Martha Is Dead

About Martha Is Dead

Martha Is Dead is the second game from LKA, the Italian studio behind The Town of Light, published by Wired Productions in 2022 on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. It is played by default in Italian with subtitles, and its setting is built from real places and the history of the last years of the war in Italy.

Giulia is the daughter of a German officer living in a villa in the Tuscan countryside. One morning her twin sister Martha is found drowned in the lake, her body desecrated. Giulia is left with the shock of the loss, the fallout of a murder and secrets of her own, while German and Allied forces fight ever closer.

Much of the game is quiet and beautiful. You walk, cycle and row around the countryside, and photography is central: you take pictures with a 1940s camera and develop them in a fully working darkroom, and what the photos show moves the story on. Things marked with a small camera icon tell more of the story when you photograph them, and extra lenses and film lie around to be found. One section has you tap out Morse code on a telegraph to reach the resistance. Then the quiet breaks. Puppet-theatre sequences replay repressed memories, tarot cards and symbols summon the spirit of the Lady from local folklore, and some scenes show graphic violence to bodies, including self-harm. The game opens and closes with content warnings, and its final scenes can be played in a version toned down by the developer.

It is a slow narrative game about grief and the horror of war more than a game of scares. It suits players who want mature, story-led psychological horror and who are ready for its hard subjects.

How to play Martha Is Dead

1. Explore the villa and the countryside on foot, by bicycle and by boat, following the story's tasks.
2. Take photographs with the camera, choosing lens, focus and film, and develop them in the darkroom.
3. Look at your developed photos closely; they reveal clues and move the investigation on.
4. Read letters and newspapers and listen to the radio to follow the war around you.
5. Play out the puppet-theatre scenes to bring back Giulia's memories.

Tips

• Use the map and the diary to keep track of what to photograph next.
• Take your time; there is no fail state, and the countryside holds side stories.
• Look at the store's content warning before you start; some scenes are very graphic.
• Photograph the things marked with a small camera icon; they tell more of the story.

Questions