Dwarf Fortress co-creator has been helping out with Streets of Fortuna, a sandbox RPG in a procedurally-generated city where you can be an art thief, a chef or a big ol' flirt

The procedurally-generated city of Fortuna is the wealthiest city in the world, but you're broke. You start your life in this heavily simulated sandbox RPG as a penniless nobody looking for food and shelter. But from these unfortunate beginnings you can carve out a life for yourself, becoming an art thief, a cook, a smuggler or an infamous lothario.

Streets of Fortuna, which just debuted on the PC Gaming Show, is an RPG, but it won't tangle you up with a job or class system—you'll follow your own goals instead, searching for opportunities and manipulating the simulation. Maybe you'll spy on the wealthy while planning an audacious heist, before making pals with a fence or cosying up to an art collector so you can shift your big score. Perhaps a more law-abiding life is your kind of thing, where you experiment with different materials to create tasty meals or sharp weapons and then sell them to the city's denizens.

Fortuna's inhabitants are generated just like the city itself, joining factions, forming alliances and getting into conflict with each other. You'll be able to get stuck into this too, politicking your way through the city using your silver tongue or a dagger, all while trying not to get into bother with the tyrannical Overlord who runs the place.

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While the trailer doesn't give us a taste of the combat, you can expect turn-based encounters, and this extends to some other activities too, like the aforementioned heists, giving you a bit of breathing room while you plan your next move.

The freewheeling nature and emergent elements of Streets of Fortuna call to mind the likes of Caves of Qud and Dwarf Fortress, both of which are published by the game's developer, Kitfox Games. Dwarf Fortress co-creator Tarn Adams has also lent the team his expertise, serving as a design consultant.

Streets of Fortuna - a character strokes their chin while looking at a chest of gold presented to them — (Image credit: Kitfox Games)

"I love being able to do things with every object, making mischief and seeing how the city's inhabitants respond," Adams told us. "The broader goals are ambitious and I can't wait to see how the political and social sim shapes up. Running about Fortuna hustling, scheming, causing trouble, or maybe even living an honest life should be a great deal of fun. Kitfox is taking a lot of care in building the procedural city and fleshing it out with furniture and objects and people that know how to use them as they go about their lives. Putting all of their effort into detailing a single rich location gives them the opportunity to make a unique sim that isn't like anything else."

I'm always hungry for a new sandbox RPG, and Streets of Fortuna's ambitious promises are tickling my brain in just the right way. Being set in a single location is also a welcome novelty—there's something to be said for letting you set up shop in a city that you grow intimately familiar with, instead of sending you off gallivanting all around the world. There's no release date yet, but I'm looking forward to nicking everything that isn't nailed down.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.