It's really an excellent game. The story itself is very interesting, and the character dialogues are also very humorous and not boring at all.

Fantastic art, story and characters! A wonderful creative outing in all regards~

I laughed, I cried, I pissed and shitted.

I'm harsh in my ratings; I'd give this a "thoroughly all right", but that comes to a solid (or even upper) four stars by most other people's standards.  The story's interesting, the artwork's amazing, and the music fades into the background but does quite well in setting the tone even so.  Unfortunately the interface is a little rough in places -- though it's certainly still entirely functional -- and in a way this comes across as reminiscent of early adventure games, where you need to do X to unlock Y but where the importance of X isn't signposted and where everything surrounding X remains the same as the last time you were in the area.

I think the problem I had with Dead Ringer as a whole is that while the characters are deep enough for the timeframe, the only one which really grabbed my interest was the fifth one met, and the next time they're a major focus of a scene is near the end of the game (though there's good reason for it, and I /don't/ actually think the pacing could be improved there).  Similarly, the Phoenix Wright style summation at the end felt a bit fuzzy ("What's the motivation?" "Because it's the simplest reason this other thing might be in play!"), "No one" is actually offered as an 'accusation' at one point under "it doesn't really matter" logic, and we never learn what exactly Felix was doing during a critical moment.  I've got my suspicions, and a headcanon narrative that I'm rather fond of, but the official payoff feels a bit flat.

Ultimately, I definitely don't regret the time I spent on this, and there's enough here that the memories of the characters linger as pleasant echoes in the back of my mind.  It's nothing spectacular, but we put too much emphasis on spectacle and perfection nowdays, anyway, and this is a perfectly suitable novel for curling up on the couch with and reading during a rainy fall afternoon.

This was an absolutely amazing game!

Short, sweet, and to the point but with a lot of humor and horror mixed together. I'm also really happy the story ended on a complete note but with a sequel hook embedded.

Definitely leaves me wanting more!

Yoooo this was a fun little jaunt! Always happy when a story can be kept short and sweet like this, just oozing personality!

Amazing work, loved the art and story, can't wait for any future proyects.

The visuals are amazing, LOVE the design of that phone. The storytelling  is so interesting and unique. As a Danganronpa fan I enjoyed the experience so much!!

pretty good! I love it!

... I have GOT to get more installments of this.........

Loved this! Exciting premise, fun characters and really stylish art direction. The story made for a very enjoyable, interactive and satisfying to solve murder mystery. Hopefully we can explore more crowded crime scenes with Maxwell in the future!

It's PEAM

This game was amazing! This was really ambitious for a game jam. I love all the characters, I enjoyed reading what everyone had to say. The only two points of criticism I'd give would be the navigation, a map just so I can know what rooms I have to go through to get somewhere would be nice, and the exposing of the murderer, there are a decent amount of moving parts and if this idea is expanded on I would love to see a more fleshed out system of how we have to explain what transpired that night. Maybe in the future something like Danganronpa's system of needing to place events in chronological order.

Fantastic game, I can't wait to see what you and your game have in store for the future.
(Also I'd love to see more of Maxwell and that Necronomicon)

Never played any Mystery typed VN's but this one is very unique to me and would love to see more updates on this game in the future.

Never played any Mystery typed VN's but this one is very unique to me and would love to see more updates on this game in the future.

dont play many visual novels but of the few i have played this is is pretty close to them only real complaint would be that theres not much going for decision making out of like one thing and just being thorough other than that pretty darn good

dont play many visual novels but of the few i have played this is is pretty close to them only real complaint would be that theres not much going for decision making out of like one thing and just being thorough other than that pretty darn good

The option for voice as a rating is a bit odd, I guess you can rate how well you voice acted the characters as you read them out LOL

I am friends with some of the developers and got the honour to beta test the game, playing it again in its final version is a treat as being able to see and experience the final version is great. The story is good and interesting with so many different personalities and views to experience along with the objectives not being too difficult to tackle making it an easier game to enjoy and not worry over. The visuals are by far the best part as the character designs are superb (especially for the characters in the afterlife) along with the art style being consistent and super comic like for more intense scenes that call for it.

