OMG. What an amazing mystery! I loved every bit of it despite not being able to completely piece everything together without the help of the comments. Sadly, I do have one FINAL please for help. Please skip down below to the question ONLY if you have completed the game.
*SPOILERS START HERE*
I have 95 files and I am desperate to find the last one. I assume it has to be a file in 00 because Annie at one points mentions there were 4 bodies on the first day. Unfortunately, I am totally clueless as to who the person is and where they could be located. I do have the scene with Kathering at WI, John in the EN so I should have most of it. As a small aside, am I meant to learn anything more about the @ person? I know very little other than the descriptions they give in the story about the characters or the name in the "From" section of our email. Thank you in advance for your help. PS. Files 21-LI-1-2-4 and 23-CH-1-2 have a (1) next to them. The former is why I assumed there was a fourth body.
You're missing the first body discovered, who wasn't actually dead yet at the time John arrived. If you think about the characters missing and the cues for death times you can probably figure out who it is and when they died.
It could be that I am just mentally exhausted, but any chance you could give me a slightly bigger push. I guess I am having trouble accounting for a few things.
*Spoilers below so please do not expand this reply unless you are comfortable with spoilers!*
Is there in fact 13 people? If so, does this last person have a number or a letter as in the name of another person? Are they a male or a female? And I failed to mention this but I do not in fact have a 00 scene. The instructions state Act I goes from 00 to X number although I had always assumed there was an 00 fairly early on. I think those things could really help me.
This is a bit of an aside but I do hope the developer creates a Discord or something for any future games. I feel awful about posting spoilers in the comments despite the warning, and while I have tried my best to spoil as little as possible, I would feel a lot better having a space where I could ask more pointed questions, especially in the replies. Also, it would be pretty fun to be able to talk to others about their theories and other thoughts at length because it's really hard to do that here in the comments.
There is no 00 scene. The 00 files never have the scene-place-character structure, they're usually information or messages directly from the agent. It is (probably) not an 00 file you missed, they're all explicitly signposted in other files and you could just double check you didn't skip over one by using "find 00".
There are 97 files in total, so you are missing 2.
To help more: every character appears once in every scene in which they are alive. For example, if you check the titles of the 04- files, you should find all the numbers 1 to 11 there. You explicitly meet almost all the characters very early on, being Persons 1 to 11.
This rule alone should be nearly enough to help you work out every file you are missing except two of them. One of the files it can't find, 25-WI-K, you already found, so I think one of the files you've missed is an ordinary file you can probably find by the process of elimination of just checking you can find every living person in every scene. Is anyone unaccounted for at any time frame?
The other file that rule can't find requires a little bit of inference from you. Here's some gentle clues which get progressively more pushing:
1. What signifies the death of a character?
2. Are there any of these signals you've found which don't seem to correspond with a death?
3. When did Rupert die?
4. Where did Rupert die?
5. What is the pattern that associates characters with number codes?
=====ACTUAL ANSWER=====
01-ST-12 is easily missed. It's the only file in which Rupert appears alive. The thunderclap for this happens very early on, in 01-QU-1-11, probably the first file you read. Note that in 01-QU-1-11, Harry Thornton knows who Rupert is for the first half of the scene ("worked for him all my life"), which means Rupert isn't dead yet. The thunderclap then happens halfway through, and Harry Thornton then says Mr Galley... now meaning Edmund.
You also get a clue in 01-LI-3-5, where Oswald and Martha are talking about Rupert in the first half of the scene, saying he just left, until midway through the scene there's the thunderclap.
You'll almost certainly have worked out that character numbers correspond to the order in which they die. Since Harry Thornton is 11, Rupert must be 12. You also know he died in the Study, again from very early on.
Thank you so much for you super detailed response. I will do the usual spoilers warning! Spoilers from this point on!
Hilariously, I found Rupert a bit earlier on actually. I didn't mention him in the original comment because it didn't occur to me he would be hard to find. I did in fact use the file with Oswald and Martha talking to help me locate Rupert. Also, I have a 9 page Google doc with every single scene and lengthy notes summarizing each scene. In addition to that, I also created 4 charts, one for each act, in which I filled in every character and their location for each time code. That helped immensely even if it took a lot of time.
Huh. Now I am stumped. I must be missing something else because I recounted the bodies and I came up with 13. 1-11 then Rupert and finally Katherine. A small note that the death of 1 occurred in time code 26 and at the entrance. Are those all the bodies? One of the notes from @ said it was just the 13, but now I am not sure. I just am at a lost as to what I could have missed. I did try to research more on both Eleanor and Amelia but neither sound like they could be the thirteenth body based on their descriptions. Rupert says that Amelia went missing one day but it doesn't sound like she died recently. Eleanor was stated to have died a long time ago by Katherine as well, a fact which Oswald also confirms. The drawings Oswald shows Annie also show three children: Oswald, Elanor and Rupert, who Oswald does not recognize. So yeah. I will try to do a search of 00 notes since I did delete my first game due to my assumption I had a bug. As a result, I did have to go back and try to "refind" some of the 00 files.
If it helps any, these are the two files that have a (1) next to them: 21-LI-1-2-4 and 23-CH-1-2. Again, I really appreciate the response as I can at least stop obsessing over trying to find anybody at 00.
If you have 01-ST-12 and 25-WI-K, you have both the unusual files. Every other file is just going to need to be found by figuring which person in 1 to 11 you're missing at what time bearing in mind each person appears exactly once in each scene for which they are alive, or possibly by using "find 00" to make sure you input all the 00 files when they were told to you. You've not missed any bodies from the original chain - 2 to 12 and K from the thunderclap, and 1 by suicide. I suppose Amelia would be 13 by the game's convention but there is no scene featuring her and it is implied she died long before present events.
I'm not sure what file links 21-LI-1-2-4 and 23-CH-1-2 as I probably made it a different route there. I'd guess a 22 scene, maybe? Did you get 22-LI-1?
If you get absolutely stuck I can just list out all the files but that's a last resort!
This game has absolutely consumed me for the last two days and I love it! I've shared it with so many people, I feel like I've properly infected them. Discovering the different files was so rewarding - I made a full spreadsheet to keep track of who was where, when. And realizing the connections and what was going on what such a great experience. That ending dropped like the best kind of hammer.
