All Will Rise is a narrative-driven deckbuilder where card-based debates and exploration drive a story about environmental activism, corporate accountability, and violent resistance. Developed by Speculative Agency and directed by Hugo Bille, it tasks players with investigating the systemic murder of a river through both legal arguments and ecoterrorism.
The game does not pretend to be neutral. It positions itself firmly as an activist text—a design choice Bille acknowledges will generate friction. In a May 2026 interview with PC Gamer, he stated the team "definitely expect[s] some pushback from Western audiences" regarding its depiction of violent resistance, directly comparing the game's thematic territory to the 2022 film adaptation of Andreas Malm's book How to Blow Up a Pipeline (PC Gamer, May 2026).
That film drew scrutiny from right-wing critics and concern from the FBI over potential real-world inspiration. All Will Rise inhabits the same volatile space, but as a playable system rather than a passive viewing experience. This distinction changes the ethical calculus: you are not watching someone decide to sabotage infrastructure, you are building the argument set that justifies it.
How All Will Rise Actually Plays
The core loop splits between two interconnected systems: deck construction and narrative exploration. Cards represent unlocked ideas, upgraded arguments, and tactical approaches to encounters. You do not play these cards against enemies in a traditional health-damage framework. You play them against ideological obstacles—debates, cover-ups, corporate legal teams, and community skepticism.
The mechanism is straightforward but the outcome space is not. A card might represent a legal precedent you've researched. Playing it in a debate encounter forces an opponent to concede a point, shifting the narrative state toward a lawful resolution. Another card might represent a planned act of sabotage. Playing it bypasses the debate entirely and forces a material consequence—an outcome with higher immediate payoff but steeper long-term risk to your faction's stability.
Exploration feeds the deck. Investigating the polluted river system, talking to affected communities, and digging through corporate records unlock new cards and upgrade existing ones. The progression hook is not about getting stronger numbers. It is about expanding the range of arguments and actions available to you in future encounters.
The Faction of One: Ideology as Your Loadout
All Will Rise does not use traditional class selection. Your "class" is the ideological posture you build through early choices. Favor legal channels and your deck skews toward evidence chains, court filings, and whistleblower management. Favor direct action and your deck accumulates sabotage blueprints, underground network contacts, and distraction tactics.
This is not a binary toggle. The game's central tension lives in the space between these poles. A purely legal deck will eventually hit a wall when the opposing corporation controls the legal framework. A purely violent deck will erode public sympathy and invite state suppression. The optimal path—functionally forced by the game's encounter design—is a mixed deck that leverages legal work to create cover for direct action, or uses the threat of violence to make legal threats credible.
Bille has publicly resisted the game being sorted into what he called the "woke, liberal bucket" (PC Gamer, May 2026). The mechanics reflect that resistance. Liberal reformism is one tool in the deck, not the presumed correct answer.
Where the Pushback Will Come From
The controversy is not theoretical. The pipeline film All Will Rise draws from was well-received critically but faced coordinated political backlash. The FBI assessed its potential to inspire real-world attacks on North American pipeline infrastructure. A game that puts that same decision tree in the player's hands—where you actively assemble the plan rather than watch it unfold—is a more direct provocation.
The pushback will likely concentrate on two fronts. First, from audiences who interpret any playable depiction of ecoterrorism as endorsement, regardless of narrative context or in-game consequences. Second, from commentators who object to the game's foundational premise: that a corporation's destruction of a river constitutes violence that justifies a violent response. The game treats that premise as established fact, not as a debate topic. Players who disagree with the premise will find the narrative frame hostile before a single card is played.
Speculative Agency is not hedging. The studio joined the No Games For Genocide boycott and planned to return Microsoft funding it had received—a decision that further signals the team's willingness to accept commercial risk over ideological compromise (PC Gamer, May 2026).
Practical Starting Guidance
Information on specific card interactions and encounter design remains limited pre-launch. Based on the confirmed systems, several strategic principles are clear:
Do not specialize too early. The game's structure punishes pure decks. If you commit exclusively to legal arguments in the first few hours, you will lack the tools to handle encounters where the legal system is the antagonist. Maintain a baseline of direct-action cards even if your intent is a lawful playthrough. They function as escape hatches, not just primary strategies.
Read exploration as deck fuel, not worldbuilding. The investigative sequences are not ambient flavor. Every location, document, and NPC interaction maps to specific card unlocks or upgrades. Skipping exploration to push the narrative forward will leave your deck understocked for the encounters that follow. Treat investigation with the same priority as combat in a traditional RPG.
Track the consequence economy, not just the immediate encounter. Violent actions produce faster results but accumulate a hidden cost—likely tied to public sentiment, faction stability, or state attention. Legal actions are slower and can be blocked, but they build structural advantages that persist. The game's depth lives in managing this trade-off across encounters, not within a single debate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is All Will Rise a political game?
Yes, explicitly. Design director Hugo Bille described it as "an activist story that deals with these topics" (PC Gamer, May 2026). It does not present multiple political frameworks as equally valid—it advocates for a specific position on environmental destruction and corporate power. Players looking for political neutrality should look elsewhere.
Do I have to commit ecoterrorism in the game?
The confirmed mechanics suggest violent resistance is one tool in a broader system, not a forced action. However, the game's narrative frames violent resistance as a legitimate response to environmental destruction. You can likely minimize direct-action card use, but you cannot opt out of the ideological framework that makes those cards available.
What is All Will Rise's release date?
A specific release date has not been announced as of May 2026. The game is in development at Speculative Agency.
Is All Will Rise connected to How to Blow Up a Pipeline?
Not directly. The game is not an adaptation of Andreas Malm's book or its film version. Bille cited the film as a thematic parallel to illustrate the kind of cultural reaction the studio anticipates, not as a source material (PC Gamer, May 2026).
What platforms will All Will Rise release on?
Platform details have not been confirmed beyond PC. Given the studio's demonstrated willingness to return Microsoft funding, an Xbox Game Pass release appears unlikely in its current form.
