〈City on Edge〉 is a very simple puzzle game where one needs to maintain equilibrium in order to survive in a simulated world threatened by the spread of a deadly virus. The game starts when you become a character called “Hacker” and receive a mission. The mission is simple! You just need to survive using the survival guide provided while you wait for rescue as the ground crumbles and the bugs spread.  

Survival Guide

All you need to do is complete the mission within the given time! If you do not achieve balance in time, everything would perish! We might not be the only ones on the collapsing ground. Simply select the characters with your fingers, move them around, and drop them on the ground. It is simple! They aren’t even real people anyway.

We still seem to hate each other even in a situation where death is imminent. Still, since the mission needs to be completed, do not make people who hate each other stand together. Or you can easily get rid of them by dropping them on the ground or sending them toward the bugs.

Sounds simple, right? You just need to decide which character will live and which will die and achieve an equilibrium before the deadline at each level. Don’t think about the people who fall off the cracks and die. Sometimes some lives need to be sacrificed for the sake of the greater good. Fortunately, as a player, I am not included in that category of people.

But for some reason it feels like as the ground gets narrower, the number of people to achieve equilibrium also gets smaller. God knows when I will be rescued; all I did was follow the guidelines as instructed and made a choice for everyone.

Hop Step consists of four people from different backgrounds and natures gathered to form a Hop Step team to discuss the community and balance. Art director and level designer Doyeon Kim, art director and UI designer Minjae Kwak, project manager, UI technician, scenario designer Jungsoo Lee, technical director and game designer Hyun Cho are together.
Just like the team’s name which is inspired by the “breaking steps” of the mask dance where balance is achieved on one foot, Hop Step focuses on various forms of “balancing.” Based on the similarities between the process of repeated “balancing,” where opposite forces offset each other and find equilibrium, and the process of making individual choices for cohabitation, we aim to look at the relationship between the community and the individual through various digital media.