Thanks for such a great game! It gets the wheels turning and makes me want to make something of my own.
I made an account just to share this: for everyone curious about the hangman game, I cracked how to play it! Type "hangman" before your letter guess. So if you wanted to guess the letter e, type "hangman e".
No spoilers as I am still early on, but what is the command to see the full list of files? I am only able to see a list for the very early part of the files or let's say 18 out of 24. It's making it hard for me to progress as I can't see how many "clues" I might be missing and it also requires me to keep a written tally of files for reference. I would really appreciate any guidance here.
Also thank you. I found the document that explains but how somehow missed it since I hadn't yet found it. I have been taking a lot of notes both digitally and on paper so it is taking me awhile to get through the game since I pause every so often to figure who is where and etc. For whatever reason though, my head immediately jumped to maybe having a bug and ended up deleting every save then deleting all my cookies and history to restart the game. Lol! That's why I posted yesterday only to find out an hour or two after your helpful comment that it was explained in game.
This was a really well-crafted game, well done. The writing was punchy and the central hook of the deaths was compelling. Once you figure out the premise, probably at some point in Act Two, there's a sudden huge momentum and all the pieces fall into place, and it was very satisfying to revisit some older entries and recontextualise them.
There was one odd plot point I didn't quite get. It seemed like the main "haunting" was going to come from something relating to Oswald and Rupert's sister, iirc called Eleanor. Instead, she's remembered perfectly well to the end, and that whole thread of information seemed at best a red herring. It's odd that a character you get no real information on, Amelia, is "patient zero", and odd that Rupert remembers her only after years, with no context to who she was or why the player should care about her. Was there some chain before Amelia or was she the first? Why her? Is Dvorak's Humoresque a particular clue or joke? It was odd for Oswald to talk about ghosts getting into Martha and so on - the actual curse appears entirely unrelated to the house and just ended up with the Galleys by chance.
I'm not sure I understood John's motivations at the end. Initially I wanted to think he'd solved the case after talking to Annie at the Chapel, and when he realised the thunderclap had claimed Katherine, committed suicide to stop the chain spreading further by him accidentally remembering Katherine in future. On re-reading, I think this was an overly optimistic assessment - John has no idea whether Katherine had any further family (indeed, he couldn't possibly know, he would have forgotten everything about her...), and it seems likely he committed suicide thinking he'd had a mental breakdown and killed a house full of people or something similar.
I also never solved the hangman - it seems to reject every letter of the alphabet. Does it not have a solution?
Eleanor was just a red herring. The curse had nothing to do with her death.
Unclear if Amelia was the start of the chain (I suspect not). Maybe the reason for Rupert suddenly remembering her is the music. It does seem to hint that the piano is (almost) playing every time someone remembers a dead person.
John's suicide is unclear to me as well. Your theory about him having a mental breakdown is as good as any, but it's not very satisfying.
The hangman game has no solution. It ignores any guesses you make. Not sure what the meaning of it is. Seems pretty out of place.
It's a shame we seem to agree Eleanor was a red herring, she was a more interesting plot point than the true solution, Amelia.
Also baffled as to the inclusion of the hangman game then - I wasted a fair bit of time trying to brute force it on the basic principle it wouldn't be included if it wasn't relevant!
Ultimately, two minor quibbles. Game was still excellent.
this was phenomenal! incredibly evocative writing, most of all, but also mechanics that were intuitive enough to grasp that it didn't feel obtuse while also being unfamiliar enough that figuring them out felt satisfying. great work.
I've been thinking the same thing. This game deserves a design overhaul to make it appeal to a broader audience.
The game works fine as it is with just text, but being able to hear the actual audio for example would enhance the experience. I have also compiled some UI ideas that would make gameplay smoother and more visually interesting.
Man I REALLY enjoyed that! I was so genuinely creeped out once I started realizing what was happening to them. I have some ideas on ending but I'm not exactly sure about them... which is honestly fantastic. I love a story that doesn't spell itself out for you. I'll put thoughts past "spoiler dots" though. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ok hopefully that's enough. My thoughts are that John figured it out in the end after all. He seems to realize some things during his phone call with K, although he doesn't share them with the readers (rude). Personally, I think he realized that remembering the victims and trying to tell others about them is what caused it to spread, and he realized that K was as doomed as the rest of them sooner or later... so he forced her to say her name while on the phone with him to trigger the curse, so she would never have the chance to spread it to others. Then he went to the attic and waited for the thunderclap to signify that K was dead, confirmed that he had no memory of any of the other victims, and died without triggering the curse so that it ended with him.
Too bad for modern technology though, because now it's able to spread again. Damn you, Alan Thomas!
I don't think it can spread again, or at least not easily. It doesn't seem to be enough to remember simply anyone who died, you have to remember specifically the last victim immediately before yourself - somewhat analogous to It Follows. The officer who died isn't known to you the player, and on reading these files, you know enough not to try jog Alan Thomas' memories. It seems Thomas didn't know the officer particularly well, he was an outsider brought in, and Thomas can't put a name or description to him, so it doesn't seem to have kept going.
Awesome game! It took me a minute to figure out how the scenes were named, but I felt like a genius once it clicked. Oswald ended up being my surprise favorite after getting into his backstory, and the ending hit really hard. The only questions I still have are...
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Who was Amelia West? Not a Galley, going by the name, but she had to have been someone close to Rupert. Maybe his fiancee, and he went on to marry someone else when he forgot her?
Where did this curse even come from? Eleanor's death? If there's any explanation for it, that seems like the most likely one for what happened here, but Oswald and Katherine both remembered her. Also there's the fact that she died young and Amelia was old enough to play piano I assume professionally, and the chain that killed the outside agent is unrelated.
Nice game! The biggest "Aha" moment for me is definitely figuring out the true nature of what's happening, though I did that at about half way through, after that, there's not much mystery about what will happen next, as we all know how the story will end. Still, I enjoyed the writing, as it made the inevitable process painful to read (in a good way).
I love investigative games (like the Roottrees are Dead) so I knew that I would enjoy this game, but it completely blew me away! The story and characters were really well written and truly gave you a 'visual' of what was happening despite being a text-based game. Most of the timeline was fairly easy to figure out, but the wherabouts of some people evaded me for a while so I had to guess where they could possibly be and when through trial and error.
