Demo leads the way to upcoming Hillthorn

• Announcements by Sam Amiotte-Beaulieu
• Published:

Dark card-based mystery thriller revealed on Steam for Windows, Mac and Linux

Uncovering new leads in a mystery investigation can sometimes feel like slowly drawing cards to uncover a bigger picture, and Canadian developer Fool Moon plans to utilize this approach quite literally in their upcoming supernatural card-based deduction game, Hillthorn.

As a private detective, you find yourself tasked with finding a missing girl last seen on the winding hiking trails around Hillthorn, a strange mountain hiding a wealth of secrets. Deep inside its forested trails is a “secluded community” of individuals who may hold the answers you seek. But you’re an outsider, and the locals are “reluctant to share details with someone outside their flock.” Using only your deductive reasoning and keeping a keen eye on subtle details, you must get to the truth of the girl’s disappearance – that is, if you don’t find yourself going missing as well. “Time is in short supply,” so players must be sure not to stumble too far while snooping around in the dark.

Hillthorn is a “dark investigation game” that plays quite unlike a traditional adventure game. Rather than travelling around scouring crime scenes and interrogating people, here everything is presented on a tabletop solely through Clue cards, the mystery unfolding “without a single word spoken” or even much in the way of reading. The world, characters, and story are all represented though cards that can be paired with action cards that let you Investigate, Explore and Talk to, as required. The simplest interactions involve single cards, while more complex ones can include a chain of cards instead. If a match is successful, new Clue cards with new details become available to draw, providing new leads to pursue. Each area you investigate has its own set of Clue cards, while some like the one for the missing girl or the mysterious mountain community stick with you across multiple locations.

As you “question” the townsfolk, sometimes you’ll receive a card representing the status or emotional state of the subject, providing additional layers of intrigue. You may learn from one person that the mysterious Jeremiah, who was the last person seen with the missing Olivia, was an upstanding member of the community, for example, while another individual will produce a card denoting anxiety and doubt. Many Clue cards can be used in ways outside of interrogation as well, such as an axe being used to break down a barricade or a set of directions to follow that lead you down a particular path. Each time you perform an action or engage a suspect, time progresses, and it is up to you to decide which threads are worth following and which might be dead ends. Some choices can incite suspicion, like showing an ill-gotten gain to a local who knows that what you’re asking about isn’t yours. You must therefore tread carefully, or risk uncovering a truth that leads only to a sudden end at the point of a sharp blade.

Hillthorn’s “world in cards” doesn’t yet have a release date, but there is a playable demo currently available on Steam for Windows, Mac and Linux for prospective gumshoes looking to see if the cards are in their favor.