1st page intro:

For as long as anyone can remember, the Harrow farm was the heart of the valley.

A hundred acres of perfect soil, weathered barns, and stubborn pride – all run by a man who knew every fencepost by name. But now, the best farmer in town is gone. No will. No plan. Just questions.

The family has gathered, pulled back to the land by grief, by greed, and by old ghosts.

Vibes and emotions:

• Exploration, curiosity, fantasy
• Vibrant, farm on the outside but darker and scarier behind the scenes
• Ghostly
• Justice/dramatic irony
• Bittersweet, empathy

Synopsis:

The best farmer in town is dead, and with him, the last shred of stability holding his family together. He was known for his quiet discipline and unmatched harvests, and while his passing seems to be simply of old age on the surface, the truth will soon be revealed.

The player steps into the story as the lawyer hired to be the will executor, although no will was ever written, as far as they know. The player, as a neutral party, simply feels an obligation to help facilitate the generational handoff, but when the farmer visits him as a ghost, telling him he was murdered and asking for vengeance, his goal changes. As he looks around, he notices peculiar things: The land itself seems restless. Fields are turning barren overnight. Livestock are acting strangely. And at night, strange silhouettes can be seen near the orchard.

As the family struggles for power, this lawyer not only seeks to understand the truth and bring peace to the farmer’s ghost but also to prove this truth in a court of law, ensuring justice for the offenders and ensuring the land goes to the child who deserves it. As he questions the family, explores the town, and connects with the ghost, he will gather clues to piece together the mystery – and the evidence to prove that mystery in the courtroom.

This game blends investigative gameplay, quiet exploration, and strategic thinking. Players are on a time limit to prove the case before time runs out, switching between the world of the courtroom and the farm and village to explore, all the while being accompanied by members of the spectral realm. The player must navigate both, slowly constructing a truth no one in the family wants to admit.

Other Stories:

As the character investigates the case, there are many other complex stories in this family’s history they will uncover. Some initial ideas for these other characters and stories are:

Mae — the farmer’s sister, who left town thirty years ago and swore never to return. Her name and story shows up on random envelopes, letters, and recordings.

Caleb — a quiet boy who never spoke at dinner but loved roaming every inch of the farmland.

Calvin — the local priest who is frightened at the ghost sightings in the area

Odette — a neighbor and rival farmer who sold her land the week before Harrow died

The Scarecrow — a local legend, blamed by children for missing tools and broken fences. Some claim it moves or screams at night, but no one knows for sure.

Tone:

• Illusory: Sometimes the imagination plays tricks on us, like when we find a mirage while looking out on a hot day, giving false hope that there is something at the end of a rainbow. We want our player to feel that the core mystery of the game lies under uncertainty—that the rainbow leads us down a different route—whether it’s that there’s a point of betrayal between characters in the plot, or that the truth discovered goes against what was once thought to be by everyone (possibly including the player too, at some point).
• Layered: Beyond the main premise, as our protagonist starts uncovering more of the story, the horizon broadens much more; within the farmer’s huge family, members interact with each other in different ways, and not all family members are fond of each other. Additionally, they all carry their own backstories, with some returning upon the news of the farmer’s passing after decades of being gone, and others growing mysteriously quiet—others vocal.
• Transcendent: With our main character as a lawyer with the rare ability to connect with the dead, the player can reveal hidden truths by conversing with the spirits of those long gone. These ghostly encounters offer emotional depth and vital clues and perhaps it could not count as permissible evidence, but it paints a broader picture than what’s there in the courtroom. It’s about the presence that goes beyond the current dimension of the living world. The ghostly abilities speak not to scare, but to guide, and it’s up to the player to bring their truths to light.

Setting:

Similar to Ghost Trick, where the protagonist is a ghost solving mysteries while uncovering a deeper story hidden beneath a world, our game also features a ghost character who navigates between the living and the dead. Both games involve using ghostly powers to manipulate objects and communicate with spirits, allowing the player to gather facts from the living and uncover hidden truths from the deceased.

Gameplay:

Players explore the village by visiting key locations, interviewing residents, and gathering physical clues. As a lawyer, the player must construct logical connections between evidence and testimony — but not everything is accessible to the living. The ghost companion can enter memory spaces tied to grief or trauma, revealing hidden details through spectral flashbacks or emotional echoes. The gameplay blends light investigation mechanics (e.g. dialogue trees, clue mapping) with the ability to revisit past scenes from two perspectives. Ultimately, players must build a case and choose how to present the truth — balancing justice, empathy, and emotional closure. At this early stage, we intend to use first person control with 2D settings.

