deceptively cute at the start, but by the time i got stephen's medical report the terror started to set in. it's straightforward enough to not need the walkthrough but i used it extensively precisely bc i was scared. especially when the leaftaker mentions started up, and then the blog changing, like oooh title drop. i wonder which juror the original stephen took over? i was way too scared to try to hunt down the extra things lmao
the moment mc said "it's come loose" I got chills.
When he pulled out whatever that sharp object was my hand shot up to hide my screen I was so scared. I still don't know what happens after because I'm too scared. I'll come back to the game in the morning, since playing it alone at night is probably making it way scarier.
sidenote, why does Yvonne... act like that? She seems to know way too much and in hindsight seems to be trying to pick at the mc and get them to realize what's up? She scares me.
Oh. OH! I h a t e d that. This creeped me out way too much lol. You are effective storytellers…
(ROT13:)
Rira gubhtu V ernq gur fcbvyre jneavatf, gur negvpyrf/ercbegf punatvat fgvyy ernyyl sernxrq zr bhg. Vs lbh qba'g zvaq zr nfxvat, jung rknpgyl gevttref gur punatr? V jnf zrffvat nebhaq va n frpbaq cynlguebhtu naq bayl fnj gur punatrq irefvba bs gur zvenpyr fbyr fheivibe negvpyr
Gur obff xabpxvat ba gur qbbe fpnerq gur fuvg bhg bs zr, naq gur grkg nsgre 15 frnepurf znqr zr jnag gb guebj hc.
Subtlety truly is an underappreciated element of art. I’ll be checking out your other games, just uhm… during the day. Why does the base of my head actually hurt??
The text changes. Most of the scare is in the buildup, so I do recommend doing it yourself (the count might be off so don’t copy paste rapid fire or you might miss it)
If you are still reluctant:
Gur frnepu punatrf gb fnl "lbh srry vg pbzvat ybbfr, qba'g lbh?" V nppvqragyl oynfgrq guebhtu, fb V bayl fnj "lbh srry vg pbzvat" gur svefg gvzr yby
I loved this game so much! Although i did have trouble figuring out how to call the hospital, i had to look for it in a walkthrough. Overall, it's an amazing game!
Duuuude I started texting my partner like crazy about how the leafetaker had cauth us and we were going to be the next victime at the begining sounding like I had just losen my mind just to be hit with this. This was such an amazing experience I love games like this so muuuuch
I completed everything in the game, I even submitted the name for the John Doe, but when I clicked all three pieces of evidence and hit the “submit” at the bottom nothing happened. I’ve tried hitting the enter key, I’ve tried hitting “submit” in the upper right corner, I’ve tried hitting all three evidences in every possible order, I’ve triple-checked the walkthrough to confirm I had the right answer (which I did), and still the game won’t end. After spending an extra hour experimenting with full screen and not full screen, I’ve decided to give up and watch someone else beat the game. I’m not sure if this is a browser bug or user error, but if I haven’t been able to beat the game by now, I have to assume I never will.
It seems to be broken on Chrome/Linux, I can't type into any of the text fields. If i'm really fast I can get one letter in, but after that it refuses any input other than Backspace
Oh this is so cool!! I expected a very simple realistic detective game and had a fantastic time with what I got instead. Really loved the moment I realised what was up with the title. Great job 👌
Oh man, I started playing this game completely blind, and I had no clue this was a horror game! Genuinely felt so creeped out when I DID realize. I had to take a break from how scared I was LOL.
Also, I KNEW this was inspired by the Magnus Archives!! This was so Stranger-coded. I already liked the style and gameplay when I thought this was just a regular murder mystery game. So when the spooky supernatural stuff came up I was absolutely HOOKED in. I gotta admit though I did use the walkthrough since I’m kinda a dummy. I managed to get most of the evidence by myself, but I don’t think I would ever connect the final parts. Even until now I kinda don’t get the full picture.
Typing out sequence of events in rot13 because it's still confusing:
Tbvat bss bs gur gnt tnzr'f ehyrf va gur pyhr naq gur Yrns-gnxre'f novyvgl ba gur jrofvgr: Vs Wbua gntf Wnar, Wnar orpbzrf [Wbua], naq vs [Wbua] gntf Wvyy, Wvyy orpbzrf [Wnar]; naq gur Yrns-gnxre pna pbaivapr crbcyr gung vg vf gur crefba gung vg xvyyrq.
