Growing up, my sisters and I loved mystery video games, especially the Nancy Drew Mysteries. As we got older, we’d analyze and theorize what would make for a great player experience. As the Nancy Drew franchise came to a close, we were inspired to make our own. Rather than focus on Nancy, we found inspiration from another mystery icon. Agatha Christie has a plethora of fantastic mysteries, some of which are in the public domain. Using the Short story, “The Affair at Victory Ball”,  we embarked on creating a mystery game of our own. 

           While my sister adapted the writing, I created the art for the characters, environments, and props. We utilized Twine to program it into an interactive narrative. After several months of work and playtesting in our free time, we created “The Affair at Victory Ball”. The player can be Detective Poirot to solve a puzzling murder. The player talks with familiar faces like Captain Hastings and Inspector Japp, and also meets a new cast of suspects. They visit different places in London and look at clues to solve the murder! If you’re interested in playing, we published it here on itch.io: https://sistersisclub.itch.io/the-affair-at-victory-ball

            We had a blast creating it! As a small-scale experiment, we learned a lot with this game and have many ideas for the next one. "The Affair at Victory Ball" was a great proof of concept to explore what it means to make a mystery game. Armed with this knowledge, the next mystery is already in the works!