Honkaku Detective Club “The Poison Murder At the Villa”

1661 people showed enough interest to download

———-When was this game released?

Well, I finished it in August of 2018, which is over five years ago.

I released it on a free game site called “Freem!”.

I just checked and it says that 1661 people have downloaded it.

I’m not sure if that’s a lot or not.

At least 1661 people showed enough interest to download it, so I guess it’s good.

I was in a company with terrible working conditions

———-How long did it take you to make the game?

I started working on it in 2014.

Of course, I started working on it after I finished the plot, so it must have taken a long time.

But I’d like to pat myself on the back.

2014-2018 was a very busy period for my day job.

I was in a company with terrible working conditions, where I was working over 100 hours of overtime per month.

In the midst of that busy life, I was able to slowly work my way up to completion, and I’m happy with that.

I wish I had a partner like Manfred Lee to help me

———-When did you start coming up with the plot?

I remember it was in 2006.

That was a very long time ago.

I was thinking of writing it as a novel at first.

But I was shocked at how poorly I could write, so I gave up on the novel.

I wish I had a partner like Manfred Lee to help me.

I used a free app called LIVEMAKER to create the game.

Unfortunately, it seems to have stopped being developed, but it was very easy to use for a beginner like me.

Fun sense of deduction that can’t be experienced in a novel

———-What were you particular about when making the game?

At the plot I came up with, I didn’t want it to be just a novel game where you just read the story.

Just like Hiroyuki Kanno did with every game he made.

He incorporated gimmicks that could only be done in a game.

That’s why my goal was to create a “fun sense of deduction that can’t be experienced in a novel”.

I was confident in the strength of my logic to point out the culprit.

But I didn’t want to make the player guess, I wanted to create a situation where the killer could be pointed out.

———-It’s the opposite of the norm.

Of course you can enjoy the fun of guessing, but if you have a problem section and then try to guess, it’s not that different from a novel, right?

That’s why I decided to make the solution completely different depending on how the protagonist acts in the problem section.

There are happy endings where you can get the culprit, but there are also times when you are stuck for lack of evidence.

The victim may even change.

———-Does that mean what you do in the “problem section” is important?

Yes, the player is left scratching his/her head, “How could I have acted in the problem section so that the protagonist could have pointed out the culprit in the solution section?”

Some might say that it’s just a bit of an abortion, but I don’t think there are many examples of this.

At least, I’ve never played one.

———-How about “Banshee’s last cry”?

It’s a masterpiece.

I remember playing it when I was in junior high school with great excitement.

Not many people talk about it, but “Third work” is just as fun.

It’s also very authentic.

In “Banshee’s last cry”, the story can change drastically depending on the main character’s actions in the problem section, but the deduction of the murder case never changes.

That’s what I meant when I said there aren’t many examples of it.

———-I see.

As a result, I’m still proud of the novelty of the game.

It looks super retro, and it’s a game where you just make choices, but we think it feels new somehow.

I think that’s because of the structural aspect I just mentioned.

———-I enjoyed it too.

Yeah, I know I’ve said some esoteric things, but as long as you enjoy the game, that’s all that matters.

Some people wrote reviews on blogs, and some people did live streams on Youtube.

It made me very happy and encouraged me a lot.

Very obvious that they have a strong influence on me

———-Do you have any favorite game creators?

The game creators that have influenced me are Masato Hiruta

and the aforementioned Hiroyuki Kanno.

It’s very obvious that they have a strong influence on me.

Of course, I have been influenced in no small way by all mystery games.

When I was in elementary school, I played “NES Detective Club: The Vanishing Successor” and it was an unforgettable experience.

I was also influenced by “Cross Detective Story”.

Or rather, the cryptic tricks could be called a variant of Cross Detective Story.

Oops, if I talk too much, I’ll spoil it.

Hardcore game with no kawaii elements and no over-the-top presentation

———-On the other hand, who are the major influences among novelists?

Ellery Queen is probably the biggest influence on my plotting.

I don’t get asked this often, but I’d have to go with “The Tragedy of Z”.

That’s probably the reason why my plots are mainly based on a process of elimination.

———-Okay, can you finish up by saying something?

What? You leaves all the work to me.

Well, that’s how we ended up with a hardcore game with no kawaii elements and no over-the-top presentation.

I’m currently working on porting it to the android app version.

This time, I’m writing the program using something called “Tyrano Script”.

It’s taking a lot of time and effort.

I can’t wait to finish it and release it to the public.

I’m looking forward to the day when everyone can play this game on their smartphones.

February 28,2022　Freakz