Moves of the Diamond Hand Early Access Preview

I’ve been having a great time playing narrative-focused RPGs as of late. From taking another crack at Disco Elysium to immersing myself in Esoteric Ebb, the genre is certainly not lacking in terms of great experiences to be had. But I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a game quite like Moves of the Diamond Hand.

Taking a first-person view through the surreal and dystopian Off-Peak City, the player character finds themselves trying to land a job with Circus X, a legendary circus that has made its way back into town. To get there, you’ll need to do some digging, finding an in with the crew. Along the way, there are quests to do and an eclectic assortment of people to meet and learn from.

Publisher: Cosmo D Studios

Developer: Cosmo D Studios

Platform: Played on PC

Availability: Released in Early Access on April 13, 2026 for PC.

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I have been running through an early access build, so you never know what is going to stick around for the final piece (though there is a roadmap which has a few details on development plans, which you can check out here), but the introductory sequence spares no time in throwing you into the thick of things.

The game starts you off on a train, speaking directly with your old teacher. He is kind enough to talk to you about your plans for Circus X, and serves as the means by which the tutorial is delivered. However, in this conversation, a bunch of terminology is thrown at the player quite quickly without being explained, as if the player character knows exactly what the professor is talking about.

It does make sense that this would be the case; our character exists in this world—he should know! But I don't know what Circus X is, or what this city is like, or what any other thing that is happening in this city means. This is truly not a problem per se, I love the sort of intrigue and mystery it sets up in the player's mind as a way to drive things forward, but there is a peculiar visual feature happening in conversations where seemingly important terminology and names are highlighted in dialogue as if there is some way to intereact with them or otherwise reference them outside of conversation. This is not the case; there is no journal to reference, and the terms are not explained when moused over or clicked on. Eschewing the norms of the medium is not a detriment, but it did take a bit of adjusting in my mind.

After the short conversation and tutorialization of dice mechanics and stat distribution, you’re set loose into the city. If the strange professor on the train wasn’t clue enough, your first look at the environments will make it clear that this place is an oddity. Giant statues of cats and crocodiles frame your view of the city skyline. The night sky is purple and impossibly star-speckled, with a massive red moon looming above. On the platform you’ve stepped out on, men with bird heads roam as green smoke rises from the grates and trash cans, and giant pigeons have made their home on the benches nearby.

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Every element of these first two chapters is as bizarre as it is mysterious, but I find myself wholly intrigued and yearning to learn more. There are many quests to find and people to meet almost immediately upon heading down the first steps, but early conversations are tough going without some help. I’m not going to explain the dice mechanics here in detail, but as a top-level introduction, your stats are your dice.

Every check you make is done by rolling dice, which you empower by using points you get from other dice rolls and through engaging in conversation. The more powerful your dice faces are, the better your rolls. Even still, some rolls are quite difficult or impossible at this stage without boosting effects, which is where equipment, items, and conditions come in.

Each of these modifies your dice rolls in some way, with some affecting your energy and nerve, providing you with money, and others still providing numerical adjustments to the rolls — positive and negative. I found myself bouncing between characters, learning more about the world and gaining skill points, incrementally gaining the tools and experience necessary to pass a conversation or getting new skills and items to assist me, like learning how to make pizzas.

Rather than exhausting dialogue with each individual in a single sitting, I was forced to do what I could in the moment and double back to dive deeper. In some ways, this always kept me on the hook for another chat, and I found myself wondering just what these guys were yapping about, and made mental notes to go back to each at different points.

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Overall, Moves of the Diamond Hand is an exciting prospect. I really enjoyed the dice mechanics in my short time with them (about 10 hours to get through the first two chapters), and the world is bizarre and mysterious in all the right ways. I do understand that early access is a tough sell, especially with full release not scheduled until 2027 at the earliest, but if nothing else, it's a game worth keeping an eye out for in the future.