Evil Trout Inc’s genealogical detective sim, first released for desktop three years ago and later remastered for Steam, arrives on iOS and Android next month; pre-registration is now live.
Pre-registration is open now on the App Store and Google Play for The Roottrees are Dead, which launches on mobile on 5 November.
The game uses a 1998-era computer interface and dial-up modem to search vintage web pages, obituaries, news articles and photos to reconstruct a family tree.
Originally a desktop indie release three years ago, the remastered version debuted on Steam and earned nominations including Thinky Game Awards Game of the Year finalist and an IGF Honorable Mention for Excellence in Narrative.
# What this is
Dead is an indie detective simulation that asks players to act as a hired investigator and rebuild a family tree to determine heirs to a vast fortune. Developer Evil Trout Inc has opened pre-registration for the mobile edition, which launches on iOS and Android on 5 November.
# Origin and reception
The game first launched on desktop three years ago. It later received a remaster and a Steam release. The narrative design has attracted attention in the indie scene: it was a finalist for Game of the Year at the Thinky Game Awards and received an Honorable Mention for Excellence in Narrative at the Independent Games Festival.
# Premise and setting
The story is set in 1998. A private jet crash kills the Roottree family — including three sisters and their parents — who leave behind an empire worth over a billion dollars. The patriarch's century-old will stipulates that the fortune must be distributed only to verified blood relatives. Your task as an investigator is to comb through archives and piece together who is related and who qualifies for the inheritance.
# Gameplay and investigative tools
The game stresses search and deduction rather than hand-holding. You use a period-authentic 1998 computer interface with a noisy dial-up modem to locate and cross-reference material. Playable tasks include:
As you correctly fill nodes, the set of possible heirs shrinks and remaining clues grow more obscure. The investigative process is iterative and evidence-driven.
# Mobile release details
Pre-registration is live on both the App Store and Google Play. The full mobile launch date is 5 November. The Pocket Gamer write-up announcing pre-registration was filed by Mark Langshaw.
# Why it might matter to players
If you like narrative-driven puzzles that reward careful research and pattern recognition, this presents a different detective angle: genealogical reconstruction through period web research rather than interrogation or crime-scene forensics. The 1998 interface and dial-up presentation also set a distinct mood and limit the number of modern conveniences available to the player.
# Quick facts
It's a dark, sarcastic and jazzy black-and-white world The post Detective Game The Posthumous Investigation Lands on Mobile appeared first on Droid Gamers .
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