Character and place
Night in the Woods: a town understood through its people
Exploration and conversation provide the official frame for an adventure focused on story and character.
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THE READING LIST
Game reviews
Narrative adventures and investigations, considered through evidence, conversation and the worlds around them. Each review explains its research basis and links to the official publisher material.
Supernatural thriller
Oxenfree: an island outing with a different kind of tension
A group of friends and an accidental supernatural event give an overnight island trip the structure of a thriller.
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Family stories
What Remains of Edith Finch: a house as an archive
Exploring a family home becomes a way to encounter several unusual stories about the people who lived there.
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Investigative deduction
Return of the Obra Dinn: a ship full of unanswered identities
A lost vessel provides the setting for an investigation whose interest lies in connecting people with evidence.
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Bureaucratic decisions
Papers, Please: the human situation inside a document check
A border-inspection job turns a set of rules and papers into a sequence of decisions about people.
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Detective role-playing
Disco Elysium: choosing what kind of detective to become
A detective’s investigation is framed by a distinctive skill system and a city full of people to question.
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Historical narrative
Pentiment: an illustrated world under suspicion
An artist’s place in a changing community provides the frame for murders, scandals and historical intrigue.
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Case reconstruction
The Case of the Golden Idol: an explanation you have to assemble
A collection of unusual deaths provides the material for freely investigating clues and constructing a theory.
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