ZA/UM have a shiny green-gold bust of Lenin in pride of place on the mantle, which I feel compelled to ask about. Kurvitz jokes that it came cheap ("There was a big sale on Lenin statues after the fall of the Soviet Union") but admits they are probably atypical amongst Eastern European intellectuals.

"I guess my favourite thing I like to say about this is that for me it's just a wholesome tradition. It's about loyalty, it's about the country where I was born," he says. "This is how I was raised, this was who I was told to follow, and I would be a naughty revolutionary, kind of an edgy rebel, if I wouldn't have Lenin on my writing desk." This particular Lenin belonged, he tells me, to Juhan Smuul, a famous, Soviet era Estonian author, so he feels it has a historical connection from him, an Estonian author and writer, to another.

Kurvitz does say that there are aspects of Disco Elysium he considers "essentially Soviet", referencing the Soviet science fiction tradition and the Brothers Strugatsky (who adapted their own novel for the film Stalker's screenplay, which, almost 30 years later, inspired a video game). Kurvitz describes Soviet sci fi as realist, strange and slightly beautiful, but with lofty ideals.

"They were people who took responsibility for the heat death of the universe," he explains. "When they were writing books, this needed to contribute to the ultimate fate of the universe. Because they didn't have money obligations, so what are your obligations then? So this kind of serious responsibility for, what the fuck does a piece of entertainment really do to the human mind, and what are the responsibilities therein, that I think is very, very, very prevalent in Disco Elysium."

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/disco-elysiums-developers-are-in-a-bloody-battle-for-the-human-mind