A Detective Story

In the quiet town of Baytown, an unremarkable man lies dead under suspicious circumstances. Rumors ripple through the streets. Secrets long buried begin to surface. The whole community is buzzing - some in dread, others gripped by dark fascination.

A Detective Story is a compact detective simulator that brings natural conversation to the heart of interactive fiction.

Step into the role of detective in this small-scale murder investigation. Interrogate a cast of highly personalized townsfolk, each with their own motives, fragmented memories, and the potential to lie or mislead. Explore the map to uncover physical evidence and hidden clues. Piece it all together before time runs out. Enjoy an open-ended explorative experience.

Features

Ask your own questions: Type what you want to ask. Press someone on an alibi, follow up on a stray remark, or ask them to explain a contradiction. Characters respond in natural language, shaped by their personalities, relationships, and knowledge. A confident answer is still only a claim until you can verify it. Witnesses and suspects may deceive, omit, or hide the truth.

Follow the evidence through Baytown: Explore a detailed coastal town, from cliffside apartments and the waterfront to shops, a school library, and the outskirts. Search locations, examine objects, and read records that give you new leads to pursue. Compare what you find with what people tell you.

A mystery with room for personality: Richly illustrated locations and expressive portraits bring Baytown's residents into the investigation. Expect guarded suspects, helpful witnesses, gossip, evasions, and the occasional conversation that wanders far from police business.

Game Guide

Your mission: Solve the murder as efficiently as possible - minimize days elapsed and questions spent.

Look beyond the first convincing story: The murder touches old friendships, private troubles, and secrets that reach beyond the case itself. Follow different leads and reach different resolutions as you work out who is responsible and what the evidence actually establishes.

Make every question count: You have three questions per interview. Travel, waiting, and summoning people to the station cost time, while residents and businesses keep their own schedules. Choose whom to visit, when to return, and what you need to know before you ask.

Stay in character for maximum immersion: Ask about alibis, relationships, timelines, strange sightings, and contradictions.

Cross-check stories, hunt inconsistencies, and link conversations to evidence found on the map.

Don’t just identify the culprit - uncover what really happened.

There are three alternative endings!

Gameplay time: 30–60 minutes

Hardware Requirements

Dialogue runs locally on your PC. Choose Basic or Advanced in the game settings to suit your hardware; response speed depends on your machine and the selected model. See the system requirements below for hardware guidance.

A Detective Story is lightweight and runs smoothly on modest hardware. It requires at least 10 GB of system RAM (DRAM) - with no heavy VRAM demands.