The narrative-driven text decryption concept, clever story structure, and engaging murder mystery puzzles create such a unique, intrigue-filled experience! Using cipher decoding and text inspection as a core detective mechanic translates the "Don't Trust" jam theme into a genuinely compelling narrative puzzle loop, especially with fan-favorite characters like Duke grounding the investigation.
A few narrative onboarding, text density, and localization polish ideas for post-jam updates:
- Text Pacing & Dynamic Highlights: Break up long narrative dumps into bite-sized dialogue nodes or interactive logs with color-coded key terms (e.g., suspect names, times, locations) so players who prefer the puzzles can quickly parse crucial clues without getting overwhelmed by walls of text.
- Localization & Dialogue Pass: Partner with a native English writer or use a dedicated narrative editor to polish machine-translated dialogue lines, ensuring character dialogue flows naturally while keeping critical clues clear and unambiguous.
- Puzzle Hints & Notebook Log: Implement an in-game detective notebook or automated clue tracker where decoded hints automatically log themselves, allowing players to easily cross-reference evidence without having to memorize previous text entries.
Awesome story concept, super engaging decryption puzzles, and impressive team effort! If you get a free minute, I'd really appreciate your feedback and rating on my solo jam entry as well: /jam/brackeys-16/rate/4953523