The Deed (0)

Gameplay Overview

The Deed is a stringently ordered game that relies on the player choosing a set of actions that will consequently affect the nature of later game elements, such as dialogue spoken by other characters, how other characters will react to you and the situation, and ultimately the manner in which the game concludes. In this last case the game will determine, based on your previous actions, whether you have successfully incriminated another in your sister's death, and if you have become the sole heir.

The game is ordered into three distinct phases: Arrival, Dinner is served, and Doing the Deed.

Arrival

This phase begins as soon as you arrive at the manor. During this phase you are able to explore the many rooms of the mansion, many of which are closely associated with a character living at the manor, e.g. the kitchen is associated with the maid, the parlour with the mother, etc.

In addition to exploring the environment, you are able to communicate with all the inhabitants. All conversations, though limited, have multiple dialogue options that each affect the outcome of the game.

During this phase it is your objective to locate two items: a weapon (the weapons being a pool cue, shard of glass, shotgun, rat poison, rapier, broken broom shaft, rope, knife, and your bare hands) and an incriminating piece of evidence. The weapon will be used by the protagonist to murder his sister, and the protagonist will leave the evidence in whatever room he chooses. Typically evidence will be planted in the room of the person you wish to incriminate. After locating both a weapon and a piece of evidence, the phase will end, and you'll be taken to the second phase, Dinner is served.

Dinner is served

This phase is the shortest and merely requires the player to select a number of dialogue options.

Doing the Deed

Doing the Deed is the last phase. During this phase the player must plant the evidence, murder his sister with the chosen weapon (alternatively, the player can use his bare hands in all scenarios in lieu of the chosen weapon), and relocate his person to another room before the murder is discovered.

Once the murder is discovered, the game will introduce a police official who will run through a dialogue with the protagonist, the nature of which will be altered slightly dependent on the decisions the player has made. After the dialogue, the game will transition to a new scene and the protagonist will engage in a monologue that will relay the ending to the player: if the player has successfully disguised the murder, and if he has become sole heir.

Characters

Mister Arran - The game's protagonist and eventual murderer. Arran has moved away from the family manor and pursued a life separate from his family's dynasty. His separation from his family has caused a rift with many of the family members, notably his sister and his father. Arran is portrayed as an unsympathetic character, wishing to not only murder his sister, but also to incriminate another. All he does is in an effort of becoming the sole heir to his family's dynasty--his sister is, at the beginning of the game, the designated sole heir.

Jennifer - Arran's sister and sole heir. The game makes is clear that Jennifer has been a long-term sufferer of depression and that she is mentally impaired. She has previously committed both violent acts on others and on herself, and in the game displays arrant hostility towards Arran. Jennifer also has an obsession with mirrors.

Father - Arran's father is portrayed as a belligerent individual who has taken grievous offence to Arran's departure from the manor and his supposed abandonment of his family's legacy. Arran also mentions his father's abusive treatment of him during his childhood. Throughout the game, Arran's father will treat Arran with hostility and his sister with affection.

Mother - Arran's mother is portrayed as a dejected and sympathetic person. The Mother acts in a conciliatory manner during the game, making efforts to squash the hostility between family members. However, by reading her diary and observing her actions during the second phase, it is clear that she has taken to excessive alcohol consumption due to the stress of taking care of Arrant's sister, Jennifer.

Sofia - Sofia is the newly hired maid. She is polite, considerate, and respectful enough to deny all of Arrant's lascivious advances (which are themselves dependent on player choice). It is implied by various items in the environment and by dialogue in the second phase that Sofia and Jennifer may be engaging in a romantic relationship.

George - The elderly caretaker of the manor. Through dialogue with George and actions in the second phase, it is clear that George feels displaced by Sofia, and he even expresses concerns about Sofia's behaviour.

All these characters, excluding Jennifer, can be sentenced and imprisoned for Jennifer's murder. It is also possible to arrange events in such a way that Jennifer's death is considered a suicide. However, if the player hasn't made a convincing enough argument to incriminate another, no one will be convicted and Arran will not be made heir.