V guvax gur vpr cvpx vf ubj gur zbafgre cbffrffrf crbcyr, naq jura vg'f pheerag obql qvrf vg znxrf gung obql "gnt" nabgure crefba, cnffvat gur vpr cvpx nybat.
Fgrcura cnffrq uvf vpr cvpx gb Pnfrl juvyr qlvat va gur nppvqrag (nsgre gur gehpx penfu, "Fgrcura" unq zrzbevrf bs qevivat gur gehpx naq "Pnfrl" jnf gur fbyr fheivibe va gur ynfg iruvpyr gung penfurq vagb gur gehpx) - fb Pnfrl orpnzr [Fgrcura] - Pnfrl'f obql gbbx bire Fgrcura'f yvsr, pbasvezrq ol gur jbhaq va Wbua Qbr'f urnq, [Fgrcura] tbvat ba n 10 zbagu ohfvarff gevc (culfvbgurencl) naq gur harkcynvarq evtug nez vawhel. Jura [Fgrcura] sryy juvyr enxvat yrnirf, [Fgrcura] cnffrq gur vpr cvpx gb Zr, fb V orpnzr [Pnfrl] - jubfr nofrapr jnf rkcynvarq ol erpbirel.
In my initial playthrough I typed Unknown for the last identifier of who Stephen was, because I thought the option existed for a reason. Even though the arm injuries were suspicious, the rules were confusing until I wrote them down. They're still confusing ngl! I played through again to test my new theory and WOW, chills! Loved this game!
Your comment made me realize I had missed SOO much of the game. Even if I hadn't found all of the evidence I felt pretty done and that I had figured it out, my thoughts were:
V gubhtug Yberggn Urfgre jnf tbvat gb ghea bhg gb or gur bar univat zrzbel vffhrf nf jura lbh nfx ure nobhg gur Pbhegubhfr fur nqzvgf gb abg erzrzorevat gung fur jnf gur bar jub qebir ure gurer, abg gur bgure jnl nebhaq. Naq gung ure zrzbel ybff znqr ure nppvqragnyyl tnfyvtug ure uhfonaq vagb guvaxvat gung ur jnf gur bar jvgu zrzbel ybff nf fur xrcg gryyvat uvz 'lbh arire qvq gung/gung arire unccrarq'.
Nqqvgvbanyyl Fgrcura Urfgre nyfb unq n oveguznex - juvpu lbh pna nfx Yberggn nobhg, naq rira trg n cvpgher bs. (Gubhtu V'z abg ragveryl fher vg zngpurf gur qrfpevcgvba bs Wbua Qbr'f oveguznex)
Gurer'f nyfb gur snpg gung Wbua Qbr'f naq Fgrcura Urfgre'f nhgbcfvrf ner irel fvzvyne. Gur bowrpg xvyyvat Wbua Qbr pbhyq irel jryy unir orra gur enxr ur jnf hfvat ng gur gvzr bs uvf qrngu.
I absolutely loved the story and core mystery. The game could use some QoL upgrades to make the experience less frustrating, though.
Question with spoilers:
Where are you supposed to find the full name of the hospital in order to make the phone call? I could not find anywhere that it's called Whitebrook general hospital, and eventually had to watch a playthrough to get there.
answer in rot13: jura lbh nfx yberggn nobhg fgrcura, fur gryyf lbh gb trg uvf zrqvpny erpbeqf ol pnyyvat juvgroebbx trareny ubfcvgny.
its so easy to miss stuff in this game istg, i got stuck at the very beginning because my brain refused to see the third location name that popped up the FIRST time i searched something up
I like the game so far, but the page keeps crashing and reloading on me :(. I've tried to play 3 times now, but I can't seem to play for longer than an hour. I'm going to try again some time in the future because I am interested in finishing the story, but restarting so many times in a row is frustrating.
I understand the purpose of this as a gameplay mechanic, but it does stink when the restart is unintentional.
Unfortunately you might have better luck downloading the game, but you can skip through most of the dialogue by holding down CTRL, but that might end up causing other problems with the phone
I want to like this, but so far it's just too opaque. The first thing that threw me was the fact that there is no actual phone book, despite the explicit description that there is. That is misleading at best and it took me far too long to just try entering a name to call, especially when there were hints by the computer about copying and pasting information, and that doesn't work either.
The gathering information by searching is sort of Roottrees-like, but also much more opaque. No words are highlighted, so it's difficult to know what's important and what isn't. Out of dozens of queries I tried, only a handful yielded any response at all, most of which were just general information, like the definition of "Jane Doe" or the location of the occipital bone, which I already know. Tell me something I don't know! That's why I'm searching.
