Demo materializes for Duppy Detective Tashia

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Playable slice of Jamaican-flavoured afterlife deduction mystery available now on Steam and itch.io

Mortal life here on Earth may be full of crime and tragedy, but at least there's a paradise to look forward to in the afterlife, right? Well, not so fast, says solo Jamaican developer Glen Henry of Spritewrench Studios, as there are still mysteries to be solved in the world beyond for the titular character of Duppy Detective Tashia. 

After being jostled in a crowd and losing her phone, a young woman named Tashia chases after her "assailant" only to end up in the bustling Halfway Market "hidden under a sprawling cotton tree." That's right, UNDER, because this is no ordinary market and Tashia is now, in fact, dead. This is a "magical place populated by Duppy, mischievous spirits who trick and teach in equal measure." (Duppy being a "word of African origin commonly used in various Caribbean islands, including Jamaica and Barbados.") But despite the market supposedly being "a place of rest and respite," there no time for rest now as the spider-god Bredda Anansi has been murdered, and the killer remains somewhere within the gates. To find the culprit and possibly even escape her fate, Tashia will need to "collect clues, uncover mysterious motives and confirm which suspect has the means to conduct this heinous caper." To do so, she must also learn about "their lives before the market, as well as their untimely deaths."

Described as a "point & click mystery adventure based on Caribbean folklore," Duppy Detective Tashia drops players into a "beautiful world that blends the magical with the mundane." The game is presented in a charming cartoony hand-drawn art style with a simple but somewhat unusual menu-driven setup. From a main overview screen with a map of Halfway Market, you'll select individual vending stalls and other locations such as the lighthouse, meat stand, pawn shop and central fountain. Each is populated by one of eight different characters "based on creatures of myth and legend," such as the River Mumma fish seller Miss Anansi, the Diablesse seamstress Miss Dee, the Crocodile Man Mistah Doyle, and the winged Archangel Mikey. Your suspects can all move around depending on the time of day, as tracked by the ever-present clock at the top of the map screen. 

At each stop you may have the opportunity to (automatically) examine it for clues and question whichever character is present at that time (if any). Conversation occurs through interactive visual novel-styled dialogue screens, and while there is no traditional inventory per se, you will acquire items of interest along the way. These must then be analysed by all five icon-based senses in order to yield new information to further your case. As you accumulate more and more evidence, resulting in new leads to pursue, you'll have to make choices and "cross reference statements based on the facts you've gathered." If that sounds like a lot of detail to track, it's all helpfully organized via your list of objectives and character profiles, making the gameplay experience entirely manageable, with a casual and cozy investigative feel. 

There's no word yet on when the full version of Duppy Detective Tashia might be ready, but you can begin your investigation right now as a playable demo is available on Steam and itch.io for Windows PC.