“Return of the Obra Dinn”, released by popular indie video game developer Lucas Pope in 2018, is a murder mystery game with a twist—there are 60 deaths to be investigated all at once. It is currently available for $20 on Steam, where it has incredibly good reviews.
The game is set in the year 1807. The Obra Dinn, a cargo ship manned by exactly 60 people on its outset, has suddenly returned to port without a single person left aboard after being missing for four years. You play from the first-person perspective of an investigator for the East India Company, trying to determine the fates of each character for insurance purposes.
You’re given a pocket watch that has the ability to show the exact moment someone died when pointed at the body, and upon using it a short scene plays out that includes the dialogue leading up to the event as well as a still diorama of the death.
As the investigator, you have a book that is used to assign each passenger and crew member their correct fate from a list. The book gives other information like a glossary of naval terms, a map of the ship and basic information about each of the characters.
While it seems fairly straightforward, the task becomes increasingly difficult once you realize you don’t know who any of the characters are. In addition to determining their fates, you have to pair the characters’ appearances with their names and positions on the crew, based on minimal information.
The first few fates are easy to solve, since they are an introduction to the verification mechanic (after matching three correct names and fates they are typeset into the book so you know for sure when you’ve solved them). But as the game progresses, characters may disappear without a trace, or be difficult to distinguish from other characters whose basic information match.
The game’s plot is nonlinear, leaving the player to piece together the tragedies and mysteries of the Obra Dinn from scattered points throughout its journey. Various monster attacks, accidents and betrayals litter the ship’s history.
I absolutely love the art style of the game. It has a really interesting stippled design that keeps the game from becoming too graphic but reads as more realistic than cartoonish. The soundtrack is also incredible; I occasionally listen to several of the tracks outside of the context of the game, especially the main menu theme.
The game does have some scenes that may be disturbing for certain players, such as giant spiders that may cause issues for someone with arachnophobia, so if you plan on giving it a try I would recommend looking up a list of content warnings just to be sure.
Personally, I found the game’s challenge to be incredibly rewarding. I loved watching the plot and all its pieces fall into place!