And the reports give very little information to even work with, so they're not very realistic. Who was the coroner who did the autopsy? When was it done? What newspaper published the article about the incident? Who was the mother? We're not told, and so there's nothing to dig into as far as searching for information. I have searched for every content term I can find, and I have searched for and tried to call every proper name I've seen (all four of them), and I've only come up with a blank wall of opaqueness after talking to only two people.
Clearly I've missed something along the way, but it's hard to see where since I've read through the reports so many times. I did glance at the walkthrough, but the very first item mentions something I've not even seen and have no idea how to get, so in the interest of avoiding spoilers, I didn't read much farther. I think it needs a little more detail to be helpful, especially for someone stuck early on. What comes before that first item? How do you get it?
Spoilers on the two calls I was able to make:
-Silverleaf Cemetery (received the report on funeral photos)
-Loretta Hester (but she wouldn't tell me anything further about the autopsy or the death or the funeral)
Spoilers on some additional names I tried to call that got me nowhere:
Hello! Quick question: where did you get the name Willowbrook from? The town's name is Whitebrook and I need to make sure I didn't make a typo anywhere.
Sorry! My mistake, it probably is Whitebrook everywhere and I typed it wrong when I was compiling my comment. I will double check later when I'm not on mobile. I did try the terms without the town name too. (Game loads just fine on mobile and I can view documents, but the typing doesn't send letters to the entry field, so I can't actually play. I was warned it wasn't meant for this kind of device though.)
I confirm, everywhere I would have gotten it from, it says Whitebrook, so that was just my mistake. (There are other typos I've seen, but that's not one of them.) Either way, though, those terms I tried didn't work.
The second item in the walkthrough did help a little, and I managed to get one more thing, but that didn't really lead to anything else that I can see.
Minor spoiler on what I tried next:
I did notice that the courthouse was mentioned in the town search result, and there's even an explicit hint that I can call it, but no variation of "courthouse" or "Whitebrook Courthouse" that I tried works to make a call, so I am again puzzled by what the game seems to want me to do vs what it will actually let me do.
Thanks, I eventually found the source that gave me the full name. But I think you can see by now how I'm getting tripped up by trying to follow the clues I have. There's a disconnect between different sources, and there's just no way to know that you haven't found the exact right information except that you're stuck. So many relevant queries/attempts just return absolutely nothing and give no indication of why.
At this point, I have finished the game, so I know what you were going for, and the tone by the end is quite effective. But it could be even better with more proofreading and playtesting.
Even with the "walkthrough" I struggled, because sometimes I had no idea what specific thing I was missing or hadn't tried. A walkthrough should include all the specific actions needed to complete the game, not just ask vague questions about what the player has considered. Those are just hints. Hints are good, and there were times when they were helpful, but that's not really a walkthrough.
I really enjoyed this game, thank you for making it! The one issue I had though was thinking that the submit screen was bugged, because hitting submit cleared all the fields. I had to watch the start of someone's playthrough on youtube because I forgot the instructions that the boss gave at the beginning about the fields clearing if there was an incorrect entry. Having that info on the submit screen would be helpful for people with poor memories :)
I don't know how to describe what it reminds me of without spoilers so:
----
It's scary not because of what happens, exactly, although that is scary! But also because of the way you learn things -- it's almost the scariest when it doesn't tell you something, so by putting together the pieces, you're realizing something and filling in the gaps. There were a couple of moments that gave me a genuine shiver.
The gameplay and plot reminds me of The Roottrees are Dead crossed with Stephen King's The Outsider (without being derivative or anything!)
I enjoyed this one! I loved the way things get recontextualized as you play.
I don't know what your plans are for the future but I would love to see this game expanded with QoL features and a bit more story. :) Or maybe something similar. Great job, especially for a quick game jam game.
You can if its text youve written in the entry field, but otherwise i wasnt able to figure out how to do it in code. It was mostly supposed to show that the main character was bad at computers, sorry for the confusion
What am i missing? i cant find the phonebook. if i try clicking around below the desk, it just opens one of the 3 items (normally the computer). this means i cant call the courthouse to even start investigating!
I don't think someone politely opening a door has ever made me jump so hard before!
Spoilers as i try to think something through I caught pretty quick, with the funeral photo, that "casey" was likely the killer
So the leaf-taker, already wearing casey's body, killed stephen.
then the leaf-taker abandons casey's body, to take another body while wearing casey's personality.
now it is supposedly going to take the bosses bosy while leaving some unknown 3rd persons corpse?
