Planned Release Date: To be announced

About This Game

Debate your way. Choose your own arguments. Wield your own rhetoric. Strengthen your ideals through battles of the mind, and fight for control of reality itself!



Reality Layer Zero is a debating RPG and occult mystery thriller. Wield Logos, Ethos, and Pathos in tandem with argument and rhetoric cards to debate your opponents and win control of their minds. Inherit new cards from the people you meet, and then use those cards to build your own unique, unbeatable deck.



Inspired by classics of the role-playing and visual novel genres, Reality Layer Zero emphasizes player choice and narrative consequence. Your grandfather has been arrested for murder, and how you choose to spend the days leading up to his execution will determine whether he lives or dies.

Alas, you are an amateur. Your investigative prowess is nonexistent. All hope is lost... if not for one small thing.



Shortly after arriving in the city of Liere, you acquired a strange ability that allows you to peer into the minds of others and speak directly to their hearts-- a power called Invocation. Is this mind control? Witchcraft? Whatever the case, this ability is the only tool you have to aid your investigation.

Will you spend your days scrounging for evidence that can overturn your grandfather's conviction? Or will you instead focus on developing this new ability, inheriting powerful-enough arguments to reshape reality itself into the form you see fit? The choice-- and the consequences-- are yours.



Command the three rhetorical modes-- Logos, Ethos, and Pathos-- to bring your arguments to resonance and influence the mind of your opponent.


Each argument has an associated cost represented by its premises, or the amount of points from each of the three rhetorical modes required to resonate (score) the argument. On resonance, the argument's weight will be applied to your resonance meter. Fill this meter to deplete your opponent's willpower and, ultimately, defeat them.

A simple goal; yet not-so-easily met. Your opponent can manipulate the premises you control-- and, likewise, you theirs-- with rhetoric. Rhetoric has its own associated cost, and applies effects ranging from depleting premises directly (via critique), applying status effects to the opponent (via proposals), manipulating the Enthymeme (the unstated premises), and much more. Striking a balance between resonating your own arguments and preventing your opponent from resonating theirs is the key to being a successful orator.

With use, arguments will ​level-up and become stronger. Leveling up may also unlock hidden effects, or inspire the development of new arguments.



In 7 days, your grandfather's sentence will be carried out, and he will be executed. You have 7 days to put a stop to this and save his life.

Each day is divided into two phases-- morning and afternoon. In each phase, you have a decision to make about how to spend your time. Do you spend it hunting for clues, building relationships with the locals, developing your arguments alone, or doing something else entirely? Each decision you make will impact reality around you and contribute to your grandfather's ultimate fate.

- Inherit New Ideals -



The citizens of Liere are notoriously tight-lipped and secretive-- but if you can find those that open up to you, the information they provide might bring you closer to the truth-- or, otherwise, may inspire the discovery of new arguments and rhetoric. Spend time with the right people, expand your inner world, and something good is bound to happen.

- Present Evidence In-Debate -



The evidence that you gather during your investigation can be presented to counteract your opponent's attempts to turn the tables. Be mindful while searching, though-- some evidence can be missed, which will make it difficult to find yourself in a position of advantage in the debates to come.

- Development Information -

Reality Layer Zero will update periodically with new story content across six major releases. The first of these updates, the "First Layer", is available now as a free demo.​

- Photosensitivity Advisory -

Reality Layer Zero contains brief sequences of bright, flashing lights, up-to but not in excess of 3 Hz under normal circumstances. Please play in a well-lit room.