Demo unearthed for Dane Krams's The Big Hollow: 1982 

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Full version of hand-drawn criminal profiling adventure from the creator of Anna's Quest coming later this year to Windows and Mac

It was several years ago that indie developer Dane Krams, creator of the acclaimed Anna's Quest, first revealed plans for a detective-driven mystery. But adventure games take a long time to make and often go through several iterations, like in the case of The Big Hollow: 1982, which we can see first-hand in the newly released demo. 

While the general premise of an "atmospheric investigation" remains from before, the game now takes place (as its new subtitle suggests) in the 1980s and represents a "bit of a new direction from the original vision." The year is important, as protagonist Desmond Ward is a new recruit at the FBI, where "the term 'serial killer' is as new as their Behavioral Science Unit." Desmond is "methodical and intuitive" but inexperienced with the burgeoning but still widely disregarded "art of criminal profiling." Under the tutelage of Lenore Davidson, the "cold, exacting representative of the BSU," players find themselves thrust into the middle of a significant case when two women are found strangled "along the same stretch of backroad deep in America's coal country." 

The murders rock the victims' "small truck stop community where everybody knows everybody," raising questions that "no one dared to ask out loud." But the case is "full of fragments, contradictions, and unfolding secrets," so to prove your worth to the Bureau, you'll need to "decipher the why behind the crime, shaping Lenore’s impression of your potential as a profiler." After all, this isn't just about finding one deranged murderer, it's "a test of whether these monsters can really be mapped." What you discover and how you interpret the evidence you uncover will have lasting consequences, as "your insights could prove the unit’s worth – or expose its limitations."

As we've come to expect from Krams, The Big Hollow features beautifully hand-drawn 4K artwork and a simple point-and-click interface, accompanied here by partial voice-overs and an original score by composer Nick Roder (Roadwarden, This Dead Winter, Mary & George). Otherwise, however, the new game couldn't be more different from its charming fantasy-themed predecessor, trading in witch's curses, ESP and teddy bears for a gritty contemporary environment and real-world crime-solving based on actual "FBI thought processes and procedure." Described as a "dark, atmospheric 2D animated murder mystery," the game is inspired by true crime stories and serial killer fiction as well as modern deduction games. It's homicide investigation as seen through "a grounded, cinematic lens," which the developer refers to as "The Case of the Golden Idol meets The Silence of the Lambs."

In a story that gradually expands in complexity throughout its "tightly focused 2.5 to 3 hour experience," gameplay will take a variety of forms, each presented in first-person slideshow-style fashion. After collecting evidence from photos and other "ever-expanding sources (crime scenes, testimonies, notepad indentations, and more)," you'll formulate "questions about what is observed, and then [use] that evidence to solve these questions." Each answer leads to "more discoveries, more evidence, and more questions," and the cycle continues until the culprit is identified. All the while, as a student learning the FBI's then-controversial profiling technique, you'll be "invited to interpret various aspects of crimes," such as "the behaviors of the killer, the behaviors of the victim, the similarities between victims," and other details a more conventional investigation might overlook. Your proficiency is being monitored, but it's up to you to "interpret evidence as you see fit, and influence the outcome of the investigation." 

Originally conceived over ten years ago, The Big Hollow: 1982 is now nearly complete and expected to be launched sometime this year on Steam and GOG for Windows and Mac. There's no need to wait to start honing your profiling skills, however, as a playable demo is now available to download, exclusively on Steam for Windows PC.