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(+2)

WOW this game took me a long time! I spent a few hours on it every day for the past few days and I've finally filled it in and solved the mystery! I had a feeling from the start that it was going somewhere like that, and I was satisfied (though, sort of saddened) to be proven right. I have never seen a game like this before, and I really enjoyed playing. 

(+2)

Completed it. wonderful game. took around 9-10 hrs to complete
found it a little hard to name all spouses. did guess work on five.


(+5)

just finished the game, and I really enjoyed it! lost a couple of hours of sleep the past two days getting hooked on unraveling the family tree, but I have no regrets haha.

I love that it was a mixture of investigative skills and deductive reasoning (and some guesses lol), but it was so satisfying to get the optional two answers right! 

(+8)

I really really enjoyed this!! This was incredibly well made and I literally almost pulled an all-nighter because I didn't want to stop playing. Love the atmosphere you've created and the whole late 90s aesthetic with the computer!! Super cool :>

The story totally sucked me in and the way you were able to tell it through a family tree, some internet articles and photos is incredible. You're very talented and I'd love to see a version of this with proper art instead of AI art. I understand why you used AI generated portraits, so, no judgement here :> !! Just saying, you could totally earn some money with this if you decide to work with an artist.

Everything else was fantastic!

(+1)

I have 37 of 49 blood relatives discovered and I’m having so much fun! A little stuck tho! Lol having a hard time finding info on some of the kids 

(2 edits) (+2)

I wasn't looking to seriously play anything, just wanted something to pass time. Instead I got hooked! Played until past midnight and only stopping because I had to work in the morning. 

I got stuck in 37 of 49 though. Can't seem to get Lauren's two youngest brothers right. I think I know what the mystery might be, but can't seem to find the right way to get more clues.

Thanks for playing!

If you'd like a small hint to get you on the right track, the discord is full of people that are pretty good about spoilers. :)

(+1)

I finished it! With help from discord :)

It's a really fun and engaging game,  kudos to you! Looking forward for your next game :D

(+3)

Really great game.  I finished today, took a while but it was satisfying.  Takes that obra Dinn detective mechanic and places it a new setting that works well.

My only criticism is I wish there were more quality of life features like a search history. Or an option to speed up loading animations.


Still really great though, loved it

The "back" button in the browser is surprisingly capable! I think it can take you all the way back to your first search.

(+2)

Rhose's name is not in the name list. I wonder why? 

(1 edit) (+1)

Search harder.  Maybe that's not her birthname..?

(1 edit)

Hey! I would love to play this game but would rather have an exe version for easy saving. The Discord link in the main menu unfortunately doesn't work for me. Would you be able to share it here? Hoping that makes things easier!

Deleted 169 days ago
(+1)

Im so upset while i was having so much fun and played a couple times over the past week i have now loss my save. I WISH i could just start over but idk if i have the motivation because of the notes. Idk what happen but i saved everytime i quit. 

(+1)

Sometime yesterday, itchio moved all of their HTML games from one internal server to another internal server, which means the location the game was saving to no longer existed.

If you'd like to read more, you can here:
https://itch.io/t/3099694/notice-for-html-game-devs-upcoming-change-to-cdn-domai...

The issue is not something I can help you resolve. However if you come to the discord server, I can get you set up with an exe build of the game that has an approximation to the progress you made.

Ok so now i cant even start the game so could you link me here for the discord?

(1 edit)

rot13:

uggcf://qvfpbeq.pbz/vaivgr/M6L5fR9Qtg

That does not work

I updated the game today to a new build. Would you be able to test if it opens and you can get to the discord link? Whatever problem you were having, I'd like to make sure it is solved.

I figured there was some reason why the Discord link wasn't shared in plaintext on this page (maybe to protect against bots?), so I obscured it with rot13. rot13 = copy the string from my comment into the site rot13.com to convert it into the actual discord URL. I just checked and that does still work.

