[GUEST POST] Whodunnit! A murder mystery game by Sheryl
Sheryl-Lynn Lim
Guest Writer (TJC)
Whodunnit?
Whodunnit is a classic murder mystery game where the player is the detective tasked to solve the murder. In this game, players will follow the flow of the investigation, from interrogation to looking for clues and at the end will be asked to come up with a verdict of who the murderer is.
Brainstorming
I started off by looking at other games on the gamification platform for inspiration. One of the more interesting games I found was one created like an escape room, “The Diary and the Red Rose” (https://app.gametize.com/project/962). From this game, I was inspired to create a similar game, where it would allow the player to actually think and interact with the game instead of just reading a storyline or answering questions. This was when I came up with the idea for a murder mystery.
Desired outcome
Through this game, players should be able to use and train their critical thinking skills. They will have to pick up clues from different challenges and put together the different pieces of the puzzle in order to solve the mystery successfully. Besides that, the players will also have to be observant for tiny details by sifting out the important information in the challenges and reading between the lines to solve the challenges and eventually the mystery. Furthermore, I tried my best to create a game that will not only allow the players to truly feel like they are the detectives but to also give them a fun and interactive experience.
Process of creation of final draft
I had to first come up with a plot for the game. I decided to go with a simple one since it was my first game and I was still figuring out the gametize platform. After coming up with the plot, I came up with 3 different topics and slowly filled up the challenges. With the feedback of the mentors as well as my friends who have tried out the game, I added topics, edited challenges and improved on my game overall.
Flow of the game
At the home page, players would be able to get a good understanding of the situation from the description of the game where they will find out they’ve been hired as a private investigator to solve this case.
As they go through the topics, they’ll be able to find out more about the different aspects of this case. In the first topic, “The Victim”, they’ll be able to know more about Bernard where they’ll also receive a list of initial suspects which they would find out more about in the second topic, “The Interrogation”.
From this, they will realise that all the suspects seem innocent and unlikely to commit the murder, thus will continue investigating in the next topic, “The Clues”. They should be able to come to a decision of who the murderer is from these 3 topics and will cast their rulings in the next topic, “The Verdict”. Lastly, in the final topic, they will be able to leave any feedback or comments they might have about the game.
Using the gamification platform
In the game, many different types of challenges were used, from polls to confirmation challenges to fixed answer challenges, each type had its own unique use. The confirmation challenges allowed the story to be told while also allowing the players to interact with the game. The polls allowed for the players to make decisions in the process instead of just reading the story and watching it pan out such as those used during the interrogation of the suspects.
Other challenges such as fixed answer, quiz and standard challenge introduced different elements into the game to keep it interesting for the players.
The ability to lock challenges was also used throughout the game, ensuring that the players followed the flow of the game and completed the challenges in order instead of skipping ahead which might cause them to miss out on some important information. Overall, the gametize platform was easy to use and had plenty of options of different features we could use which helped make the game more interesting.
Passcode Challenge
Visuals
Achievement and Rewards
The achievements are awarded to the players as they are completing the game to encourage them to continue as well as motivate them when they see achievements ahead. There are 2 achievements in the game, “Eagle Eyed” when the player finds all the clues in the victim’s room and “Ace detective” for when they solve the mystery accurately.
As for rewards, players are able to receive 2 escape room tickets when they finish the entire game. Since those who play this game are probably those who enjoy mystery and investigation, I felt like they would enjoy escape rooms as well and this reward is very suitable for them.
Summary
All in all, this game aims to help players improve on their critical thinking and problem solving skills while also allowing them to have a enjoyable experience while solving this murder mystery.