The Roottrees are Dead

The Roottrees are Dead is a deduction-based detective game about filling in an intricate family tree. A celebrity family has died, and you must search a mock version of the late-90s internet to figure out who is entitled to receive part of the inheritance. The original Itch.io version of the game was a breakout hit in Global Game Jam 2023, and the Steam release has received wide praise for its unique format and challenging deductions.

The game begins in the year 1998 with the announcement that Carl Roottree, the president of the Roottree Candy Company, has died in a plane crash along with his close family. Everyone who is a blood relative of the Roottree family is due to receive a large inheritance. A mysterious benefactor hires you to sort out the Roottree family tree. Luckily, you happen to be an expert in genealogies.

You begin with only a blank family tree and a list of names. For each blood relative, you must fill in their name, their photo, and their occupation. You can also fill in the names of spouses, but they’re optional. Similar to Return of the Obra Dinn, the game validates and locks your guesses every time you get three of them right. At various points, your benefactor shows up to give you new documents and provide cryptic hints about their motivation, before finally revealing the family’s long-hidden dirty secret.

The primary tool at your disposal is a mockup of an early internet search engine. Searching for the names of people, companies, and events brings up websites that may contain other names and clues. You also have access to a library website and a periodical database where you can look up relevant books and magazines. So the game is all about wiki-walking your way from one clue to the next and using careful observation and logical reasoning to work out who belongs where.

The open-ended nature of the internet search mechanic, plus the intricate story told entirely through documents, make The Roottrees are Dead a creative and innovative entry to the deduction genre.

This description was written by Gwen C. Katz.