(+1)

Lovely game, took me quite a while to finally complete it all the way through but it was fun the entire time. Accidently closed the tab and so I had to restart from 41/50  all the way back to the beginning cause I didn't realize there was a "Save and Quit" feature. So make sure you save!

Thank you, and I'm sorry you lost your progress!

(+3)

i spent 6 hours playing the game and ALMOST finished it, I saved and shut down my laptop. I've lost all of my progress. Is there a way to get any of my progress back on the browser version?

There is not. if you come to the discord I can try to help you get an exe version of the game and I have a safe file you can use to catch back up quickly.

I apologize, that's the only way to skip ahead at the moment.

(+10)(-7)

Now that the game is out there as a proof of concept it would be cool if you raised money to complete it with original art, I cant in good conscience recommend this with the AI art theft that's in place

(+4)

It's worth saying also, I'd definitely want to buy and support a version of this with new art!

(+1)

Hi, just discovered this game and wow, congrats!!

(+1)

An excellent deduction game! No less compelling than what the author claims to be inspired by (and yes, I found the thing).

(+1)

Is there a downloadable version. I lost a significant amount of progress for some reason. I had been saving normally and started the game up and it just disappear.


Really, maybe an export save option?

Come to the discord, I can get you a downloadable version.

(2 edits) (+1)

This was a neat game! I enjoyed the procedure of searching for names, bits of history, pictures etc, etc. Every time I found another person or the pieces clicked into place I got a rush of adrenaline haha I'm glad you included the intuition mechanic. There was a moment where I was completely stumped and it came in clutch.

The ending surprised me a bit. For the locked people, I knew both their names, but I could not figure out their relationship. So when it came time to enter the names, I got confused as to their relationship and their relationship to you-know-who. But once I saw the ending, it made sense! I found the ending to be very satisfying, and it wrapped up all the pieces together well. A wonderful game!

edit: removed spoilers, sorry!

(1 edit) (+1)

I don't think itch has any way to mark spoilers, but please be aware that these comments are public and appear below the game. I'm wondering if maybe you could try to edit your post to talk a little more in code. Thanks!

EDIT: I appreciate it :)

(+1)

I was really enjoying this game and played for a bit yesterday and this morning, but now my progress has completely disappeared. I've been on chrome this entire time and saved and quit each time and got the screen that told me I was good to exit. This didn't give me any issue going from yesterday to this morning, but for some reason this morning to this afternoon completely deleted my progress. It was fun while it lasted :( 

I'm really sorry to hear that. :(

The only thing that I know that can erase game is clearing cookies, as well as in very rare cases, some adblockers (I don't know why... the game has no ads of any kind in it and doesn't connect to a server)

If you are on Windows and willing to give it one more shot I can send you a version of the game that is an .exe instead of playable in browser. It will not have the same issue, as it will save locally.

I'd love to give it a shot again if you can send me that file! It must be my adblocker, since I haven't cleared any cookies since this morning. I was really enjoying the game!! 

Sure, would you be able to come to the discord linked from the main menu? If not maybe I can find a way to DM it to you here.

I'm in a similar spot! I'd love to play the desktop version - it's such a cool game.

Sure, could you come to the discord linked from the main menu and just ask me there? I don't have an easy way to send it to you through itch

How do I check my answer

(1 edit)

Answers are checked automatically. Whenever you have three things right the game should automatically let you know and then tell you what you had right.

There is a bug with some adblockers I have run into where they occasionally freeze up the game and have it stop automatically checking for answers. There are no ads in the game, so I don't know what causes this, and its very, very rare (only two or three people out of everyone who has played the game has run into this)

(+2)

my brain hurted I thunk too much

I've got everything except for the extra pictures for bonnie and guy hudson. My discord account isn't working rn, any chance I could get a hint?

(2 edits)

Sure! Can you edit your post to maybe remove their names after you find it? Or delete the post and I'll delete this reply.

EDIT: I totally misread this at first and thought you were asking for the answer, not a hint. Hopefully you didn't see the first thing I wrote.