(potential spoilers below)
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It was scary how quickly everything went wrong and how the deaths couldn't be prevented; the fact that that the character numbers indicated who was next to die created a sense of dramatic irony.
Annie was my favourite character by far: I admired that she was intent on trying to figure out what was happening (although it ended up being her undoing) and her attempt to end the chain of deaths was brave.
I felt particularly bad for Victoria and Damian as they were so close to getting away from Galley House and Victoria never got the chance to tell Damian that she was pregnant. It was also heartbreaking that Victoria unknowingly caused her sister's death by providing her with the list of everyone's names as that helped her remember.
John's death still confuses me as he says that he doesn't remember any of them (referring to the other people in Galley House) but still dies. I know he wasn't meant to die as the thunderclap didn't occur for him, but why did he die? Did he take his own life because of his divorce and the fact that he is no longer in contact with his daughter?
The final scene I discovered was Rupert Galley's death, which I believe was caused by him remembering his sister Amelia who had died when Rupert and Oswald were children. They must have lived this long because nobody had remembered her, until Rupert heard the music from the piano which started the chain of events that led to the death of everyone in the story.
I have so much more I could say, but will mention that there are 97 files in total and to check each scene number has an appearance from everyone who is still alive for those who may be struggling.
not sure how many dots i need for an effective spoiler wall .
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hopefully this is enough, .
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My reading of it was that John killed himself, by jumping from the attic to the entrance out of guilt for "killing" Annie. (or he hangs himself?) The clues are there from "The audio keeps going, though, for an upsettingly long time." when the audio description thing says it usually lasts only 30 seconds after the actual death. So he didn't die instantly like everyone else.
Yeah I agree that he must have taken his own life, but it is more the reasoning behind it that confuses me. It suggests that he doesn't even remember Annie (or anyone else) which is why he is excluded from the curse, so he might not remember the whole situation with Annie in the Chapel, and therefore not remember his guilt. The invitation from Rupert Galley suggests that John was having a particularly rough time following his divorce which is what led me to think that maybe his death was due to that.
It completely went over my head that the audio going on for so long meant that it took a long time for him to die - he must have still been alive after jumping from the attic but bled out (or succumbed to his injuries) at the entrance where he landed.
I believe I've finished the game (I got the 'final note').
I got a few questions (spoilers bellow for anyone reading this!!)
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I understand the basic phenomena of a thunderclap making someone die, and being forgotten about. The next person who remembers them ends up dead.
What is the cause? Or is it just a big mystery? Clearly it has nothing to do with the Galley house if Katherine died in her own home. The note-writer even finds it funny they blame it on ghosts. WELL WHAT DO WE BLAME IT ON!!
What was Annie trying to accomplish? Was she trying to end herself before the curse could? It seems the note taker is happy she tried it, so we don't have to try it ourselves. So I guess he's saying she tried the solution of killing the next cursed person but it didn't work out.
Does Dvorak's Humoresque relate to the mystery at all or is it just a fun song you included?
The final note lists almost everyone's names...except for John's. Oversight or does he survive?
Finally, from what I understand, after the Galley incident the same thing happens at...whatever company we're working for. The final death is the agent whose memos we're reading. From what I understand, the people who can't learn their names (such as Alan) are probably close to them. So if they remembered them, they would die. This is probably why the agent is glad to die, since he's so removed. Did I get it right?
I don't want to give too much away, obviously, but it sounds like you've pretty much figured almost everything out!
I will say that Dvorak's Humoresque does play a part in the story, but there's a very subtle clue to it hidden at the very end of the game... (It's not too important though.)
And there's a good reason John's name isn't mentioned at the end! (After all, he's a bit different from the others...)
(Also, I'm super impressed you got the final puzzle, and thanks for giving the hints to Aprot!)
Then did John uuuh jumps off? He says he doesn't remember anyone. Maybe he isn't affected by the curse or he died before he could remember anyone, ending it?
I thought maybe Dvorak's Humoresques was haunted and anyone who listened to it dies. But that can't be true since John's listened to it as well. Not sure how else Dvorak Humoresques is related other than Amelia's playing it made Rupert remember her.
I'm still a bit unsatisfied without knowing all the answers but it was a good game and I'm glad I played it. When ACT 2 finally explained what was happening it was a big "ooooh" moment.
Regarding John's scene at the end: 00-audio-recovery says that the audio is collected from dead bodies. Therefore, John definitely died as he was the only possible source for the audio.
He probably dies from the (gunshot?) wound inflicted on him in 23-CH-1-2, independently of the "curse".
As for what Annie was trying to accomplish, I think the intention was to toaster bath the both of them, as to eliminate any remaining witnesses/possibility of the curse spreading. But this interpretation goes against the fact that she asked John to tell her mother??? So maybe she didn't really figure out the whole picture.
I don't think Annie shot John, I think it wouldve been very clear if this had happened. Given the structure of the house and the sequence of events, it makes more sense to me that John simply jumped out the Attic window and landed on the Entrance pavement, killing himself (out of dread, survivor's guilt, or whatnot).
I believe what Annie was thinking was that the curse spreads when they die by the curse via the "thunderclap", so if she kills herself before that occurs then the curse can no longer spread. For one reason or another (perhaps she was just too late, or perhaps this only makes the curse proceed), this didn't really work.
A tiny thing about the hangman thing, that youtube video leads to a piece of piano music, and at the beginning you can see the title. On that piece of cardboard it says FOXTROT. that is 7 letters, which is the amount of blanks, and fits with the "thinking of an animal" theme. BUT IT DOESNT WORK. so dissapointing, I thought i was so smart :"(
I am stuck on a few parts, those being (SPOILERS!):
- Finding number thirteen death scene, i know her name, just not the location. - The relevance of scene 10-MA-5-6, there's still a gray number next to it. - Finding the suspicous death and the hidden scene mentioned at 26. - That weird hangman game.
Can you help?
Also, lovely game! I really enjoyed figuring all of this out, you really undersell it in the description.
Especially figuring out who was where when was really fun, and the twist was fun to discover to of course.
It's a little tricky figuring out exactly what you're missing, but I'll try to give some clues... (SPOILERS!)
Are you missing a scene in 09? If so, hopefully you can work out who was there, and someone else comes in afterwards and discovers what happened... But it's also possible you've missed a sneaky scene in 12! (Try 'find 6'.)