I guess im just wondering of im getting the way identity versus body shifts right. first body, then identity?
so now the body of "casey" (some third person) will be found while..... this 3rd person will be who people see but really its the body of the boss?
but that can't be right because then the boss will be "missing" to everyone else and the thing is the leaf-taker doesn't leave "missing" it leaves "extra"
im misunderstanding something somewhere
Edit: did the leaver-taker replace him way earlier??? Because if the body in the third row was the corpse, then the body of the real stephen was being puppeted before then as another person. But no, because that would make two phoney steohans as one is the body of him and one the performance.
How did i already know the body and killer in the first 5 minutes but the actual function of it is still turning me around???? (This is a positive thing and in enjoying it)
The phone keeps glitching!!! I already played two times, or rather tried, because suddenly the phone gives up on me and it stays up as if I were using it, when I'm not, and I can't access it anymore to call people and finish my investigation... I was making good progress!! With the lack of saving available, each time I have to start again after playing for over an hour or two, because of a glitch that is not my fault!!
I think I might know what the issue is. If you are using the space bar to advance the dialogue it will dismiss the lower text box, but you still need to click on the upper box so the | is showing and hit [ENTER] on the keyboard when its blank to dismiss it as well. I'll make sure to put a note on the page in case anyone else has this problem
This was truly a fun experience, it had me peering over my shoulders every now and then with texts alone! I recommend getting ready to take notes while you play, it really adds to the immersion. Found myself stuck midway so having a walkthrough was also incredibly helpful as it allowed me to play through the game fully.
I had a fantastic time playing this game, even if it took me far too long to fully complete it. Caution! My video is a full playthrough, so it contains SPOILERS!
Thank you so much for playing! Your video's really helpful, since turns out I missed a couple lines of code which is why it was so frustrating talking to the widow. Several of the conversations simply did not trigger for you when they should have. (I absolutely just guessed on the time it would take to finish, most people ended up taking 1-2 hours)
I love this! My main gripe with the game right now is that I have no way of remembering who I've talked to, what I've asked people about, or what I've searched in the computer. Some sort of log of these things would be great. It made it easy to get stuck in a loop of wondering what I have and haven't looked into, which could get frustrating at times. Still, overall, it was super fleshed out, especially for the time allowed by the jam!
I just can't get the phone to work :( When I press enter, it just reloads the "the phone book under the desk has all the numbers I need (..)" text. I've tried downloading the game but it hasn't solved anything. Am I missing something?
The phone name is case sensitive, you need to make sure to capitalize the first and last name of the person you are calling, or the name of the place. E.g. If you want to call the cemetery, it must be Silverleaf Cemetery, not silverleaf cemetery
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deceptively cute at the start, but by the time i got stephen's medical report the terror started to set in. it's straightforward enough to not need the walkthrough but i used it extensively precisely bc i was scared. especially when the leaftaker mentions started up, and then the blog changing, like oooh title drop. i wonder which juror the original stephen took over? i was way too scared to try to hunt down the extra things lmao
great job!
spoiler below
the moment mc said "it's come loose" I got chills.
When he pulled out whatever that sharp object was my hand shot up to hide my screen I was so scared. I still don't know what happens after because I'm too scared. I'll come back to the game in the morning, since playing it alone at night is probably making it way scarier.
sidenote, why does Yvonne... act like that? She seems to know way too much and in hindsight seems to be trying to pick at the mc and get them to realize what's up? She scares me.
I forgot Yvonne's full name, can someone remind me?
edit. I found it. for anyone else, it's Sandra Yvonne
Oh. OH! I h a t e d that. This creeped me out way too much lol. You are effective storytellers…
(ROT13:)
Rira gubhtu V ernq gur fcbvyre jneavatf, gur negvpyrf/ercbegf punatvat fgvyy ernyyl sernxrq zr bhg. Vs lbh qba'g zvaq zr nfxvat, jung rknpgyl gevttref gur punatr? V jnf zrffvat nebhaq va n frpbaq cynlguebhtu naq bayl fnj gur punatrq irefvba bs gur zvenpyr fbyr fheivibe negvpyr
Gur obff xabpxvat ba gur qbbe fpnerq gur fuvg bhg bs zr, naq gur grkg nsgre 15 frnepurf znqr zr jnag gb guebj hc.
Subtlety truly is an underappreciated element of art. I’ll be checking out your other games, just uhm… during the day.
Why does the base of my head actually hurt??Hello!
