PHIL HOARE TIME
Murder Mystery: Gameplay Overview
The game is a two player experience where both players are investigating a murder and, in classic whodunnit style, must work out who the murderer is. The key premise of the game is that both players have a different way of viewing the crime, so they must constantly communicate to solve the mystery. One player may view events taking place after the crime, such as characters covering tracks or going about their day, whilst the other only has access to the crime scene. However, the players are restricted in that one player has access to a sequence of events but can only see in 2D, whereas the other player has access to a 3D environment but is frozen in time.
The game is a board game where one player has a flipbook that shows events before and after the crime. Each of these is a full-page illustration that, when studied by the player, can give clues. This encourages the player to slowly make their way through the book, as if they were viewing a recording in slow motion, and spot details. The art in the book is in an art deco style, from the 1920’s to the 1940’s (see visual style for more info).
This idea originally formed from viewing space-time diagrams where, to represent time, an axis always has to be removed to allow for the fourth dimension to be placed. This means that any 2D plane on a space-time diagram is actually a 3-dimensional plane frozen in time. I wanted to give the players a way to experience this scientific fact in a fun way.
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Whilst I planned for the game to be a videogame, likely with online multiplayer as a key feature, I found when researching the visual style that a physical flipbook would work better than watching a video.
The other player has an environment, which will be akin to a doll’s house, that displays the scene of the crime. The first player cannot see this, so a dividing screen will need to be included in the box; or it could be an actual doll’s house with its back to the first player. The second player may investigate the environment freely, such as by opening drawers or looking closely at objects, to discover information. They may physically pick up objects to inspect them, as clues will be hidden in the objects.
Both players must regularly be checking in with each other to share any new information. At this stage I am happy for the players to communicate freely as they investigate, however, as I do playtests I may implement more formal forms of communication. These could range from passing cards found in the book/environment to spending tokens to speak. When the players are certain that they have determined the killer, they may reveal a hidden card in the box to find out if they are correct.
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I intend for the game to be a one to two hour experience which can be completed in one sitting; as the images and environment can only depict a single mystery out of the box. Similar to other narrative games in the board game industry, such as the Sherlock Holmes games, there is also no room for replayability.
Gameplay loop
