the game, saying it’s inspired by his love of pen-and-paper RPGs and even some wargames, like Traveller, Paranoia, and more.

“It’s a much more traditional game, an isometric adventure with a free-floating camera and lots of mechanics,” Pinchbeck said. The game originally saw its conception as a board game, and even after release may still get a board game adaptation.

“That will make some people happy while other people are going to wonder if we have the right experience to make that sort of game. But we absolutely do. Because most people know us because of Dear Esther and now Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, it’s easy to assume that’s the kind of game we will always make and have always made. What they may not realise is that we were developing other mods alongside Dear Esther. One of them was Antlion Soccer.”

Despite the ominous title, Total Dark will have a “lighter tone” than their previous games. “It’s no less weird but it’s not quite as bleak,” said Pinchbeck.

For now, The Chinese Room is targeting a PC release, with the hopes of having a playable prototype by the end of this month.