Urer ner nyy gur punatrf gung gnxr cynpr:
Uvpxbel'f Pbairefngvba -> Lbh'er Vg
Libaar'f Pbairefngvba -> Libaar'f Oybt (Gurer vf ab geniry fvgr ;) )
Libaar'f Oybt I2 -> Shareny Cubgbf
Pnfrl'f Zrqvpny Ercbeg -> Zvenpyr Fheivibe Negvpyr & Urfgre'f Nhgbcfl Ercbeg
Urfgre'f Zrqvpny Ercbeg -> Yberggn Whel Qhgl Pbaib
Gur tnzr'f n yvggyr ybbfr nobhg jung beqre lbh pna svaq guvatf, fb vg vf cbffvoyr gb unir n cvrpr bs rivqrapr punatr orsber lbh ybbx ng vg vavgvnyyl. Gurer'f npghnyyl 3 qvssrerag inevngvbaf bs gur whel qhgl pbairefngvba qrcraqvat ba vs lbh unir nfxrq vg orsber, be vs lbh unir ybbxrq ng gur zrqvpny erpbeqf.
That’s really cool! Thank you for replying
pray tell please? i was too scared to do it. did you also do the take leaver one?
The text changes. Most of the scare is in the buildup, so I do recommend doing it yourself (the count might be off so don’t copy paste rapid fire or you might miss it)
If you are still reluctant:
Gur frnepu punatrf gb fnl "lbh srry vg pbzvat ybbfr, qba'g lbh?" V nppvqragyl oynfgrq guebhtu, fb V bayl fnj "lbh srry vg pbzvat" gur svefg gvzr yby
lmao, that changes the tone entirely XD thanks, not as bad as i feared. i think the game looking so cozy made it more unsettling for me XD
This is incredible! I love the concept, and the fact that the majority of the game was made in a week is beyond impressive!
oh my GOSHHHH BRO THIS WAS INSANELY GOOD. I ENJOYED SEARCHING AND SOLVING THE MYSTERY A LOT, ABSOLUTE CINEMA
Featured in this week's Weekend Games :D
I feel kinda dumb. How do I pull up the phone book from under the desk?
EDIT: Never mind, I read your comment from earlier.
(very small spoiler)
I loved this game so much! Although i did have trouble figuring out how to call the hospital, i had to look for it in a walkthrough. Overall, it's an amazing game!
How do I access the phone book??
Hello! There isn't one, the current versions have be updated to reflect this. Sorry for the inconvenience.
no worries, thanks for clarifying
i cant exit or turn on the computre
I'm so sorry about that, it should be fixed now!
SPOILER HERE
Duuuude I started texting my partner like crazy about how the leafetaker had cauth us and we were going to be the next victime at the begining sounding like I had just losen my mind just to be hit with this. This was such an amazing experience I love games like this so muuuuch
That was so creepy!! Great game
I completed everything in the game, I even submitted the name for the John Doe, but when I clicked all three pieces of evidence and hit the “submit” at the bottom nothing happened. I’ve tried hitting the enter key, I’ve tried hitting “submit” in the upper right corner, I’ve tried hitting all three evidences in every possible order, I’ve triple-checked the walkthrough to confirm I had the right answer (which I did), and still the game won’t end. After spending an extra hour experimenting with full screen and not full screen, I’ve decided to give up and watch someone else beat the game. I’m not sure if this is a browser bug or user error, but if I haven’t been able to beat the game by now, I have to assume I never will.
Super fun.
Loved this! Had to stop halfway through because it was genuinely creeping me out. Would love some music/way to save the game. Otherwise 10/10
It seems to be broken on Chrome/Linux, I can't type into any of the text fields. If i'm really fast I can get one letter in, but after that it refuses any input other than Backspace
Oh this is so cool!! I expected a very simple realistic detective game and had a fantastic time with what I got instead. Really loved the moment I realised what was up with the title. Great job 👌
*Probably Spoilers*
Oh man, I started playing this game completely blind, and I had no clue this was a horror game! Genuinely felt so creeped out when I DID realize. I had to take a break from how scared I was LOL.
Also, I KNEW this was inspired by the Magnus Archives!! This was so Stranger-coded.
I already liked the style and gameplay when I thought this was just a regular murder mystery game. So when the spooky supernatural stuff came up I was absolutely HOOKED in.
I gotta admit though I did use the walkthrough since I’m kinda a dummy. I managed to get most of the evidence by myself, but I don’t think I would ever connect the final parts. Even until now I kinda don’t get the full picture.