The gameplay includes two major stages: 1. Exploration and Interaction – During this stage, the player explores the environment, interacts with NPCs, collects information, and makes choices that affect the story. 2. Final Defense – At the end of the investigation, the player presents the evidence they’ve gathered and delivers their final deduction or action to resolve the mystery.

The first stage is split into day and night cycles. During the day, the player walks around the village and farmland, talks to NPCs, and gathers both objects and information. At night, they may encounter the ghost, who offers a different perspective on the case. Some proposed mechanics include:

• Interacting with NPCs to increase their affinity — for example, giving them fruit as a gift might encourage them to share something they know about the farmer’s death.
• Managing two types of inventory: one for physical objects and one for collected information.
• Unlocking conversations with the ghost by sharing what was learned during the day — the ghost may then reveal alternative versions of events.
• Choosing whom to trust based on conflicting accounts from the living and the ghost.
• Asking the ghost to investigate areas the player can’t access.
• Using key objects to initiate conversations with abnormal animals, either directly or through the ghost.
• Visiting locations the next day to verify the ghost’s claims and collect solid proof.

The second stage takes place in court the following day, when the player presents their case (limited to within 7 in-game days to control total play time). Possible gameplay features include:

• Responding to prompt questions from the judge, and presenting signed testimony or calling witnesses.
• Challenging the judge’s doubts by providing relevant objects as evidence.
• A point-based system where, out of 10 possible key pieces of evidence, presenting at least 6 successfully convinces the judge to believe the player’s claim for justice.

We are trying to avoid strictly binary outcomes. Even if the judge doesn’t fully believe the player, they can return to the village and make choices about how to live with the truth. For example, after getting to know the community and learning the story of the Harrow farm, the player may choose whether or not to purchase it and live there.

An open question we’re still exploring is whether to allow direct control of the ghost. This would mean that, during nighttime segments, the player could choose to play as either the lawyer or the ghost, using their distinct abilities to gather different types of information. While this could add depth and variety to the gameplay, it would also introduce additional design and development complexity.

Key Challenges:

For designers:

1. Structure the mystery in the village: the mystery should be embedded in the village space, with clues or objects hidden somewhere. The sequence of which clue will be revealed first by the player needs careful spatial design, leading to smooth deduction, and clear orientation for the player. 
2. Ghost interaction: the ghost character is one of the biggest attractions of the game, yet also the tricky part to design. The ghost should be able to collect clues and information that the player is not capable of, but how and why the ghost interacts with the player is a challenge. For example, can the ghost talk, whether the ghost is the victim, whether the ghost has the memory of the crime, etc..
3. Pacing: the game should take 10-20 min to play, thus the logic and flow need to be clean and smooth. We want the player to feel free and willing to explore around, yet also with a sense of urgency and unease that keeps the player engaged and motivated to the main storyline. Possible solutions to achieve this balance are the use of background music, dialogues with villagers, and proper density of placed objects and clues, etc..

For tech:

1. Currently the game setting needs a toggle of interacting with ghosts and interacting with the real world. To manage these transitions, we could use global and scene variables to control the state of the world and apply visual filters or effects to signal when the player is in the ghost realm. Alternatively, subtle visual cues, such as transparency or color tinting, on ghost characters can help distinguish them from living NPCs.
2. Given our current design, we also need to implement a system for tracking clues. This includes developing a dedicated UI where players can review both ghost-sourced leads and legally admissible evidence, helping them piece together the case over time.
3. We’ll need a clear way to determine whether the player has successfully uncovered the truth. This could be done by requiring the player to collect a minimum set of key evidence, explain the core narrative elements, or answer a multiple-choice question that identifies the correct suspect and motive based on the clues they’ve gathered.

Appendix: individual ideas and playlists

Xueqi: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/05/individual-concept-doc-p2-2/

Niam: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/06/individual-concept-doc-niam/

Yutong: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/06/checkpoint-1-concept-doc-individual-team-member-deliverables/ 

Ginelle: https://mechanicsofmagic.com/2025/05/06/concept-doc-individual-gin/