Amazing work for everyone on the team, it was enjoyable and I had a blast roleplaying, acting, and voicing the characters with my partner!

I should be upfront that I am friends with many of the developers, and some of my code is used in the game, though I had little to no direct involvement. So to be fair, I will mention any problems I have, even if nitpicky. 

That said, this is still one of the best quality VNs I've played in a while. A full course meal in a very digestible size. There is room to expand, but for a game made in a month, I'm happy with it, leaving me wanting more. The level of polish of what it there more than makes up for any shortcomings. 

The story is a fun murder mystery with a cast I would consider large for the limitations. Twelve speaking characters is a lot to flesh out in a 2-3 hour story while weaving in clues and hints. I might critique that it would be nice to get more from some of the characters, but it likely would have made it harder to keep track of all the elements within the limitations. Though the main cast of the living feel well developed enough to carry it, and the number of characters makes it a good popcorn read with friends. The path to the true ending has one complication that I feel could be smoothed out, but the steps to it are not difficult to reach otherwise. The balance of comedy and horror walks a fine line, having dark subject matter kept digestible with a deft attention to the tone. Characters who have done awful things are fun to watch bounce off Maxwell, who keeps a level head through it all. 

All of the visuals are fantastic. Each sprite feels unique and has plenty of fun expressions to elevate their lines. Backgrounds are high quality, though the storage room and attic bg are a bit too similar imo. Also feels like maybe one or two more CGs were desired but likely were cut, though I'm glad the CGs that are there leave great impact and were worth prioritizing. The UI is very clear with plenty of style and polish. I'm especially impressed that the textbox manages to make lines bordering on a paragraph feel readable, even though lines that long are rare (which is a good thing).

All of the music is fantastic and perfectly fits the mood. The inclusion of a fully original soundtrack really elevates each scene. The sound design is also deserving of praise, with meaty thuds and every step appropriate to the room. Sorry, I'm not very articulate with sound stuff, but all of it is a cut above even VNs made with more time and budget.

I'm not sure why a game jam would have a voice acting category. The inclusion of sounds for the text appearing though is always fitting, and I will consider it close enough. The UI sounds can be a tad loud by default, but easy enough to turn them down to preference. None of it was beneath the standard of the rest of the experience.

Cinematography is fantastic as always from Domn. His skill he's wielded upon Crypid Crush is in full effect to make scenes fun and bouncy when appropriate, and spooky and mysterious when needed. I especially enjoy the zoom in on the character introductions, which looks fantastic. The scene transitions are also very fun to see, and I appreciated their style. Only nitpick is some transitions between selecting someone to talk to or a topic and a dissolve into the conversation, where it feels odd the characters shift a small amount, even with the dissolve to smooth between them. Though fixing them would be an effort that is better spent after the jam is concluded.

Outside of the normal ratings, I have some small critiques, though most of them would be better saved for the post-jam version. I've seen one person have an issue with navigating between the rooms. I would recommend a map to select between scenes, even if some rooms are locked, better to just see all options than using the choice screen that is limited. Fixing choice menus to grey out previously selected options will be a nice QoL move. And the handful of typos and times a tooltip clips the UI were never major issues that held back the overall experience. 

That all said, the project is a fantastic piece of spooky fun that I think makes for a fun read for the season. I look forward to recommending it every year for a fun, spooky romp. The passion and love put into every piece is on full display, and I'm left only wanting more from these characters and the world. Let's all hope the creators can come together to make more of this exceptional story and world.

Pretty good! The characters are all unique and interesting, the mystery elements and the unraveling of it all felt satisfying, the little bits of humor helped to levity the somewhat dark atmosphere, and it overall felt pretty well put together! Moving around feels a little awkward, but that's a pretty minor inconvenience. I do like how some topics have added flavor text depending on if you have certain info, but it would be nice if there were some indication of that. Overall, I desperately desire a bit more content, but that just means I've been hooked!