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
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.
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!
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!
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 :(
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!!
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)
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?
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!
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 :(
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.
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.
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).
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 :]
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.
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.
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.
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 !
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
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.
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 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.
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!!!!
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.
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".
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!
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
I finally finished it, oh my god!! This game is perfect. I've spent two nights playing this. The first night of absolutely not knowing who's who, then tonight, I was shocked at what I learned about their family (guessed the optional on the first try :D). Truly amazing! Kinda wish there was more to the family so that I could keep playing it, although it is a recipe for a headache hehe. I had a hard time figuring out the partners of the family tho, like April, etc., so I had to go back and figure it out after finishing it. 10/10 would recommend <3
I love the game so far it's so interesting but im stuck on the pictures on the sister part, and Rhose birth name, also does it turn red when it's wrong?
i created an account just to comment on this. i played for 8+ hours and was completely engrossed in this. i'm only stopping now because i need to go to sleep but i will be back to finish the mystery tomorrows. my only critiques is that not enough people know about this masterpiece.
For anyone coming to ask this... no, this is not normal, and not intentional. The way to fix it is to refresh the text ins some way. if it happens on the computer I recommend using the back and then the forward button. If it happens in the diary I recommend switching tabs and then coming back. I apologize!
I blacked out for five hours, and when I came to, I had 21 of the 50 blood relatives filled in. For a seemingly mundane premise (going through archived information to find names to fill in a family tree,) this game is INCREDIBLY fun. I'm taking a break for now because my brain will melt if I do more of this, but I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes mysteries and puzzles.
When you search for Rhose Roottree online there is a small hint built into the results that should maybe give you a push in the right direction. If you need an additional hint let me know!
You're not going crazy... Rhose isn't on the list of names for a reason. If you do a search for Rhose Roottree on your in-game PC you will get a small hint about how you can find her. Often times, searching for things associated with people can reveal new information. For example brand names, or trying to find more details about what they do for a living.
If you need any additional hints, the discord server in the settings is a good place to ask, there are people who finished the game there that can help you.
Pay close attention to how things like company or brand names are spelled (uppercase? lowercase?) and punctuated when searching ;) And sometimes just searching one name or brand name alone can be more helpful rather than combining them.
This is stupid. Why is this just sitting here on a website instead of being sold and making the author the millions of dollars he deserves? (OK, tens of dollars, I'm realistic about how the game industry works, but still.)
Seriously, this thing is fantastic. Completely engrossing, completely fair, completely believable--there's like an entire worldbuilding going on in here. I am so glad I played this.
Wow! this was incredible! I took wild stabs at some non-blood relatives, some clues I discovered that were immediately 'useless' as i had figured the relevant part out earlier some other way, other times I missed obvious clues and so got nowhere. Hell, in the end I knew what was in the locked section before i found a single piece of information on Jim's children; information i could have found 6 hours earlier.
it took me ~8 hours to do, and i probably should have gone to sleep halfway through (its well over 4am as I'm finished), but i loved every minute of it. Extremely well made
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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
It's worth saying also, I'd definitely want to buy and support a version of this with new art!
Hi, just discovered this game and wow, congrats!!
An excellent deduction game! No less compelling than what the author claims to be inspired by (and yes, I found the thing).
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.
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!
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 :)
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
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)
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?
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?
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!
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 :(
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.
Neat game. Disappointed by the use of AI art though. Real art probably would have helped make the game better.
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.
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).
I adore this game!!!! I'm currently on 18/50 and completely stuck but it's so so much fun!!!!!
Thanks for playing! If you find yourself looking for hints, the discord can help you out.
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 :]
You're very welcome, and thank you so much for sharing it!
Took me 2 days to finish but ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT
This is an incredibly well made game! thank you for putting this out here
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.
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.
how would i know whos picture is who????
that's the game
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.
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 !
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 :)
can i have a search term hint for the sisters?
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
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!
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!
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!
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!!!!
Thank you, I really appreciate it!
I just finished! THIS GAME IS AMAZING!!!! I'm telling everyone to play it - loooooved the ending!
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!
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".
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!
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.
I finally finished it, oh my god!! This game is perfect. I've spent two nights playing this. The first night of absolutely not knowing who's who, then tonight, I was shocked at what I learned about their family (guessed the optional on the first try :D). Truly amazing! Kinda wish there was more to the family so that I could keep playing it, although it is a recipe for a headache hehe. I had a hard time figuring out the partners of the family tho, like April, etc., so I had to go back and figure it out after finishing it. 10/10 would recommend <3
I love the game so far it's so interesting but im stuck on the pictures on the sister part, and Rhose birth name, also does it turn red when it's wrong?
red is for female family members. as for rhose, just keep searching and reading carefully about her and her immediate family, you'll get there!
i created an account just to comment on this. i played for 8+ hours and was completely engrossed in this. i'm only stopping now because i need to go to sleep but i will be back to finish the mystery tomorrows. my only critiques is that not enough people know about this masterpiece.
Is this normal?
nvm i fixed it
For anyone coming to ask this... no, this is not normal, and not intentional. The way to fix it is to refresh the text ins some way. if it happens on the computer I recommend using the back and then the forward button. If it happens in the diary I recommend switching tabs and then coming back. I apologize!
how do you find out which picture belongs to who?
trial and error, there are also sometimes hints about character's ages or appearances that will help
I blacked out for five hours, and when I came to, I had 21 of the 50 blood relatives filled in. For a seemingly mundane premise (going through archived information to find names to fill in a family tree,) this game is INCREDIBLY fun. I'm taking a break for now because my brain will melt if I do more of this, but I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes mysteries and puzzles.
I can't find where Rhose Roottree on the name menu I'm just sitting kinda feeling dumb lol
EDIT : nevermind i am just dumb
When you search for Rhose Roottree online there is a small hint built into the results that should maybe give you a push in the right direction. If you need an additional hint let me know!
I can't find it still!
edit: Nevermind I got it :)
You're not going crazy... Rhose isn't on the list of names for a reason. If you do a search for Rhose Roottree on your in-game PC you will get a small hint about how you can find her. Often times, searching for things associated with people can reveal new information. For example brand names, or trying to find more details about what they do for a living.
If you need any additional hints, the discord server in the settings is a good place to ask, there are people who finished the game there that can help you.
Ahhh I got it!
Rhose Roottree Rose, no results. Rhose Rootree maplecrisps no results. Rhose Roottree career no results, what are you hinting at?
Pay close attention to how things like company or brand names are spelled (uppercase? lowercase?) and punctuated when searching ;) And sometimes just searching one name or brand name alone can be more helpful rather than combining them.
my brain not big enough for this but it's fun and nice to play. REALLY COOL
This is stupid. Why is this just sitting here on a website instead of being sold and making the author the millions of dollars he deserves? (OK, tens of dollars, I'm realistic about how the game industry works, but still.)
Seriously, this thing is fantastic. Completely engrossing, completely fair, completely believable--there's like an entire worldbuilding going on in here. I am so glad I played this.
Wow! this was incredible! I took wild stabs at some non-blood relatives, some clues I discovered that were immediately 'useless' as i had figured the relevant part out earlier some other way, other times I missed obvious clues and so got nowhere. Hell, in the end I knew what was in the locked section before i found a single piece of information on Jim's children; information i could have found 6 hours earlier.
it took me ~8 hours to do, and i probably should have gone to sleep halfway through (its well over 4am as I'm finished), but i loved every minute of it. Extremely well made
Pretty fun game so far at 15 solved, but the AI images are kinda uncanny
hhhhhhhhh this is so good !!!!!! i love it