Here's more of a hint: One of the two people you mentioned was pretty high profile, but before the internet existed. You may have searched for them online, but did you check the more old-school resources?

(+1)

Wow, what a cool little mystery! I definitely had other plans for today and didn't expect to spend all afternoon and evening mapping out an entire family tree, but I did and it was awesome. Fantastic work -- thanks for making it!

Thanks!

(+2)

i love love love this! i enjoyed the music and the attention to detail. i see a lot of comments ragging on the ai art, but i really had no problem with it because i think it's a good resource for anyone who doesn't have the proper resources to fully illustrate such an intricate game. the only thing that was a little bit frustrating was the scrolling through of all the names when trying to put them in the identity slots... it was hard to do it properly sometimes. it felt like it was kind of sensitive. super fun and a great mental workout, though!


that being said, I HIT SAVE AND QUIT BUT IT DID NOT SAVE. maybe i shouldn't have closed the tab. i dunno. this is so sad. i was well into it and dont think i will start over again because of how long it took the first time :(

(2 edits)

I'm extremely sorry to hear about the save issue :(

Are you on a mac and in safari? The only person that was not able to save the game so far was on Safari, and I'm not a mac user so I wasn't sure why. They told me when they switched to Chrome it worked.

If  by some chance you're on Windows I can send you a version of the game that definitely will not have any problems saving because it will be an .exe and write to a file.

i'm doing it on chrome! it may be something with my cookies. i am not sure...

i did end up restarting it because i just could not resist haha! now i am currently at 45/49 and being verrrryyyy careful with my tabs and battery life haha.

(+8)(-6)

Neat game.  Disappointed by the use of AI art though.  Real art probably would have helped make the game better.

(+1)(-1)

Some photos are art, some photos are mundane artifacts. I would say this game doesn't use AI art. It uses AI-generated mundane artifacts. I'm totally okay with that.

(+1)

This game is so good! i've been captivated for the past couple of days trying to crack the case! i'm currently completely stuck at 47/50 complete. 

If you need a tiny push on the last few, I can usually provide hints in the discord that can help you get to the end (as opposed to just telling you the answers).

(+1)

I adore this game!!!! I'm currently on 18/50 and completely stuck but it's so so much fun!!!!!

(+1)

Thanks for playing! If you find yourself looking for hints, the discord can help you out.

(+4)

I just wanted to say this has absolutely CHANGED my expectations for games, and the games I hope to create sometime! I've reached out to multiple people including friends and family to get them to play, becuase good GRIEF was this game entertaining!!! It's literally been helping me with my schoolwork (I just imagine that I'm playing this while studying lmaooooo)

It's a puzzle game that tricky, but not frusturating! And the story is absolutely beautiful and INCREDIBLY interesting.

Also, while I don't support AI art, as an artist, I actually do like the use of it in this game! It makes it all feel a bit uncanny, thus nailing the aging on some of the photos. It's kinda wild how characters look facially consistent among several photos! (Especially Clark!)

All in all, thank you so much for this experience :]

(+1)

You're very welcome, and thank you so much for sharing it!

(+1)

Took me 2 days to finish but ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT

(+1)

This is an incredibly well made game! thank you for putting this out here 

(1 edit) (+6)(-7)

i've made a support donation and earnestly hope that you do not use AI art in the future. i would prefer rough sketches in ms paint to this AI art. at least get someone to fix the hands. otherwise, this is a great game, thanks for making it.

(1 edit) (+3)

I appreciate the support, and yes, I understand your reluctance with the AI art. It's why the game was not something I was comfortable charging for by default. I do not have any plans to use AI art for a game again.

(+1)

how would i know whos picture is who????

(+4)

that's the game

(+1)

For nearly every picture (there are a lot so there are one or two exceptions to this) there are context clues about who is who. A lot of the time this involves comparing pictures to the text you read about the people in them, but sometimes it involves comparing pictures to other pictures, and sometimes it involves looking for details in the pictures.