I think the only other thing you're missing is the hidden scene mentioned in 26. It sounds like you've worked out who it involves (and in particular the first letter of their name!), but to figure out the location you'll need to work out who else they're related to (and who THAT person is related to) who might have mentioned something about where they could be...
If that doesn't make much sense, then it may be worth considering which of the deaths you've seen so far is 'suspicious', in that it doesn't quite fit with the others.
It's safe to ignore the hangman game.
Let me know if that's too vague or if I've misunderstood where you're at. I've tried to make the final puzzle as clear as I could, but it's still a lot to pull together in one go... In fact, the who, the where and the when are all pretty tricky to figure out! So let me know if anything doesn't make sense.
But thanks for your comment! It's lovely to know other people have enjoyed the game!
I have found the missing grey number scene i mentioned, it was #6 searching #4's room before #4 enters (As an aside, I do think I have every scene, except the hidden one)
If I am not mistaken #13's name is Amelia West and dies during timeframe 01 during the thunderclap before the second thunderclap? It is unclear if there is 1 (so just Rupert) or 2 (which would mean Amelia and then Rupert)
If I had to choose a suspicous death, I guess it would be the last one. In scene 26 a loud thud is heard, but no thunder (possibly meaning annie's loophole worked?)
Also, is the hangman game like a bonus thing, if so, what commands do you use?
This last one is a real headscratcher! But to summarise, in my mind the hidden scenen is the death of #13 (Amelia West) in a location (?) during 01
Also I forgot to mention, but I also loved figuring the whole curse out, the way you've written that was so good. First you think someone sent a fake invitation, then you think eddie might have been the culprit.
OMG and sorry for ranting but I jumped in glee when I noticed the deaths happen in order of the numbers, LOVE!
PS: Maybe you can take this whole convo as inspiration for your next game, our back and forth looks like deranged to an outsider.
Hi Aprot! I just discovered the 13th death so I'll write a few clues to help you out!
I don't think we can spoil so read bellow at your own risk! I'll space things out for you
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1- You're mistaken about the 13th victim's identity. Ruppert says it's been years since she heard Amelia play, and that she disappeared "one day". So we can assume she's not present today.
2- You're correct about the suspicious death
3- The reason that death is suspicious, is that we hear a thunder, but nobody dies. John is still alive.
4- This means someone has died instead of John.
5- Instead of numbers (like John being 1) you search this person through a letter. (such as 04-KI-Z if that person was in the kitchen at 04).
6- This person has to be alive after Annie and die before John.
7- Searchable locations are always in bold. Before John dies, a thunder is heard "far away". This didn't happen with other thunders.
8- When someone dies, everyone forgets them. Only later, the next person to die remembers them.
9- John never remembered Annie. Who did?
-This is the last clue! Below is the asnwer-
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10- Search 25-WI-K
The person that dies is Katherine (the woman on the other side of the phone). Even though she is Annie's and Victoria's mother, she only mentions Annie (because she already forgot about vic). Later on, after Annie dies, she calls again. At first she seems confused about who Annie is, then she remembers it's her daughter. She still doesn't remember about Vic. This means she's the next person to die.
The thunder is far away because it happens at Wintercote and not at the Galley manor.
Thanks for the help Tinynanami, I would've never guessed!
Although I did think it might've something to do with Wintercot, I'd never linked it up with Katherine. You explained really well why it wasn't Amelia West, although that whole clue did sent me of the wrong path of trying to find a death in the far past (also because of the convo in the kitchen about that death.)
If you're curious, my opinion about the suicide of Annie is that it actually made sense to me. Not that I'm the writer or anything, but my interpretation was that she was trying to find a loophole. If the curse dictates that there's a thunderclap before the death of the chosen person, her reasoning might've been that breaking that rule (dying before the thunderclap) could maybe break the curse. So that would be my explanation.
Also I think the story wroks better without an explanation. It's the same with the original Groundhog Day film. It works better unexplained, makes it much eerier I think. Although I do get your frustration. The story has a bit of an Agatha Christie vibe, so the absense of a reveal does annoy me a little bit to, although the death of Katherine fills that roll a bit.
Either way, that's my two cents. My compliments for figuring out the last death, top noth detectivework!
Ps: what were your theories on that hangman game? It's a 7 letter word but it says 12, so i thought there might've been a mention of an animal at timestamp 12?
I think Tinynanami has already done a great job giving a series of hints (better than I did anyway), so hopefully that helps. (But don't read them all at once!)
I'll just say though, thanks so much for your comments! It's so useful to know how other people interpreted different things, and it will definitely help with the next game... (Like, I think you're very justified in being suspicious of Annie's death, which I didn't really intend! Her death definitely makes things more confusing than I'd realised...)
Really glad you enjoyed it though. Good luck finishing it!
(Also, sorry this reply is a bit late, I didn't see the notification)
No worries, Tinynanami's comment was really helpful!
To be honest the most confusing part for me was finding that last scene, because i thought it was something relating to the past (It comes up pretty often in the story actually)
I would've not guessed K because she's a really small character. It didn't even cross my mind honestly (especially because she's not given a number but a letter, so that removes her even more)
Either way, I'd love to see your next game! If it's anything like this Sign. Me. Up!
Ps: just one more thing about that hangman thing, is that even something we could/should try to solve?
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OMG. What an amazing mystery! I loved every bit of it despite not being able to completely piece everything together without the help of the comments. Sadly, I do have one FINAL please for help. Please skip down below to the question ONLY if you have completed the game.
*SPOILERS START HERE*
I have 95 files and I am desperate to find the last one. I assume it has to be a file in 00 because Annie at one points mentions there were 4 bodies on the first day. Unfortunately, I am totally clueless as to who the person is and where they could be located. I do have the scene with Kathering at WI, John in the EN so I should have most of it. As a small aside, am I meant to learn anything more about the @ person? I know very little other than the descriptions they give in the story about the characters or the name in the "From" section of our email. Thank you in advance for your help.
PS. Files 21-LI-1-2-4 and 23-CH-1-2 have a (1) next to them. The former is why I assumed there was a fourth body.
You're missing the first body discovered, who wasn't actually dead yet at the time John arrived. If you think about the characters missing and the cues for death times you can probably figure out who it is and when they died.
