Mystery of the Blackwood manor

Mystery of the blackwood manor
Dossier
Room 1
Room 2
Room 3
Room 4
Room 5
Room 6
Room 7

Mystery of the Blackwood Manor A detective mystery game built with the Maki Framework for the Maki 2D Pixel RPG Game Hackathon.

Game Overview Mystery of the Blackwood Manor is a first-person detective mystery game focused on logic puzzles, clue gathering, and interrogation. You play as a detective who arrives at Blackwood Manor in Vermont on November 2, 1987, at 8:30 AM. Arthur Blackwood, 58, has been found dead in his study on the second floor. A fillet knife is stuck in his chest. The door was locked from the inside with bolts. There is blood on the cook's apron and the cleaner's sleeve. Both claim they are innocent.

Nine suspects are inside the manor. No one has left. The truth is not what you expect. The truth is what no one dares to say.

Story Summary Arthur Blackwood is dead. The door was locked from inside. Nine people are suspects. The cook and the cleaner have blood on their clothes but insist they are not the killers. You must explore the manor, find keys, open locked doors, read letters, examine paintings, enter number codes, and piece together what really happened that night.

The truth is buried under decades of secrets, lies, and one terrible crime that no one was ever punished for.

Suspects Nine suspects are present in the manor. All have American names.

Role Name Age Cleaner Martha White 54 Cook Gordon "Gordy" Floyd 48 Mechanic Eddie "Tinker" Reynolds 41 Grandmother Elinor Gray 83 Grandfather Walter Blackwood 85 Brother Samuel "Sam" Blackwood 56 Sister Clara Blackwood 54 Other Brother Benjamin "Ben" Blackwood 52 Butler Winston "Win" Hill 63 Game Systems Inventory Bar A horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen displays icons for all collected items. You can click on letters to read them again. You can click on keys and then click on doors or safes to attempt unlocking. Items can be combined by dragging one item onto another. For example, a key can be used on a painting frame to unlock hidden compartments.

Notebook A NOTES button on the right side of the screen opens a text field where the detective can write free text. Notes save automatically. You can record alibis, codes, suspicions, and connections between clues.

Keys and Doors Several keys are hidden throughout the manor. Each key unlocks a specific door, safe, or hidden compartment. Some doors require both a key and a code.

Number Codes Certain locks require entering a number code. Codes are found on paintings, in letters, or on objects hidden around the manor.

Painting Clues Paintings are not just decoration. Some have hidden compartments behind their frames. Some have writing on their backs. One contains a microfilm that requires a magnifying glass to read.

Letters Letters are the most important clues. They contain confessions, accusations, secrets, and lies. You can read them as many times as you want from your inventory. Each letter is written by a different person and reveals a piece of the puzzle.

Letters Found in the Game Letter 1 - From Ruth Hayes to Walter and Elinor Blackwood

"I am taking the money and leaving. The child is yours. No one will ever know. But if I ever find out that you do not love him, I will return and I will destroy you."

Letter 2 - From Elinor to Walter, written ten years ago

"Arthur killed our child. Not the one we gave away for adoption. Our real son. Our own blood. Arthur found out who he was and ran him over with his car. I received the report from the private detective. I am sorry to tell you this, but I can no longer remain silent."

Letter 3 - From Gordy the cook to his brother

"Old Walter asked me to leave a knife in his room. He said he wanted to cut apples. I gave it to him. Now that knife is in Arthur's chest. Walter threatened me. He said if I tell anyone, he will say I did it myself. What should I do?"

Letter 4 - From Eddie the mechanic to his diary

"Walter paid me ten thousand dollars for repairing the walls. I built him rails and a remote control. I did not know what they were for. Last night I saw blood on his legs. He was not in his wheelchair. He was walking."

Letter 5 - From Arthur, unsent, found hidden in his shoe

"I killed the man who claimed to be the true heir. It was a mistake. He was blackmailing me. Now he is gone. If anyone reads this, do not look for the truth. It will destroy you."

Letter 6 - From Martha the cleaner to her daughter

"Last night I was cleaning the study when Arthur called me in. He was drunk. He said: The butler will die tonight, but I will do the job with the knife. I was trembling. He grabbed my sleeve. That is why there is blood on it. Not mine. His? I do not know. I am afraid."

Key and Code Locations Keys Small silver key - Found in butler Winston's pocket. Unlocks Arthur's old desk in his bedroom.

Rusted mechanical key - Found under Walter's pillow. Unlocks the basement door behind the boiler leading to the tunnels.

Tiny golden key - Found inside Arthur's pocket watch on the body. Unlocks a small drawer under a painting in the study.