(+1)

10 out of 10 the story was really compelling I really like how much some clue were right in my face but only understand them like hours of digging later xD. But yeah was really nice !

(+1)

i spent two whole days ignoring all my classes to think about this game and i obsessively zoomed in and out on the screen until my brain made connections. perfect game. i love it sm

guys i cant find jim's name on the list and i'm so confused

If you re-read the article about Jim you can find on the PC, it should give you some insight.

thank you, i found it :)

(+1)

can i have a search term hint for the sisters?

(1 edit)

I can't be sure, but if I had to guess there is probably one sister you're stuck on. If you search for her by name, it gives you a bit of  a hint about what type of searches will be useful going forward. Usually things related to people's work, their brands, and their fans will get you the best results.

thanks. ill also check the discord for help

(+1)

Amazing game. I was obsessed for hours. I love this style of mystery game so much, thank you for developing it!

Thank you for playing!

(+3)

this was so much more engaging than i expected-- gonna echo another commenter here to note that it took me 6-8 hours to get through the game & i only got frustratingly stuck once. the mystery is designed very well.

i think you've also tapped into something special with how the interfaces & the researching behavior interact. you've essentially split up the functions of a text parser game across a couple different tabs, sort of forcing the player to move between these tabs & actually earnestly learn & retain fictional information. it's very Sam Barlowe, 90s-00s narrative design-y. it's also very true to how one does research. as someone who does a lot of historical research with often fairly inconclusive findings, it was super satisfying to use those same behaviors make demonstrable process through a system.

The Roottrees are Dead is a great work. thanks for sharing it.

i sent you a little cash through the support button, & i urge other people reading this to do the same!

(+1)

I do appreciate it (truly), but I want to re-iterate to everyone that the game is definitely free on purpose. I built this game for people to play it, and enjoy it, and one of the things I was most worried about was it finding an audience. 

So, what I would love most is to get the word out there. If you're reading this and liked the game, please try to think about if there is anyone else you know who would as well, and if there is, please feel free to share it with them if you have the opportunity.

Thanks again!

(+3)

have been playing all day off and on, about 6 or 7 hours total. Completely hooked, this game is AMAZING and definitely one of my fave this year. So much fun!!!!

(+1)

Thank you, I really appreciate it!

(+2)

I just finished! THIS GAME IS AMAZING!!!! I'm telling everyone to play it - loooooved the ending!

(+2)

I played it with my partner and we loved the Obra Dinn, so the Rootrees are Dead is right up our alley!
We did really well until 44/49, we gave up at first, then I replayed it and found more clues we missed or forgot to look! I even laid in bed and realized who the very last person to guess was...It's so good.


If you're stuck at that point, I would recommend to search unrelated spouses on the net(Women usually take the name of the husband, don't forget!), and to also not brush off businesses and fanbases.

Additionally, the Intuition numbers will always point you generally in the right direction. if something has a number on it, there's a reason. Sometimes it can be a little roundabout, but generally if you search for every single thing or person related to that evidence you can narrow in on what you're missing.

Thanks for playing!

(+1)

That's good advice! I thought there's no point searching for people not on the "Notable Roottrees" list. But it's called "Notable Roottrees", not "Notable People".

(+2)

I'm stuck at 45/49 because I don't know how to get the last pictures... any hints for the youngest members? Otherwise wonderful game, makes you feel like a real sleuth!

(1 edit)

If you're missing who I think you are, the Intuition System should have a number on something pretty important. You might think it's just "the story of the game" but there's an important link in there. 

If you need any additional hints, the discord found in the game's menu has people who have beaten it that can get you more details.

i'm in the same place! i've made it up to 45 without trying to get help from anyone else but i'm soooo stuck now. I've only got a couple things marked with numbers and I've been searching them for an hour and can not figure it outtttt aaaaa!! gonna try again tomorrow

If you still can't find it, and come to the discord tomorrow I can do my best to give you hints that still let you have moments of discovery.

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