Broken Voyage

Step back to 1921 and accept your first assignment as a detective aboard the Emma, a vessel pierced by a chilling SOS that cuts through the night. What begins as a routine inquiry quickly reveals a corridor of questions: why did the Emma transmit the signal, who is responsible for the silence, and what happened to the crew? With limited resources and the ship's quiet menace closing in, you must trust your instincts and careful observation to survive the voyage.

As you push through rusted corridors and salt-streaked decks, the ship reveals a landscape of danger and mystery. Bodies lie where they were found, and the walls bear strange icons and glyphs that hint at forbidden rituals. A strange book seems to call your name, its pages whispering clues only you can decipher. The Emma feels like a living memory, every cabin a diary, every hatch a secret. The air is heavy with unease, and the line between sanity and suspicion blurs as you gather evidence, cross-reference notes, and chase elusive connections across time and space.

What you will do

• Investigate murders and untangle a Lovecraftian mystery built from clues and testimonies
• Collect notes, glyphs, and environmental details to reconstruct the Emma’s fate
• Solve puzzles that require careful logic, pattern recognition, and deduction
• Examine the ship from a first-person perspective to feel its atmosphere and danger
• Draw conclusions and piece together timelines to determine what happened to the Emma

Broken Voyage emphasizes atmosphere, realism, and a restrained horror approach. It blends investigative gameplay with exploration and puzzle-solving, inviting players to think critically rather than rush through action. The Lovecraftian elements are conveyed through environmental storytelling, unsettling discoveries, and a sense of awe at forces beyond human understanding.

Created by students in the University of Utah's Entertainment Arts & Engineering capstone program, Broken Voyage showcases a commitment to narrative-driven design, meticulous ship fidelity, and thoughtful puzzle craft. The project demonstrates how a small team can craft a psychologically immersive mystery rooted in period detail and cosmic dread.

If you enjoy tense investigations, eerie atmospheres, and puzzles that reward patient deduction, Broken Voyage offers a voyage into unknown seas where every turn could reveal another layer of truth or horror.