Reaplaced

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A reaper, a Halloween party and a locked-room murder to solve.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Browser
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Free
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (52 of 57 reviews); rated 4.8 out of 5 by 28 players on itch.io
Length: 2 to 3 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse or keyboard; one-button play is supported
Made by: Mystery Gamedev
Released: 2023

Get it on Steam itch.io (play in the browser or download)

What frightens Not frightening: a spooky Halloween murder mystery. A grim reaper is drawn to a Halloween house party by the soul of a locked-room murder victim and must work out who killed them, and how, among three costumed guests; the makers warn of text descriptions of blood, gore and death and blood shown on screen, but the tone is a light whodunnit.
Content: blood, descriptions of gore and death, strong language, alcohol.

A free Halloween murder-mystery visual novel by the Mystery Gamedev community. Grea, a reaper of souls, arrives at a Halloween house party where a guest has died in a locked room, and to reap the soul she has to work out who the killer was and how it was done.

About Reaplaced

Reaplaced is a free visual novel made in one month for the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam 2023 by members of Mystery Gamedev, a community of mystery game makers whose games include Detective Butler, Methods, SoulSet and Game of Fourtune. It is on Steam for Windows, Mac and Linux, and on itch.io, where it also plays in the browser.

Grea Perrim is a reaper of souls. In her world a soul's worth depends on how strange its death was, and her senses lead her to a Halloween house party with three guests in costume: Mio in an eyeball dress, Bernard in an owl mask, and Kai. There she finds the most valuable kind of soul, the victim of a locked-room murder. To claim it, she has to name the killer and explain the death in full. Was it a human, a witch or something else?

You read the story and talk to the guests, and the clues you find are kept in a Clues screen so you can try to solve it before the game reveals the answer. It is linear, with about 25,000 words, and it has one ending: the choices you make only change the order in which you see scenes.

The party house is dressed for Halloween with carved pumpkins, fake cobwebs, nooses and bat stickers, and there is blood in the scenes; the makers warn of descriptions of blood, gore and death, strong language and implied drinking. But it is a puzzle story more than a horror one, told with humour and anime-style art, and it does not try to scare you. It suits mystery fans who want a free story to read over an October evening.

How to play Reaplaced

Download it free from Steam, or play it in the browser or download it from its itch.io page.
Read the story and click or press a key to move the dialogue on.
Talk to the guests and look around the party house as Grea.
Open the Clues screen to review what you have found.
Work out the killer and the method yourself before the game reveals the answer.

Screenshots

Reaplaced key art: Grea with her scythe behind the game's white title

Reaplaced screenshot: Grea in a living room decorated with a pumpkin, a ghost and a Happy Halloween banner

Reaplaced screenshot: Grea and two costumed guests at a front door lit with jack-o'-lanterns

Reaplaced screenshot: three party guests in costume in a dark room with blood on the floor

Reaplaced screenshot: the Clues screen describing the house's Halloween decorations

Tips

Read the Clues screen before the final scenes; the answer is fair to work out.
Your choices do not change the ending, so pick whatever you are curious about.
Use the accessibility options if you want one-button play or a different text speed.