So fun, gave me goosebumps!
Typing out sequence of events in rot13 because it's still confusing:
Tbvat bss bs gur gnt tnzr'f ehyrf va gur pyhr naq gur Yrns-gnxre'f novyvgl ba gur jrofvgr: Vs Wbua gntf Wnar, Wnar orpbzrf [Wbua], naq vs [Wbua] gntf Wvyy, Wvyy orpbzrf [Wnar]; naq gur Yrns-gnxre pna pbaivapr crbcyr gung vg vf gur crefba gung vg xvyyrq.
V guvax gur vpr cvpx vf ubj gur zbafgre cbffrffrf crbcyr, naq jura vg'f pheerag obql qvrf vg znxrf gung obql "gnt" nabgure crefba, cnffvat gur vpr cvpx nybat.
Fgrcura cnffrq uvf vpr cvpx gb Pnfrl juvyr qlvat va gur nppvqrag (nsgre gur gehpx penfu, "Fgrcura" unq zrzbevrf bs qevivat gur gehpx naq "Pnfrl" jnf gur fbyr fheivibe va gur ynfg iruvpyr gung penfurq vagb gur gehpx) - fb Pnfrl orpnzr [Fgrcura] - Pnfrl'f obql gbbx bire Fgrcura'f yvsr, pbasvezrq ol gur jbhaq va Wbua Qbr'f urnq, [Fgrcura] tbvat ba n 10 zbagu ohfvarff gevc (culfvbgurencl) naq gur harkcynvarq evtug nez vawhel. Jura [Fgrcura] sryy juvyr enxvat yrnirf, [Fgrcura] cnffrq gur vpr cvpx gb Zr, fb V orpnzr [Pnfrl] - jubfr nofrapr jnf rkcynvarq ol erpbirel.
Fgrcura gntf Pnfrl, Pnfrl orpbzrf [Fgrcura], [Fgrcura] gntf Zr, V orpbzr [Pnfrl]. Gnt = gbbx na vpr cvpx bhg bs bja urnq naq qebir vg vagb fbzrbar ryfr'f urnq.
In my initial playthrough I typed Unknown for the last identifier of who Stephen was, because I thought the option existed for a reason. Even though the arm injuries were suspicious, the rules were confusing until I wrote them down. They're still confusing ngl! I played through again to test my new theory and WOW, chills! Loved this game!
Your comment made me realize I had missed SOO much of the game. Even if I hadn't found all of the evidence I felt pretty done and that I had figured it out, my thoughts were:
V gubhtug Yberggn Urfgre jnf tbvat gb ghea bhg gb or gur bar univat zrzbel vffhrf nf jura lbh nfx ure nobhg gur Pbhegubhfr fur nqzvgf gb abg erzrzorevat gung fur jnf gur bar jub qebir ure gurer, abg gur bgure jnl nebhaq. Naq gung ure zrzbel ybff znqr ure nppvqragnyyl tnfyvtug ure uhfonaq vagb guvaxvat gung ur jnf gur bar jvgu zrzbel ybff nf fur xrcg gryyvat uvz 'lbh arire qvq gung/gung arire unccrarq'.
Nqqvgvbanyyl Fgrcura Urfgre nyfb unq n oveguznex - juvpu lbh pna nfx Yberggn nobhg, naq rira trg n cvpgher bs. (Gubhtu V'z abg ragveryl fher vg zngpurf gur qrfpevcgvba bs Wbua Qbr'f oveguznex)
Gurer'f nyfb gur snpg gung Wbua Qbr'f naq Fgrcura Urfgre'f nhgbcfvrf ner irel fvzvyne. Gur bowrpg xvyyvat Wbua Qbr pbhyq irel jryy unir orra gur enxr ur jnf hfvat ng gur gvzr bs uvf qrngu.
woah this really gave my brain a workout lmaooo loved the game!!
I absolutely loved the story and core mystery. The game could use some QoL upgrades to make the experience less frustrating, though.
Question with spoilers:
Where are you supposed to find the full name of the hospital in order to make the phone call? I could not find anywhere that it's called Whitebrook general hospital, and eventually had to watch a playthrough to get there.
answer in rot13: jura lbh nfx yberggn nobhg fgrcura, fur gryyf lbh gb trg uvf zrqvpny erpbeqf ol pnyyvat juvgroebbx trareny ubfcvgny.
its so easy to miss stuff in this game istg, i got stuck at the very beginning because my brain refused to see the third location name that popped up the FIRST time i searched something up
I like the game so far, but the page keeps crashing and reloading on me :(. I've tried to play 3 times now, but I can't seem to play for longer than an hour. I'm going to try again some time in the future because I am interested in finishing the story, but restarting so many times in a row is frustrating.