It could be that I am just mentally exhausted, but any chance you could give me a slightly bigger push. I guess I am having trouble accounting for a few things.
*Spoilers below so please do not expand this reply unless you are comfortable with spoilers!*
Is there in fact 13 people? If so, does this last person have a number or a letter as in the name of another person? Are they a male or a female? And I failed to mention this but I do not in fact have a 00 scene. The instructions state Act I goes from 00 to X number although I had always assumed there was an 00 fairly early on. I think those things could really help me.
This is a bit of an aside but I do hope the developer creates a Discord or something for any future games. I feel awful about posting spoilers in the comments despite the warning, and while I have tried my best to spoil as little as possible, I would feel a lot better having a space where I could ask more pointed questions, especially in the replies. Also, it would be pretty fun to be able to talk to others about their theories and other thoughts at length because it's really hard to do that here in the comments.
There is no 00 scene. The 00 files never have the scene-place-character structure, they're usually information or messages directly from the agent. It is (probably) not an 00 file you missed, they're all explicitly signposted in other files and you could just double check you didn't skip over one by using "find 00".
There are 97 files in total, so you are missing 2.
To help more: every character appears once in every scene in which they are alive. For example, if you check the titles of the 04- files, you should find all the numbers 1 to 11 there. You explicitly meet almost all the characters very early on, being Persons 1 to 11.
This rule alone should be nearly enough to help you work out every file you are missing except two of them. One of the files it can't find, 25-WI-K, you already found, so I think one of the files you've missed is an ordinary file you can probably find by the process of elimination of just checking you can find every living person in every scene. Is anyone unaccounted for at any time frame?
The other file that rule can't find requires a little bit of inference from you. Here's some gentle clues which get progressively more pushing:
1. What signifies the death of a character?
2. Are there any of these signals you've found which don't seem to correspond with a death?
3. When did Rupert die?
4. Where did Rupert die?
5. What is the pattern that associates characters with number codes?
=====ACTUAL ANSWER=====
01-ST-12 is easily missed. It's the only file in which Rupert appears alive. The thunderclap for this happens very early on, in 01-QU-1-11, probably the first file you read. Note that in 01-QU-1-11, Harry Thornton knows who Rupert is for the first half of the scene ("worked for him all my life"), which means Rupert isn't dead yet. The thunderclap then happens halfway through, and Harry Thornton then says Mr Galley... now meaning Edmund.
You also get a clue in 01-LI-3-5, where Oswald and Martha are talking about Rupert in the first half of the scene, saying he just left, until midway through the scene there's the thunderclap.
You'll almost certainly have worked out that character numbers correspond to the order in which they die. Since Harry Thornton is 11, Rupert must be 12. You also know he died in the Study, again from very early on.
Thank you so much for you super detailed response. I will do the usual spoilers warning! Spoilers from this point on!
Hilariously, I found Rupert a bit earlier on actually. I didn't mention him in the original comment because it didn't occur to me he would be hard to find. I did in fact use the file with Oswald and Martha talking to help me locate Rupert. Also, I have a 9 page Google doc with every single scene and lengthy notes summarizing each scene. In addition to that, I also created 4 charts, one for each act, in which I filled in every character and their location for each time code. That helped immensely even if it took a lot of time.
Huh. Now I am stumped. I must be missing something else because I recounted the bodies and I came up with 13. 1-11 then Rupert and finally Katherine. A small note that the death of 1 occurred in time code 26 and at the entrance. Are those all the bodies? One of the notes from @ said it was just the 13, but now I am not sure. I just am at a lost as to what I could have missed. I did try to research more on both Eleanor and Amelia but neither sound like they could be the thirteenth body based on their descriptions. Rupert says that Amelia went missing one day but it doesn't sound like she died recently. Eleanor was stated to have died a long time ago by Katherine as well, a fact which Oswald also confirms. The drawings Oswald shows Annie also show three children: Oswald, Elanor and Rupert, who Oswald does not recognize. So yeah. I will try to do a search of 00 notes since I did delete my first game due to my assumption I had a bug. As a result, I did have to go back and try to "refind" some of the 00 files.
If it helps any, these are the two files that have a (1) next to them: 21-LI-1-2-4 and 23-CH-1-2. Again, I really appreciate the response as I can at least stop obsessing over trying to find anybody at 00.
Spoilers etc.
If you have 01-ST-12 and 25-WI-K, you have both the unusual files. Every other file is just going to need to be found by figuring which person in 1 to 11 you're missing at what time bearing in mind each person appears exactly once in each scene for which they are alive, or possibly by using "find 00" to make sure you input all the 00 files when they were told to you. You've not missed any bodies from the original chain - 2 to 12 and K from the thunderclap, and 1 by suicide. I suppose Amelia would be 13 by the game's convention but there is no scene featuring her and it is implied she died long before present events.
I'm not sure what file links 21-LI-1-2-4 and 23-CH-1-2 as I probably made it a different route there. I'd guess a 22 scene, maybe? Did you get 22-LI-1?
If you get absolutely stuck I can just list out all the files but that's a last resort!
Are we supposed to figure out the agent's name? Or is that an easter egg or something?
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His name was Richard Longley. RIP
Wait, how did you work that out?
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The narrator mentions a dream he had in 21-CH-3. If you then go to 00-dream you will find a clue to that name.
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Couldn’t make that leap by myself, had to look at the code to find out. Alas.
I’ll trade you a secret though:
Try changing the name of
#. (To save you some time, this is purely cosmetic as far as I can tell.)Yeah, it's really obscure. That's why I was wondering if it's something we are supposed to find or if it's more like an optional easter egg thing.
It seems like it is optional since the update with the "end screen" appears even if you haven't located that.
Thank you very much for this amazing game. It had me absolutely hooked!
This game has absolutely consumed me for the last two days and I love it! I've shared it with so many people, I feel like I've properly infected them. Discovering the different files was so rewarding - I made a full spreadsheet to keep track of who was where, when. And realizing the connections and what was going on what such a great experience. That ending dropped like the best kind of hammer.
Thanks for such a great game! It gets the wheels turning and makes me want to make something of my own.
I just wish I knew if there was an answer to the hangman game - or (spoilers below)
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Current theory is that the animal in hangman was the agent/officer's name, and so it's forgotten and gone.
