Games

Boreas' Last Breath

Text-Based Murder Mystery Party Game

Boreas Aquilo, owner of Boreas Transcontinental, invites nine guests to a raucous birthday celebration on his private train. Disgruntled business partners, disdainful family, and dubious friends rub elbows and scheme over hors d'oeuvres washed down with strong spirits.

Following a night of heavy drinking, mischief, and plotting, Boreas is found dead. As one of the nine guests, you must shake away the hangover and figure out who is the killer... it might have been you.

A simple party game for up to nine players with characters based on winter folklore.

View my code on Github here!

View the code as a pdf here!

Download the game on Github here!

Download the game on itch.io here!

Due to the game having images in it - it must be downloaded as a zip file to get the full experience.

Excerpts

Despoina

You stare, perhaps too long, at Despoina's strange bony fingers. How had you not noticed those before? They look like knobby twigs. Despoina tucks her hands into her pockets, perhaps aware of their appearance. Gloves. Wasn't she wearing a pair of gloves.

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Despoina stares at you and then looks away as if she can't be bothered, then looks back and stares. Why does she keep staring? Ah, but you know why. She has all the firtatious grace of a lizard. It was more charming when you were drunk.

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The riding boots, the riding outfit... Despoina even wore her custom riding helmet to the party. Who does that? She's so obessed with horses, you've noticed she's even been shedding horse hair. Did she bring one on the train?

Khione

Swirling the leftovers in your glass, you contemplate whether you should ever drink again. Or maybe just not drink anything Khione serves up. Now that you think about it. She made everyone's drink and served them.

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Khione moves silently throughout the train which takes skill for someone with such a large key ring. A key to every door, cabinet, and safe. A lot of responsibility... a lot of power.

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The moment everyone heard about Boreas' death, you saw Khione throw something away in the trash. You pick it up and read it. It's a list of chores. A long list with everything from scrubbing toilets to meal prep. With this kind of workload, it would be a surprise if Khione had a personal life at all.

Ded Moroz

Jingle jingle. Jingle jingle. You are going to kill the saleswoman who convinced you that beaded coats were "in". Sure, it looked good in the store. It looks good now! You look great in anything! But damn does it sound awful.

⚔️⚔️⚔️

Ded Moroz has this strange thing that he does when he's bored. You're not even sure that he knows that he does it. He twists the top of his cane, pulls it up an inch - just far enough to see the glint of the steel concealed within - and then drops it back it place and twist locks it.

Itzlacoliuhqui

The playboy will talk non-stop about his business ventures and investments like some number-loving nerd, but you know better. He skates along the surface of what an investor really does and honestly, has way too few grey hairs to be pulling off the deals he brags about. But if he's not being paid by massive dividends, where did he get the money to pay for that expensive time piece and those exquisite cuff links? You don't know anyone who owns emeralds that large!

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There was something about the way that Itzlacoliuhqui smoked that wasn't about the nicotine, it was about setting the stage. The cigarette was just a way to draw attention and keep up the bad boy appearance.

Marzanna

You're no fashion designer, but Marzanna's outfit screams of someone who thinks the wealthy wear what the magazines sell. It checks all the right boxes to look wealthy, but the materials don't drape right. You do remember a half-decent knit shawl that she was wearing looked classically lovely, but unfortunately it seems like that's the one article of clothing she no longer is wearing.

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You've noticed Marzanna struggle to carry around her bag with her. By the way the strap digs into her shoulder, it must be carrying something awfully heavy. You wait until she sets it down for a moment to take a look. A thief! Everything from silver cutlery to gold ashtrays to an engraved lighter is stuffed into her bag.

Skadi

You know Skadi from all the winter althetic magazines. Her picture is everywhere on advertisements for everything from snowshoes to brandy. In every photoshoot, she wears the same fur coat. It's her signature look and the way everyone identifies her in public. You swear the only way you knew it was her at the party was she was wearing it... but she isn't anymore.

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Despite the dress code for the party being cocktail attire, Skadi still wore her branded ski outfit complete with boots. If that wasn't bad enough, her boots are leaving black soot throughout the train cars.

Hine Takurua

You catch a mouthful of Hine-Takurua's perfume as she liberally applies it without noticing you behind her. While lovely, it smells overwhelmingly sweet. As you stumble away and gasp for fresh air by the windows, you wonder if it's similar in the way those fly eating plants smell lovely to attract their prey. In small doses, that perfume would lure in many an interested prey.

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The huge wedding ring glints on Hine-Takurua's finger, yet you remember that same hand draped over Boreas' arm... draped on his waist... and if your hungover mind isn't mistaken, caressing his backside. If she wanted to start a scandal, she was doing very well.

Shakok

Shakok's shoes are so well polished and such a serious shade of black, that you wouldn't have noticed the slight powdering of soot on the shoes if it weren't for the intense glare from the sunlight outside the window. The shoes didn't have that same blinding shine to them they had before.

💼💼💼

While the train cars warm up in the afternoon heat, Shakok removes his jacket for a moment and leaves it draped on a chair. You take this time to search the pockets. You open the small notebook tucked away inside your jacket just to look at the numbers. Dozens of companies are tracked with their finances. Near the end of the list, red numbers disrupt the order. Boreas Transcontinental.

Naneh Sarma

She never stops knitting. You can't really tell what it is Naneh Sarma is making. Is it part of a sweater? A hat? A scarf? The stitches look irregular and strange. You'd think if she never stops knitting that she would be actually good at it.

🧶🧶🧶

The more you look at Naneh Sarma, the more the little old lady facade chips away. That same irregular stitching pattern is present on her cardigan. Different colors of yarn that are seemingly strange an ecclectic may be a code or information. Unlike her bag full of strange projects, she only ever adds on to her cardigan. Could this be a ledger of sorts?

🧶🧶🧶

Naneh Sarma's needles catch the light as they rhythmically follow an unknown pattern. Thin, sharp steel needles.

Character art by Giselle Martinez

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