TALKDOWN
A story game about crisis negotiation: talk a man down on live radio, then work two phone lines at once while one of them lies.
Official site argos-studios.itch.io, verified Nov 3, 2026. The developer's own itch.io page (Argos Studios).
Where to play
Every platform this game is on. Links are checked against official sources; we never host or mirror games.
- Play free — itch.ioitch.ioReleased · Two cases out; the developer says Case 03 is being writtenFree
Plays in the browser on itch.io. No download.
Browser (no download) · Mobile · Official link verified Nov 3, 2026.
About TALKDOWN
A short, story-driven game in which you are a police negotiator. In Case 01, Night Owls, a 71-year-old retired bus driver has taken over a late-night AM radio station with a revolver and put the phone line on the air, so every word you say goes out to the whole city. Each reply is a real negotiation technique: mirror his last words, label what he feels, ask an open question, summarize, trade, or stay silent. A clipboard collects what matters to him, what sets him off and the risk signs you hear, and trust builds slowly while the tactical commander loses patience. Case 02, Two Lines, puts you on two phone lines at once, one of them a voice who knows too much and whose claims have to be checked. Each case takes 15 to 20 minutes and has four endings, followed by an incident report and a record of your choices. The developer says the psychology draws on the FBI's Behavioral Change Stairway Model. Argos Studios says one human played, tested and published the game and that the code and writing are by Claude; there are no AI-generated images or sounds, only credited CC0 photographs and recordings. Free in the browser on computers, phones and tablets, with adjustable reply timers, subtitles and captions; the page carries a content note.
Content note: The developer's content note says the stories deal with grief, loneliness, job loss, manipulation and suicide; nothing graphic is shown, and helpline numbers are in the game. (itch.io)
How it was built
Partially verifiedThe itch.io page says the game was made by “a two-person team”: one human played, tested and published it, and the code and the writing are by Claude, an AI model. The in-game credits say it was written and programmed with AI assistance (Claude). No Claude product or model is named. There are no AI-generated images or sounds. The itch.io AI disclosure ticks Code and Text.
- DeveloperLaunch devlog: the code and writing are by Claude, an AI model; no AI-generated images or sounds. — Argos Studios (itch.io devlog)
Claude wrote the code and the story text; the one human on the project played, tested and published it. The backgrounds are real photographs by Greg Zaal (Poly Haven, CC0) and every sound is a CC0 recording from Freesound, all credited in the game. Replies are chosen from written options. The game adds accessibility settings: reply timers at standard, double, four times or no limit, subtitle speeds including click-to-continue, captions for important sounds, three text sizes and separate volume sliders.
- Engine / framework
- Not disclosed (HTML5)
- Languages
- Not disclosed
- Team size
- 1 (solo)Developer Reporteditch.io
- Development time
- Not disclosed
- Development cost
- Not disclosed
- AI-written code
- Not disclosed
“The code and the writing are by Claude, an AI model.”Verification notes: AI use from the developer's own statements on the itch.io page, the launch devlog and the in-game credits; no independent source was found. The developer names Claude without a product or model, so the tool is recorded as Claude. Team size is recorded as one human: the developer describes a two-person team in which the second member is Claude. Whether Argos Studios has other members is not stated; it also publishes a detective game, UNWIPED, which is a separate title. Replies are picked from written options and the game's code (one HTML file) contains no calls to AI services. Release date from the launch devlog (Case 01, 26 Sep 2026); Case 02 followed on 27 Sep 2026. Language from the itch.io Languages field (English). Location is not stated.
Development history
Case 01, Night Owls, is released on itch.io.
DeveloperArgos Studios (itch.io devlog)Case 02, Two Lines, is released.
DeveloperArgos Studios (itch.io devlog)
Game performance
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itch.io
Free; plays in the browser on computers, phones and tablets, and progress saves automatically.
Not publicly available: Gross revenue.
Sales & revenue (all platforms)
Browser game — there are no downloads to count.
Reviews & rankings
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Sources
| Source | Type | Published | Accessed |
|---|---|---|---|
| TALKDOWN by Argos Studios itch.io | Store page | Not confirmed | Nov 3, 2026 |
| TALKDOWN is out: a crisis negotiation on live radio Argos Studios (itch.io devlog) | Devlog | Sep 26, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
| Case 02 is out: Two Lines Argos Studios (itch.io devlog) | Devlog | Sep 27, 2026 | Nov 3, 2026 |