That or it's just a thematic connection to the fact that the mystery is 'unsolvable' :)
I made an account just to share this: for everyone curious about the hangman game, I cracked how to play it! Type "hangman" before your letter guess. So if you wanted to guess the letter e, type "hangman e".
No spoilers as I am still early on, but what is the command to see the full list of files? I am only able to see a list for the very early part of the files or let's say 18 out of 24. It's making it hard for me to progress as I can't see how many "clues" I might be missing and it also requires me to keep a written tally of files for reference. I would really appreciate any guidance here.
each act is in a different list, so search "list 1," "list 2," etc!
Thank you!! Thank you!!! I was taking notes in a separate notepad and then having to do a lot of copying and pasting. Seriously. Thank you!!!
Also thank you. I found the document that explains but how somehow missed it since I hadn't yet found it. I have been taking a lot of notes both digitally and on paper so it is taking me awhile to get through the game since I pause every so often to figure who is where and etc. For whatever reason though, my head immediately jumped to maybe having a bug and ended up deleting every save then deleting all my cookies and history to restart the game. Lol! That's why I posted yesterday only to find out an hour or two after your helpful comment that it was explained in game.
Spoilers below:
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This was a really well-crafted game, well done. The writing was punchy and the central hook of the deaths was compelling. Once you figure out the premise, probably at some point in Act Two, there's a sudden huge momentum and all the pieces fall into place, and it was very satisfying to revisit some older entries and recontextualise them.
There was one odd plot point I didn't quite get. It seemed like the main "haunting" was going to come from something relating to Oswald and Rupert's sister, iirc called Eleanor. Instead, she's remembered perfectly well to the end, and that whole thread of information seemed at best a red herring. It's odd that a character you get no real information on, Amelia, is "patient zero", and odd that Rupert remembers her only after years, with no context to who she was or why the player should care about her. Was there some chain before Amelia or was she the first? Why her? Is Dvorak's Humoresque a particular clue or joke? It was odd for Oswald to talk about ghosts getting into Martha and so on - the actual curse appears entirely unrelated to the house and just ended up with the Galleys by chance.
I'm not sure I understood John's motivations at the end. Initially I wanted to think he'd solved the case after talking to Annie at the Chapel, and when he realised the thunderclap had claimed Katherine, committed suicide to stop the chain spreading further by him accidentally remembering Katherine in future. On re-reading, I think this was an overly optimistic assessment - John has no idea whether Katherine had any further family (indeed, he couldn't possibly know, he would have forgotten everything about her...), and it seems likely he committed suicide thinking he'd had a mental breakdown and killed a house full of people or something similar.
I also never solved the hangman - it seems to reject every letter of the alphabet. Does it not have a solution?
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Eleanor was just a red herring. The curse had nothing to do with her death.
Unclear if Amelia was the start of the chain (I suspect not). Maybe the reason for Rupert suddenly remembering her is the music. It does seem to hint that the piano is (almost) playing every time someone remembers a dead person.
John's suicide is unclear to me as well. Your theory about him having a mental breakdown is as good as any, but it's not very satisfying.
The hangman game has no solution. It ignores any guesses you make. Not sure what the meaning of it is. Seems pretty out of place.
It's a shame we seem to agree Eleanor was a red herring, she was a more interesting plot point than the true solution, Amelia.
Also baffled as to the inclusion of the hangman game then - I wasted a fair bit of time trying to brute force it on the basic principle it wouldn't be included if it wasn't relevant!
Ultimately, two minor quibbles. Game was still excellent.
this was phenomenal! incredibly evocative writing, most of all, but also mechanics that were intuitive enough to grasp that it didn't feel obtuse while also being unfamiliar enough that figuring them out felt satisfying. great work.
I've been thinking the same thing. This game deserves a design overhaul to make it appeal to a broader audience.
The game works fine as it is with just text, but being able to hear the actual audio for example would enhance the experience. I have also compiled some UI ideas that would make gameplay smoother and more visually interesting.
Man I REALLY enjoyed that! I was so genuinely creeped out once I started realizing what was happening to them. I have some ideas on ending but I'm not exactly sure about them... which is honestly fantastic. I love a story that doesn't spell itself out for you. I'll put thoughts past "spoiler dots" though.
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Ok hopefully that's enough. My thoughts are that John figured it out in the end after all. He seems to realize some things during his phone call with K, although he doesn't share them with the readers (rude). Personally, I think he realized that remembering the victims and trying to tell others about them is what caused it to spread, and he realized that K was as doomed as the rest of them sooner or later... so he forced her to say her name while on the phone with him to trigger the curse, so she would never have the chance to spread it to others. Then he went to the attic and waited for the thunderclap to signify that K was dead, confirmed that he had no memory of any of the other victims, and died without triggering the curse so that it ended with him.
Too bad for modern technology though, because now it's able to spread again. Damn you, Alan Thomas!
I don't think it can spread again, or at least not easily. It doesn't seem to be enough to remember simply anyone who died, you have to remember specifically the last victim immediately before yourself - somewhat analogous to It Follows. The officer who died isn't known to you the player, and on reading these files, you know enough not to try jog Alan Thomas' memories. It seems Thomas didn't know the officer particularly well, he was an outsider brought in, and Thomas can't put a name or description to him, so it doesn't seem to have kept going.
Awesome game! It took me a minute to figure out how the scenes were named, but I felt like a genius once it clicked. Oswald ended up being my surprise favorite after getting into his backstory, and the ending hit really hard. The only questions I still have are...
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Who was Amelia West? Not a Galley, going by the name, but she had to have been someone close to Rupert. Maybe his fiancee, and he went on to marry someone else when he forgot her?
Where did this curse even come from? Eleanor's death? If there's any explanation for it, that seems like the most likely one for what happened here, but Oswald and Katherine both remembered her. Also there's the fact that she died young and Amelia was old enough to play piano I assume professionally, and the chain that killed the outside agent is unrelated.
Nice game! The biggest "Aha" moment for me is definitely figuring out the true nature of what's happening, though I did that at about half way through, after that, there's not much mystery about what will happen next, as we all know how the story will end. Still, I enjoyed the writing, as it made the inevitable process painful to read (in a good way).
