David Wesst

The Roottrees are Dead is the closest game I have played that resembles the deductive gameplay style of Return of the Obra Dinn. It isn't as good as that Lucas Pope epic, but it was worth my time.

What I Didn't Like

No Variety in Gameplay

Roottrees is a deduction logic game that provides a single type of gameplay: Wikipedia Rabbit Hole Exploration.

If this game is on your radar, then you are probably one of "those" that gets lost in the weeds, tracking down information about whatever topic that you have on your mind. It becomes a problem when there isn't anything else to explore other than "the internet".

To be fair, it's not bad gameplay. Especially the way I play these, which is with my better half, as we sift through the mysteries. But, I would have liked a break from staring at screens to find other clues, although I am not sure what sort of gameplay I would have added.

It is easy to say I don't like something, but much harder to share a constructive suggestion.

The Duration / Burnout

The first scenario was great. The second scenario was a bit much, but was still welcome after taking an evening off. The ending, however, of the second scenario was where I felt burnout.

Roottrees took my partner and I about 20-ish hours to go through. Given, with most games where we tag team mysteries, we explore everything we can, listen to all the audio, examine all the books. But 20 hours of deduction puzzles is apparently too much for me. Especially without variety in the gameplay.

What I Liked

The Mysteries within the Mystery

With each scenario you have a goal, and to achieve that goal you need to solve a bunch of little family mysteries. As you solve those, other related mysteries reveal themselves. As you solve those, you piece together more of the family history as a whole, which continues to build until you fill everything in.

And nothing quite beats that "a-ha" moment when you discover a new clue that verifies a theory you've had.

The Content & Characters

I put these together because you don't really get to know most of the characters in the game. Just their histories through the different types of content created by the developers.

During my playthrough, and although there wasn't a lot of variety in gameplay, there was a decent amount of content to explore. Various periodicals, webpages, and of course audio files. The way it was all written was as-though the protagonist (you) were narrating what you found (or didn't find, to keep you on track). I really appreciated the writing.

As for the characters themselves, like I said, you don't really get to know them because they are just people in all these articles you need to sift through. But again, you end up rooting (pun intended) for, while others you hope get what is coming to them. Which is what makes scenario two as interesting as it is, and keeps you wanting to go.

The Conclusion

Although I left feeling burnt out on the game, I really enjoyed the time I spent with it. The mystery is pure tabloid drama, but in a fun way and I really enjoyed sifting through all the content to put things together.

I only wish it would have been broken up a little more so I could enjoy it in smaller chunks.