Key fragment - Found in Eddie's toolbox. Part of a mechanism in Eddie's workshop that requires both the fragment and a code.

Codes Code 1947-10-12 - Found on the back of a wedding photograph of Elinor and Walter. Unlocks the safe in Walter's room.

Code 3357 - Engraved on the back of the rusted mechanical key. Unlocks the digital door in Eddie's workshop.

Code 8241 - Calculated from the time of death 20:41 and Arthur's birth date. Unlocks the floor panel in Arthur's study.

Code 1123 - Found in Martha's letter to her daughter. Unlocks a box in Elinor's room.

Painting Clues Portrait of young Walter - In the hall. Behind the frame is a letter from Elinor to Ruth Hayes.

Painting of the manor - On the second floor corridor. On the back is a hand-drawn map of the secret tunnels drawn by Eddie.

Painting "Deer in the Forest" - In the dining room. Inside the eye of the deer is a microfilm. Requires a magnifying glass from the inventory. The microfilm shows a police report about Daniel Gray's car accident.

Portrait of Elinor - In her room. Behind the canvas is a dried blood stain. A luminol test reveals it is Arthur's blood from when he was a child.

The Blood on the Cook and Cleaner Gordon the cook has blood on his apron and hands. He was cutting meat in the kitchen an hour before the murder. After the body was found, he tried to remove the knife and got blood on himself.

Martha the cleaner has blood on her right sleeve. She found the body the next morning and fell into the blood pool. She has no motive and no access to the weapon.

Neither is the killer.

Interrogation System Every suspect has three levels of interrogation.

Level 1 is the initial conversation. Standard answers.

Level 2 becomes available after finding the first clues against that suspect.

Level 3 becomes available after collecting full evidence against that suspect.

Each suspect reacts differently. Some confess. Some lie until the end. Some break down when confronted with letters or physical evidence.

Alibi System The time of death is between 8:15 PM and 8:55 PM.

Strong alibis: Martha White, Gordon Floyd, Clara Blackwood. These characters were seen by others during the time of death.

Weak alibis: Eddie Reynolds, Elinor Gray, Winston Hill. These characters have no witnesses but some physical evidence supports their location.

Very weak alibis: Walter Blackwood, Samuel Blackwood, Benjamin Blackwood. These characters have no witnesses and no physical evidence supporting their location.

The detective must use letters, keys, and codes to verify or disprove each alibi.

Ending Choices After collecting all clues, keys, codes, and letters, and after unlocking the tunnels, the detective can choose one of four endings.

Arrest the killer. The killer confesses everything. Dies in the courtroom of a heart attack. The grandmother never forgives the detective.

Keep the secret. The detective leaves the manor and never returns. The family continues to live in the lie.

Blame the wrong person. This is a mistake. The detective loses the game. Bad ending.

Reveal the truth only to the grandmother. She thanks the detective and says she has been waiting ten years for someone to understand.

First 15 Minutes of Gameplay You arrive at Blackwood Manor at 8:30 AM in the rain. A police officer meets you at the door and tells you the body is upstairs in the study. The door was locked from inside. The nine suspects are in the living room. The cook and cleaner have blood on their clothes.

You go upstairs to examine the body. Arthur Blackwood is sitting in a wheelchair with a knife in his chest. On the desk there is whiskey, scattered papers, and a keychain.

You search the body and find a pocket watch that feels heavy, a lighter with the initials D.G., and an empty envelope addressed to Clara Blackwood.

On the desk you find a will document and an empty folder labeled Daniel.

You examine the painting on the wall. Behind the portrait of young Walter you find a small silver key and a letter from Ruth Hayes.

You go downstairs to interrogate the suspects. Martha the cleaner tells you Arthur was drunk last night and said the butler would die. Gordy the cook tells you Walter asked him for a knife. He says Walter threatened him.

You use the silver key to unlock Arthur's old desk in his bedroom. Inside you find a second letter and a photograph of a young man labeled My Son 1983.

You now know that Arthur killed someone. The investigation continues.

Technical Information This game is built with the Maki Framework for the Maki 2D Pixel RPG Game Hackathon. The game uses first-person point-and-click mechanics with inventory management and logic-based puzzle solving. All artwork is pixel art style. All dialogue is text-based with no voice acting.

The game requires approximately two to four hours to complete depending on how quickly the player finds clues and solves codes.

Credits Story and game design created for the Maki 2D Pixel RPG Game Hackathon.

All characters, locations, and events are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons or events is coincidental.

Good luck, detective. The truth is waiting for you in Blackwood Manor.