I understand the purpose of this as a gameplay mechanic, but it does stink when the restart is unintentional.
Does it keep crashing in the same spot for you?
Unfortunately you might have better luck downloading the game, but you can skip through most of the dialogue by holding down CTRL, but that might end up causing other problems with the phone
I want to like this, but so far it's just too opaque. The first thing that threw me was the fact that there is no actual phone book, despite the explicit description that there is. That is misleading at best and it took me far too long to just try entering a name to call, especially when there were hints by the computer about copying and pasting information, and that doesn't work either.
The gathering information by searching is sort of Roottrees-like, but also much more opaque. No words are highlighted, so it's difficult to know what's important and what isn't. Out of dozens of queries I tried, only a handful yielded any response at all, most of which were just general information, like the definition of "Jane Doe" or the location of the occipital bone, which I already know. Tell me something I don't know! That's why I'm searching.
And the reports give very little information to even work with, so they're not very realistic. Who was the coroner who did the autopsy? When was it done? What newspaper published the article about the incident? Who was the mother? We're not told, and so there's nothing to dig into as far as searching for information. I have searched for every content term I can find, and I have searched for and tried to call every proper name I've seen (all four of them), and I've only come up with a blank wall of opaqueness after talking to only two people.
Clearly I've missed something along the way, but it's hard to see where since I've read through the reports so many times. I did glance at the walkthrough, but the very first item mentions something I've not even seen and have no idea how to get, so in the interest of avoiding spoilers, I didn't read much farther. I think it needs a little more detail to be helpful, especially for someone stuck early on. What comes before that first item? How do you get it?
Spoilers on the two calls I was able to make:
-Silverleaf Cemetery (received the report on funeral photos)
-Loretta Hester (but she wouldn't tell me anything further about the autopsy or the death or the funeral)
Spoilers on some additional names I tried to call that got me nowhere:
-Police Station
-Willowbrook Police (Station)
-Willowbrook Coroner
-Examiner
-Boss
Hello! Quick question: where did you get the name Willowbrook from? The town's name is Whitebrook and I need to make sure I didn't make a typo anywhere.
Sorry! My mistake, it probably is Whitebrook everywhere and I typed it wrong when I was compiling my comment. I will double check later when I'm not on mobile. I did try the terms without the town name too. (Game loads just fine on mobile and I can view documents, but the typing doesn't send letters to the entry field, so I can't actually play. I was warned it wasn't meant for this kind of device though.)
I confirm, everywhere I would have gotten it from, it says Whitebrook, so that was just my mistake. (There are other typos I've seen, but that's not one of them.) Either way, though, those terms I tried didn't work.
The second item in the walkthrough did help a little, and I managed to get one more thing, but that didn't really lead to anything else that I can see.
Minor spoiler on what I tried next:
I did notice that the courthouse was mentioned in the town search result, and there's even an explicit hint that I can call it, but no variation of "courthouse" or "Whitebrook Courthouse" that I tried works to make a call, so I am again puzzled by what the game seems to want me to do vs what it will actually let me do.
Did you try the full name of the courthouse? Its: Juvgroebbx Pbhagl Pbhegubhfr (ROT13)
Thanks, I eventually found the source that gave me the full name. But I think you can see by now how I'm getting tripped up by trying to follow the clues I have. There's a disconnect between different sources, and there's just no way to know that you haven't found the exact right information except that you're stuck. So many relevant queries/attempts just return absolutely nothing and give no indication of why.
At this point, I have finished the game, so I know what you were going for, and the tone by the end is quite effective. But it could be even better with more proofreading and playtesting.
Even with the "walkthrough" I struggled, because sometimes I had no idea what specific thing I was missing or hadn't tried. A walkthrough should include all the specific actions needed to complete the game, not just ask vague questions about what the player has considered. Those are just hints. Hints are good, and there were times when they were helpful, but that's not really a walkthrough.
I really enjoyed this game, thank you for making it! The one issue I had though was thinking that the submit screen was bugged, because hitting submit cleared all the fields. I had to watch the start of someone's playthrough on youtube because I forgot the instructions that the boss gave at the beginning about the fields clearing if there was an incorrect entry. Having that info on the submit screen would be helpful for people with poor memories :)
This is great! I love deduction games and this was very interesting.
