The Genuine Article — title art: the rain-soaked doors of Harrow & Bell auctioneers at night. Five stories. One lie.

A detective mystery where you interrogate suspects in your own words. Five people were locked inside. One of them is a killer — and it's someone different every time you play.

The night before the sale

Somebody in the building is lying.

The night before the biggest sale Harrow & Bell has ever run, chief appraiser Edward Voss is found dead in the vault.

The building was locked. Five people were inside. The only clue anyone noticed is the corner of a certificate, torn and crushed in his hand.

You have the interview room, the building, and the records nobody expected you to ask for. Find the lie that doesn't hold — and make it stick.

How it plays

No dialogue wheel. Just you, a table, and a liar.

Gameplay: interrogating Tomasz Zielinski, the night security guard. His answer has moved him from neutral to nervous.
I

Interrogate in your own words

Type what you actually want to ask. Suspects answer in character — evasive, wounded, charming, lying — inside a mystery where every fact, clue and ending is hand-written. Nothing you need is ever made up on the spot.

Close-up of weathered hands rubbing at the knuckles on an interview-room table — a nervous tell.
II

Read the person, not the menu

Everyone has a tell. It shows you where the wound is, not how to touch it. Pressure cracks some people; patience opens others; the right document on the table does what neither can.

Gameplay: examining the vault crime scene, with points of interest highlighted.
III

Investigate a living building

Examine the scene. Unlock rooms by making people talk. Pull the access logs, lift logs and phone records nobody thought you'd ask for. What people admit is what closes files.

Evidence close-up: a printed service-lift log with one entry circled in red.
IV

Build the case. Live with it.

Name the killer and prove motive, opportunity, method and the lie that breaks their alibi. Clear the innocent by dragging their real secrets into the light. You get one accusation — a thin file and the killer walks.

The people in the building

Five stories. One lie.

Alibis, lies and cracks reshuffle every playthrough. What cleared someone last time might hang them in this one.

Diane Harrow seated at the interview table
Diane HarrowCo-owner, Harrow & Bell. Would like this handled quietly.
Marcus Bell-Fenton leaning in, mid-answer
Marcus Bell-FentonHead of client accounts. Very keen to help.
Priya Nair at the interview table
Priya NairJunior appraiser. Voss's protégée.
Tomasz Zielinski in his security uniform
Tomasz ZielinskiNight security, eleven years on the door.
Celia Marchetti, composed, hands folded on the table
Celia MarchettiHeiress. Her family's jewels are tomorrow's top lot.
Edward Voss
The victim

Edward Voss

Chief appraiser. The man whose signature made things genuine. Found in the vault the night before the sale.

Gallery

Harrow & Bell, after hours

Free prologue

The Ashworth Question

Years earlier, a collector lies dead at the foot of his own stairs — and the last man to see him alive is a young Edward Voss.

Clear the name of the man whose murder you'll one day investigate. The prologue is a complete case of its own and the heart of the free demo.

Plays offline

The mystery is hand-made

Every fact, clue, contradiction and ending is authored. The complete game is playable fully offline. Optional spoken dialogue is generated on your own PC.

Optional Live AI

Ask anything

With Live AI on, suspects can answer questions the script didn't anticipate — in character, checked against what they actually know, and never able to invent evidence. How your questions are handled.

AI disclosure

How it was made

The game's art, cinematics and some audio were created with AI tools from hand-written direction, then selected and reviewed by the developer. The writing of the mystery is human.

Windows PC

System requirements

MinimumRecommended
OSWindows 10 64-bitWindows 10 / 11 64-bit
ProcessorQuad-core 2.5 GHz6-core 3.0 GHz
Memory8 GB RAM16 GB RAM
GraphicsVulkan-capable, 2 GB VRAM (GTX 960 / RX 470)GTX 1060 / RX 580 or better
Storage2 GB2 GB
NetworkNot required. Internet is only used by the optional Live AI mode.
Coming 2027 · Windows · Steam

You get one accusation.

Wishlist now to hear the moment the free demo opens.