The Roottrees are Dead

Highly recommended, I had a great time playing the first (main) story and now wish I could forget everything and try again. Note that my play time listed has a lot of idle time. I'm about 2/3 done the second story (Roottreemania). [b]The pros:[/b] excellent story, immersive setting (as somebody who lived through the nineties as a young adult, it's weird to be back in the world of dial-up modems and limited search engines; nostalgic but also sooooo frustrating at times!). This game is brilliant--super well-crafted. Funny, bittersweet, cynical, hopeful. There are no perfect characters, but it's not all doom and gloom either. If you enjoy being at a distance from the puzzle--no personal life-threatening situation, no locked doors--it's perfect. Definitely the kind of game you can chill with. [b]The cons:[/b] you need either patience, or the willingness to use the Hint function; as somebody who is insanely stubborn (No Hints! No Hints!), it's been maddening at times; if you need...

who this game is for: - INTPs - neurodivergent adults - wikipedia enjoyers - nosy people - internet stalkers 10/10

The idea of the game is fantastic and I expected to really enjoy playing it. Finally something similar to Obra Dinn, maybe? I did enjoy solving the first family tree! Finding a new thread to follow was exciting and getting confirmation on the family members felt satisfying. The difficulty of the game was good in my opinion and the game has a built in hint system that I ended up using once during my playthrough of the first case. The UI serves it purpose but does have a couple of annoyances. It started feeling a bit repetitive though. The only things you'll be doing is reading and looking at photos. I was hoping there would be something more, maybe listening to answering machine recordings or watching some home video clips. I did start the second more difficult tree and played it for a few hours, but while the family has its drama, I didn't find the members interesting enough to continue reading more about it. I can recommend it to anyone looking for a different kind of puzzle game. ...

This game acc makes u feel like a genius haha lol. All the negative comments on here saying the ending was obvious, but like what other crazy plot twist are you expecting lmao? GOOD GAME

I've just finished playing the masterpiece that is Obra Dinn, and came here because many have said that this game "scratches the same itch." I guess it kind of does, but it is nowhere as engaging or logical as Obra Dinn was. Obra Dinn transported us to ghost ships, showed us visceral scenes of tragedy, death, and deception. You literally travel back in time to witness the death of a person, which in many cases is also related to the death of others. In Roottrees, you're sat in front of a 90s computer, plugging in random words into multiple search engines and hoping something sticks. The mystery in itself wasn't even very compelling - some rich people died, now figure out their entire genealogy. Ok What also got in the way of me enjoying the game was the very unnatural way that some of the information was revealed. Like one of the characters, in their diary, would tell the reader about the naming system that her grandfather invented, kind of out of nowhere, and obviously as a clue to...

All I can say is this is a phenomenal game and whoever plays it... try your hardest not to use the duck (hint system). You can do this! Let your brain-powers get you through it. Don't give up quickly. Just focus and if you feel like you get stuck, pivot to something else to look into. I just bought the game today and already have logged 5.4 hours because it's so intriguing and I'm forcing myself not to use any hints, cheats, or AI to get through it. Once I complete the game, I will know the Roottree family so well, I will probably be able to write a biography on them. Great job, developers! I will definitely be looking forward to future games from you!

I got recommended a YouTube video of a playthrough of this game and I decided to check it out cuz the title is interesting. A few minutes early in, the guy playing wasn't using the library for the books and I didn't want to continue watching, instead I went to Steam and bought the game to experience everything myself. I have no regrets. The game is so beautiful and the soundtrack is amazing. The story is engaging and I felt so clever whenever I solved something. This is definitely a 10/10. I haven't played Roottreemania, I just finished, but I can't wait to start it.

It's like Return of the Obra Dinn but instead of a magic pocket watch you have the magic of early dial-up internet + there are layers upon layers of secrets.

Pretty good adventure-like game with an innovative game style. A bit in the veins of Obra Dinn.

great investigation game. chill and fun. need more like this