I thought it was cool how the text changes as you slowly figure out what's really going on.
Is there an actual phone book that I can open?
Six amateur coders and an artist hammering out multiple free bangers
This is really really good!
I don't know how to describe what it reminds me of without spoilers so:
----
It's scary not because of what happens, exactly, although that is scary! But also because of the way you learn things -- it's almost the scariest when it doesn't tell you something, so by putting together the pieces, you're realizing something and filling in the gaps. There were a couple of moments that gave me a genuine shiver.
The gameplay and plot reminds me of The Roottrees are Dead crossed with Stephen King's The Outsider (without being derivative or anything!)
I enjoyed this one! I loved the way things get recontextualized as you play.
I don't know what your plans are for the future but I would love to see this game expanded with QoL features and a bit more story. :) Or maybe something similar. Great job, especially for a quick game jam game.
it is telling me to ctrll c and v but i cant select text is this right?
You can if its text youve written in the entry field, but otherwise i wasnt able to figure out how to do it in code. It was mostly supposed to show that the main character was bad at computers, sorry for the confusion
thanks :D
What am i missing? i cant find the phonebook. if i try clicking around below the desk, it just opens one of the 3 items (normally the computer). this means i cant call the courthouse to even start investigating!
You dont need it! Just click on the phone and type in the name of the person/place you want to call in the text field and it will call them
I don't think someone politely opening a door has ever made me jump so hard before!
Spoilers as i try to think something through
I caught pretty quick, with the funeral photo, that "casey" was likely the killer
So the leaf-taker, already wearing casey's body, killed stephen.
then the leaf-taker abandons casey's body, to take another body while wearing casey's personality.
now it is supposedly going to take the bosses bosy while leaving some unknown 3rd persons corpse?
I guess im just wondering of im getting the way identity versus body shifts right. first body, then identity?
so now the body of "casey" (some third person) will be found while..... this 3rd person will be who people see but really its the body of the boss?
but that can't be right because then the boss will be "missing" to everyone else and the thing is the leaf-taker doesn't leave "missing" it leaves "extra"
im misunderstanding something somewhere
Edit: did the leaver-taker replace him way earlier??? Because if the body in the third row was the corpse, then the body of the real stephen was being puppeted before then as another person. But no, because that would make two phoney steohans as one is the body of him and one the performance.
How did i already know the body and killer in the first 5 minutes but the actual function of it is still turning me around???? (This is a positive thing and in enjoying it)
The phone keeps glitching!!!
I already played two times, or rather tried, because suddenly the phone gives up on me and it stays up as if I were using it, when I'm not, and I can't access it anymore to call people and finish my investigation...
I was making good progress!!
With the lack of saving available, each time I have to start again after playing for over an hour or two, because of a glitch that is not my fault!!
I think I might know what the issue is. If you are using the space bar to advance the dialogue it will dismiss the lower text box, but you still need to click on the upper box so the | is showing and hit [ENTER] on the keyboard when its blank to dismiss it as well. I'll make sure to put a note on the page in case anyone else has this problem
Almost two hours into this game, only to find out....the answer was in front of me...this whole time...
que jogo bom!!!
This was truly a fun experience, it had me peering over my shoulders every now and then with texts alone! I recommend getting ready to take notes while you play, it really adds to the immersion. Found myself stuck midway so having a walkthrough was also incredibly helpful as it allowed me to play through the game fully.
I had a fantastic time playing this game, even if it took me far too long to fully complete it. Caution! My video is a full playthrough, so it contains SPOILERS!
Thank you so much for playing! Your video's really helpful, since turns out I missed a couple lines of code which is why it was so frustrating talking to the widow. Several of the conversations simply did not trigger for you when they should have. (I absolutely just guessed on the time it would take to finish, most people ended up taking 1-2 hours)
your video really help me out, thankssss
I love this! My main gripe with the game right now is that I have no way of remembering who I've talked to, what I've asked people about, or what I've searched in the computer. Some sort of log of these things would be great. It made it easy to get stuck in a loop of wondering what I have and haven't looked into, which could get frustrating at times. Still, overall, it was super fleshed out, especially for the time allowed by the jam!
I just can't get the phone to work :( When I press enter, it just reloads the "the phone book under the desk has all the numbers I need (..)" text. I've tried downloading the game but it hasn't solved anything. Am I missing something?
The phone name is case sensitive, you need to make sure to capitalize the first and last name of the person you are calling, or the name of the place. E.g. If you want to call the cemetery, it must be Silverleaf Cemetery, not silverleaf cemetery