Compound Interest is a real-time strategy and management simulation set in New Sterling, a city rebuilding after a mysterious event called Pure Noise wiped out satellites, networks, and modern electronics.
You lead one of the factions competing for a place in the city’s new order. Start with small jobs, build cash flow and reputation, recruit and equip crews, protect local businesses, trade scarce goods, and decide which people and factions you are willing to help—or cross.
The playable demo is available on Steam, with the full release planned for September 2026.
A city that keeps moving
New Sterling is designed as a simulation rather than a static mission map. Citizens, crews, factions, and producers follow their own routines and intentions. Information matters: a lookout can reveal an opportunity, a rival’s movement can set up an ambush, and a relationship with the right producer can open a profitable trade.
The core systems include:
- Crew management: recruit people with different skills, assemble teams, maintain morale and health, and give each job the right mix of people and equipment.
- Territory and reputation: establish a foothold across eight districts, protect businesses, contend with rival factions, and live with the consequences of who you support.
- A simulated economy: earn steady protection money, buy and sell medicine, booze, electronics, and other scarce goods, and negotiate exchanges that can turn hostile.
- Authored stories inside a living system: send crews into the city to discover the strange people and stories of the post-digital world while the wider simulation continues around them.
Development
Compound Interest is built in Rust on a custom engine. The same simulation runs in the native desktop client and in a bounded headless mode used for automated testing and analysis. The client uses wgpu for rendering and a compact, custom interface designed around the game’s isometric city.
I work on code, graphics, design, and simulation. Marshall Marcero is the lead writer and producer, shaping New Sterling’s characters and stories.
More development notes will live in this section as the game moves toward release. For trailers, screenshots, and the full factsheet, visit compoundinterest.evrim.zone.