Zero Parades: For Dead Spies launched in May 2026 as a dice-driven role-playing game developed by a new incarnation of the ZA/UM creative team behind Disco Elysium [1, 2, 3]. The game unfolds in Portofiro, a coastal port town marked by cultural shifts and political decay, where players assume the role of a spy recently thawed after five years of being frozen [1, 3].
The player’s employer is called The Opera, a spy agency operating within Portofiro’s fraught setting [1, 3]. The game explores themes of authenticity, forgery, and identity amid the ideological struggle between fading communist remnants and the rising 'techno-fascist' state of La Luz [2, 3]. La Luz, portrayed as a dominant power using culture and media to assert control over former colonies, is ruled by a clique of philosopher elites rumored to be inbred [2]. One character in the game mockingly refers to it as the “People's Republic of La-La-Land” [2].
Portofiro’s local culture and its Communist past are eroding under La Luz’s influence. A music seller in-game remarks, “anyone with the wits to create anything new just spends their time devising ways to get past the signal blockers and access Luzian drivel,” illustrating the pervasive reach of La Luz’s propaganda [2]. Homegrown factions include EMTERR (the Bank) and the communist Superbloc, both sponsoring The Opera [3].
The spy protagonist copes with stress and trauma by self-medicating with cigarettes, alcohol, and other substances, adding a gritty realism to the narrative [1, 3].
Zero Parades weaves spy intrigue with cultural tensions and media manipulation, driven by dice mechanics that emphasize chance and player agency [1, 2, 3]. The game is available in English as of May 2026 [1, 2, 3].