I love investigative games (like the Roottrees are Dead) so I knew that I would enjoy this game, but it completely blew me away! The story and characters were really well written and truly gave you a 'visual' of what was happening despite being a text-based game. Most of the timeline was fairly easy to figure out, but the wherabouts of some people evaded me for a while so I had to guess where they could possibly be and when through trial and error.
(potential spoilers below)
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It was scary how quickly everything went wrong and how the deaths couldn't be prevented; the fact that that the character numbers indicated who was next to die created a sense of dramatic irony.
Annie was my favourite character by far: I admired that she was intent on trying to figure out what was happening (although it ended up being her undoing) and her attempt to end the chain of deaths was brave.
I felt particularly bad for Victoria and Damian as they were so close to getting away from Galley House and Victoria never got the chance to tell Damian that she was pregnant. It was also heartbreaking that Victoria unknowingly caused her sister's death by providing her with the list of everyone's names as that helped her remember.
John's death still confuses me as he says that he doesn't remember any of them (referring to the other people in Galley House) but still dies. I know he wasn't meant to die as the thunderclap didn't occur for him, but why did he die? Did he take his own life because of his divorce and the fact that he is no longer in contact with his daughter?
The final scene I discovered was Rupert Galley's death, which I believe was caused by him remembering his sister Amelia who had died when Rupert and Oswald were children. They must have lived this long because nobody had remembered her, until Rupert heard the music from the piano which started the chain of events that led to the death of everyone in the story.
I have so much more I could say, but will mention that there are 97 files in total and to check each scene number has an appearance from everyone who is still alive for those who may be struggling.
not sure how many dots i need for an effective spoiler wall
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hopefully this is enough,
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My reading of it was that John killed himself, by jumping from the attic to the entrance out of guilt for "killing" Annie. (or he hangs himself?) The clues are there from "The audio keeps going, though, for an upsettingly long time." when the audio description thing says it usually lasts only 30 seconds after the actual death. So he didn't die instantly like everyone else.
I think you just have to guess with the dots lol
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Yeah I agree that he must have taken his own life, but it is more the reasoning behind it that confuses me. It suggests that he doesn't even remember Annie (or anyone else) which is why he is excluded from the curse, so he might not remember the whole situation with Annie in the Chapel, and therefore not remember his guilt. The invitation from Rupert Galley suggests that John was having a particularly rough time following his divorce which is what led me to think that maybe his death was due to that.
It completely went over my head that the audio going on for so long meant that it took a long time for him to die - he must have still been alive after jumping from the attic but bled out (or succumbed to his injuries) at the entrance where he landed.
Very fun! The final mystery was pretty tough but it was enjoyable throughout.
Just played through the game and absolutely loved it! The mechanic was neat, and figuring out what was going on was a lot of fun.
Still have a few questions unanswered (encoded in rot13 to prevent spoilers):
V haqrefgnaq gur flzcgbzf bs orvat 'hc arkg', ohg abg jung pubbfrf jub vf hc arkg. V qba'g frr nal cnggrea gb vg ng nyy. Vf vg whfg "fbzrbar gurl xabj"?
Nyfb, ab pyhr jung'f hc jvgu gur unatzna tnzr - V pbhyqa'g trg nalguvat bhg bs vg.
This was a really fun game! I really liked the logic and the story was properly spooky. Would love to see something in a similar vein in the future.
I believe I've finished the game (I got the 'final note').
I got a few questions (spoilers bellow for anyone reading this!!)
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I understand the basic phenomena of a thunderclap making someone die, and being forgotten about. The next person who remembers them ends up dead.
What is the cause? Or is it just a big mystery? Clearly it has nothing to do with the Galley house if Katherine died in her own home. The note-writer even finds it funny they blame it on ghosts. WELL WHAT DO WE BLAME IT ON!!
What was Annie trying to accomplish? Was she trying to end herself before the curse could? It seems the note taker is happy she tried it, so we don't have to try it ourselves. So I guess he's saying she tried the solution of killing the next cursed person but it didn't work out.
Does Dvorak's Humoresque relate to the mystery at all or is it just a fun song you included?
The final note lists almost everyone's names...except for John's. Oversight or does he survive?
Finally, from what I understand, after the Galley incident the same thing happens at...whatever company we're working for. The final death is the agent whose memos we're reading. From what I understand, the people who can't learn their names (such as Alan) are probably close to them. So if they remembered them, they would die. This is probably why the agent is glad to die, since he's so removed. Did I get it right?
Lastly...what's the hangman answer.
Wow! Very impressive!
I don't want to give too much away, obviously, but it sounds like you've pretty much figured almost everything out!
I will say that Dvorak's Humoresque does play a part in the story, but there's a very subtle clue to it hidden at the very end of the game... (It's not too important though.)
And there's a good reason John's name isn't mentioned at the end! (After all, he's a bit different from the others...)
(Also, I'm super impressed you got the final puzzle, and thanks for giving the hints to Aprot!)
Then did John uuuh jumps off? He says he doesn't remember anyone. Maybe he isn't affected by the curse or he died before he could remember anyone, ending it?
I thought maybe Dvorak's Humoresques was haunted and anyone who listened to it dies. But that can't be true since John's listened to it as well. Not sure how else Dvorak Humoresques is related other than Amelia's playing it made Rupert remember her.
I'm still a bit unsatisfied without knowing all the answers but it was a good game and I'm glad I played it. When ACT 2 finally explained what was happening it was a big "ooooh" moment.
Regarding John's scene at the end:
00-audio-recovery says that the audio is collected from dead bodies. Therefore, John definitely died as he was the only possible source for the audio.
He probably dies from the (gunshot?) wound inflicted on him in 23-CH-1-2, independently of the "curse".
As for what Annie was trying to accomplish, I think the intention was to toaster bath the both of them, as to eliminate any remaining witnesses/possibility of the curse spreading. But this interpretation goes against the fact that she asked John to tell her mother??? So maybe she didn't really figure out the whole picture.
I don't think Annie shot John, I think it wouldve been very clear if this had happened. Given the structure of the house and the sequence of events, it makes more sense to me that John simply jumped out the Attic window and landed on the Entrance pavement, killing himself (out of dread, survivor's guilt, or whatnot).
