It Was You announcement reveals whodunit, where and when

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Multiplayer social deduction murder mystery for 5-12 people coming to Steam this year for PC

It was Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick! Wait, no, that's Clue (or Cluedo, as Europeans know it.) The same general principle applies, however, though with much more serious consequences in It Was You, Snowfall Games' upcoming multiplayer social deduction thriller in which you have the chance to bump your pals off one by one and try to get away with it – that is, unless one or all of them are killers and do it to you instead. 

A group of friends are invited to a Halloween murder mystery party at the deserted Tylock Estate. Arriving at the mansion dressed up for the occasion, they begin playing an "intricate mystery" designed for them by a mutual acquaintance. Each person is assigned a role, either detective or killer, with one group tasked with staging murders and covering them up, and the other figuring out whodunit. At first it all seems harmless as the expected non-player guests are targeted for removal. But by the end of the first round, the game "begins to take a dark turn [and] the 'murders' start to feel all too real." With the stakes raised dramatically, the props originally used as evidence "quickly become key to the cast's survival."  Now, as "suspicions rise and horrified friends begin to turn on one another, exiling those they presume to be accursed, one question lingers: What happens when a game is no longer a game and what happens when you can't quit?"

Presented in free-roaming, first-person 3D, It Was You is a multiplayer party game for 5-12 players. Those assigned the role of detective will use investigative tools such as a magnifying glass, blacklight, and even a lie detector in order to uncover evidence that might lead to a killer's identity. The killer(s), meanwhile, will have items of their own to manipulate crime scenes, avoid detection, frame others – and, of course, to commit the murders themselves. Both groups can work together to better achieve their goals, but beware cooperating with those you aren't sure you can trust. Complicating matters are secret massages in the creepy old manor that allow for "hidden escapes," while all sounds, including players talking amongst themselves via voice chat, "echo the halls with realistic reverberation and occlusion." Whenever detectives feel like they've uncovered enough evidence for accusation, they can "call for a discussion and vote to exile whoever they believe is guilty," without any assurance they've actually got it right.

There is no specific release date for It Was You just yet, but it's due out sometime later this year and early clues indicate a launch on Steam for Windows PC, with an official website for those who wish to investigate further in the meantime. 

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