The Screaming Skull
A
mystery / thriller
storygame by
Will11
Player Rating
6.07/8
"#194
overall
, #16 for
2020
"
Based on
61 ratings
since 07/08/2020
Played 793 times (finished 59)
Story Difficulty
4/8
"March in the swamp"
Play Length
4/8
"A well spent lunch break"
Maturity Level
6/8
"I'll need to see some identification"
Some material may be inappropriate for persons under age 16. If this were a movie, it would probably be between PG-13 and R.
Tags
Mystery
In this medium-length Whodunnit you assume the role of a professional Detective having to solve a crime with a difference: not only do you need to identify the perpetrator of a brutal and gruesome crime but you also need to identify the victim too... In this one I've deliberately gone for a more grim and gritty "true crime" sort of thing than my usual stories so if you suffer from a delicate nervous constitution or are just a bit of a wuss then probably this story is not for you :)
Player Comments
This is indeed an enjoyable story! One could argue that it is a bit linear (there are choices galore, yes, but most readers are going to methodically go through every room and ask every question, and ultimately there are only two pass/fail endings) but it is a fun and well-crafted read.
As a mystery, it differs quite a bit from a typical mystery story. For instance, the usual mystery detective is interested in determining not only the killer's identity, but also the motive and opportunity. Often, a few miscues are intentionally thrown in to keep everyone on their toes (i.e. the creepy gardener who seems suspicious at first but turns out to be a real nice dude). But often one character emerges from the crowd as having the most compelling motive to have done the deed, as well as the perfect opportunity.
Here, we don't even know who the victim is, and none of the housemates seem to have grudges with each other. Thus I was thinking "spontaneous combustion" the entire time, especially since everyone was a "social chain smoker." One too many Malibus, and the next thing you know you've set yourself on fire. Oops.
But that's not where this is going. Some readers might find the final revelation either a true surprise or a disappointment, but either way Will11 provides his reasoning on an optional epilogue of sorts.
There is no real branching here, although it is possible to reach an unwinnable conclusion; the only way to guard against that is to behave like a good detective and be methodical. And maybe take notes, too.
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—
Bill_Ingersoll
on 7/9/2020 11:18:07 PM with a score of 0
Played this game for a class assignment and loved it! I have a difficult time focusing (which makes reading a struggle for me) so it took some time for me to get into the game. I loved all of the "obvious" clues and the ones hidden in subtext. I really enjoyed taking notes and trying to remember who said what/discover who was lying. A really fun game that's not too easy or too hard to play. Well done!
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— Christina on 12/9/2023 3:33:31 PM with a score of 0
This is a good story. It allowed me to flex my old investigator muscles again. There is a good depiction of the college student experience as well, complete with the more drinking and checking up on people than actually having fun.
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—
urnam0
on 7/9/2023 8:54:45 AM with a score of 0
As a game ots too easy. I expected something weird to happen at the end. Same with Black Sea island, it was also quite easy, wish you would make tougher ones. This made for a good half an hour of entertainment. Good work.
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— TheWordsmith on 7/1/2023 3:45:51 AM with a score of 0
noice
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— funkykidlol on 6/6/2023 5:32:02 AM with a score of 0
pretty engaging, fun, made me think
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— john on 5/23/2023 12:39:17 AM with a score of 0
Great story, and I had a ton of fun writing down all the little details I noticed. My one qualm is that it felt a bit short, but I understand and see that a whole lot of effort went into this. Great job!
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—
GreekMythologyGeek
on 5/15/2023 2:28:32 PM with a score of 0
Really engaging and well written murder mystery. As soon as I started reading I could hear the Luther theme song start playing. Good job.
**SPOILERS**
There are a few minor tweaks that I would recommend. First, it would be fairly easy to implement a few tracking variables to tweak the descriptions of the some of the rooms based on where you have already been (i.e. the comparison between the two maintenance rooms if you haven't been to the downstairs one first), Secondly I'm not sure how realistic it is that the body would burn so completely in less that four hours with only half a bottle (or so) or high-proof vodka. While it would certainly char the skin and maybe make identification difficult, but it wouldn't have reduced half the body to bones without a lot more fuel. Lastly, Richard wasn't all that bad off, wouldn't he have smelled the burning body when he came down to the kitchen and broke the trophy?
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—
Anthraxus
on 4/4/2023 9:41:16 AM with a score of 0
it was nice and it was worth the time you should make more
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— GenesisRebbot1 on 3/29/2023 12:20:11 PM with a score of 0
I am not a fan of mystery If games. However, this one is well crafted with a good pace, and good developed interviews. However, the game is superlinear and doesn't feel really interactive Extra interactive content and one or two endings more different could make game better. But as writing is a very solid piece.
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—
poison_mara
on 7/12/2020 8:38:15 AM with a score of 0
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