A Detective Story

The quiet town of Baytown is shaken when an unremarkable man is found dead under suspicious circumstances. Rumors ripple through the streets and secrets long buried begin to surface. In this compact detective simulator, you bring natural conversation to the heart of interactive fiction, stepping into the shoes of a detective amid a small, tightly wound community.

What you do — Interrogate a cast of highly personalized townsfolk, each with their own motives, fragmented memories, and the potential to lie or mislead. Explore a living map to uncover physical evidence and hidden clues. Your goal is to piece together what happened before time runs out, delivering more than just the culprit’s name — you must reveal the story itself.

Core mechanics — The mission is to solve the murder as efficiently as possible. Minimize days elapsed and questions spent; bringing suspects to the station costs valuable time. Interviews are informal and in-character, with no oaths or truth serums. You are allowed only 3 questions per interview, so every word counts. Witnesses and suspects may deceive, omit, or hide the truth. Cross-check stories, hunt for inconsistencies, and link conversations to the evidence found on the map.

Open-ended exploration — Stay immersed by asking about alibis, relationships, timelines, strange sightings, and contradictions. The townspeople’s memories may be partial or skewed, so follow the threads, compare testimonies, and connect them to physical clues. The experience invites careful deduction, not flashy reveals—your goal is to uncover what really happened, not merely identify a culprit.

Endings — There are three alternative endings, reflecting different interpretations of the events and your investigative approach. How you weigh motives, maintain consistency, and choose which clues to prioritize will shape the conclusion you reach.

Accessibility — A Detective Story is lightweight, designed to run smoothly on modest hardware. It requires at least 10 GB of system RAM and does not demand heavy VRAM. It emphasizes thoughtful interrogation, careful deduction, and storytelling over technical requirements.

Note — The experience emphasizes atmosphere, character, and logical connections over fast action. It’s a compact, exploratory detective experience where every interview, every clue, and every hesitation matters in unravelling the truth behind the quiet town’s darkest secret.