I believe what Annie was thinking was that the curse spreads when they die by the curse via the "thunderclap", so if she kills herself before that occurs then the curse can no longer spread. For one reason or another (perhaps she was just too late, or perhaps this only makes the curse proceed), this didn't really work.
A tiny thing about the hangman thing, that youtube video leads to a piece of piano music, and at the beginning you can see the title. On that piece of cardboard it says FOXTROT. that is 7 letters, which is the amount of blanks, and fits with the "thinking of an animal" theme. BUT IT DOESNT WORK. so dissapointing, I thought i was so smart :"(
Hehe tiny.
I have tried every letter of the alphabet and it's wrong. I tried a few numbers and symbols and it didn't react
Hihi!
I am stuck on a few parts, those being (SPOILERS!):
- Finding number thirteen death scene, i know her name, just not the location.
- The relevance of scene 10-MA-5-6, there's still a gray number next to it.
- Finding the suspicous death and the hidden scene mentioned at 26.
- That weird hangman game.
Can you help?
Also, lovely game! I really enjoyed figuring all of this out, you really undersell it in the description.
Especially figuring out who was where when was really fun, and the twist was fun to discover to of course.
Hi! Glad you enjoyed it!
It's a little tricky figuring out exactly what you're missing, but I'll try to give some clues... (SPOILERS!)
Let me know if that's too vague or if I've misunderstood where you're at. I've tried to make the final puzzle as clear as I could, but it's still a lot to pull together in one go... In fact, the who, the where and the when are all pretty tricky to figure out! So let me know if anything doesn't make sense.
But thanks for your comment! It's lovely to know other people have enjoyed the game!
Got the tinniest bit further!
I have found the missing grey number scene i mentioned, it was #6 searching #4's room before #4 enters (As an aside, I do think I have every scene, except the hidden one)
If I am not mistaken #13's name is Amelia West and dies during timeframe 01 during the thunderclap before the second thunderclap? It is unclear if there is 1 (so just Rupert) or 2 (which would mean Amelia and then Rupert)
If I had to choose a suspicous death, I guess it would be the last one. In scene 26 a loud thud is heard, but no thunder (possibly meaning annie's loophole worked?)
Also, is the hangman game like a bonus thing, if so, what commands do you use?
This last one is a real headscratcher! But to summarise, in my mind the hidden scenen is the death of #13 (Amelia West) in a location (?) during 01
Also I forgot to mention, but I also loved figuring the whole curse out, the way you've written that was so good. First you think someone sent a fake invitation, then you think eddie might have been the culprit.
OMG and sorry for ranting but I jumped in glee when I noticed the deaths happen in order of the numbers, LOVE!
PS: Maybe you can take this whole convo as inspiration for your next game, our back and forth looks like deranged to an outsider.
Hi Aprot! I just discovered the 13th death so I'll write a few clues to help you out!
I don't think we can spoil so read bellow at your own risk! I'll space things out for you
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1- You're mistaken about the 13th victim's identity. Ruppert says it's been years since she heard Amelia play, and that she disappeared "one day". So we can assume she's not present today.
2- You're correct about the suspicious death
3- The reason that death is suspicious, is that we hear a thunder, but nobody dies. John is still alive.
4- This means someone has died instead of John.
5- Instead of numbers (like John being 1) you search this person through a letter. (such as 04-KI-Z if that person was in the kitchen at 04).
6- This person has to be alive after Annie and die before John.
7- Searchable locations are always in bold. Before John dies, a thunder is heard "far away". This didn't happen with other thunders.
8- When someone dies, everyone forgets them. Only later, the next person to die remembers them.
9- John never remembered Annie. Who did?
-This is the last clue! Below is the asnwer-
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10- Search 25-WI-K
The person that dies is Katherine (the woman on the other side of the phone). Even though she is Annie's and Victoria's mother, she only mentions Annie (because she already forgot about vic). Later on, after Annie dies, she calls again. At first she seems confused about who Annie is, then she remembers it's her daughter. She still doesn't remember about Vic. This means she's the next person to die.
The thunder is far away because it happens at Wintercote and not at the Galley manor.
Thanks for the help Tinynanami, I would've never guessed!
Although I did think it might've something to do with Wintercot, I'd never linked it up with Katherine.
You explained really well why it wasn't Amelia West, although that whole clue did sent me of the wrong path of trying to find a death in the far past (also because of the convo in the kitchen about that death.)
If you're curious, my opinion about the suicide of Annie is that it actually made sense to me. Not that I'm the writer or anything, but my interpretation was that she was trying to find a loophole. If the curse dictates that there's a thunderclap before the death of the chosen person, her reasoning might've been that breaking that rule (dying before the thunderclap) could maybe break the curse. So that would be my explanation.
Also I think the story wroks better without an explanation. It's the same with the original Groundhog Day film. It works better unexplained, makes it much eerier I think. Although I do get your frustration. The story has a bit of an Agatha Christie vibe, so the absense of a reveal does annoy me a little bit to, although the death of Katherine fills that roll a bit.
Either way, that's my two cents. My compliments for figuring out the last death, top noth detectivework!
Ps: what were your theories on that hangman game? It's a 7 letter word but it says 12, so i thought there might've been a mention of an animal at timestamp 12?
Hope you enjoyed my ramblings <3
Hi!
I think Tinynanami has already done a great job giving a series of hints (better than I did anyway), so hopefully that helps. (But don't read them all at once!)
I'll just say though, thanks so much for your comments! It's so useful to know how other people interpreted different things, and it will definitely help with the next game... (Like, I think you're very justified in being suspicious of Annie's death, which I didn't really intend! Her death definitely makes things more confusing than I'd realised...)
Really glad you enjoyed it though. Good luck finishing it!
(Also, sorry this reply is a bit late, I didn't see the notification)
No worries, Tinynanami's comment was really helpful!
To be honest the most confusing part for me was finding that last scene, because i thought it was something relating to the past (It comes up pretty often in the story actually)
I would've not guessed K because she's a really small character. It didn't even cross my mind honestly (especially because she's not given a number but a letter, so that removes her even more)
Either way, I'd love to see your next game! If it's anything like this Sign. Me. Up!
Ps: just one more thing about that hangman thing, is that even something we could/should try to solve?
I'm guessing the hangman game is a red herring. There's no answer for it.
To the author: hats off. What a fantastic story.