Mystery “whodunit” type stories are a fount of opportunity that have produced some really good movies, novels, and games over the years. The concept of deducing which of a slew of suspects has committed the crime carries with it a sense of discovery and sleuthing that’s fulfilling and exciting. Skeletal Games’ upcoming visual novel “Spill the Beans” aims to turn the familiar plot device on its head by having you be the known culprit as you try and pin it successfully on someone else while you’re the detective. It’s an idea ripe with webs of ways the story could go, and luckily you’ll be the one in charge of directing the charade.
I got the chance to play the demo that’s releasing on June 10th as part of Steam’s Next Fest for Summer 2024 a few days early, and overall enjoyed the telling of the setup for the rest of the game. You get the chance to meet and chat with the cast of quirky characters you’ll be questioning and laying blame on, and get a good overview of what the world is like that you’ll be playing in. The dialogue and conversation options are creative and humorous when it makes sense, and the whole vibe of the game is wonderfully tongue-in-cheek. With visual novels, how they use little transitions and effects throughout the scenes is the main way they add spice to the story, and Spill the Beans adds just enough flair to not overdo it, but still make some interactions stand out when desired.
The characters each have their own qualities and ways of responding to your questions, and they also have their own pre-established relationships with the other patrons and employees at the coffee shop you’ve started working at, called “The Familiar.” It is owned and run by the feisty and mysterious “Fred,” a black cat that is actually a demon trapped in a cat body (thus the “familiar” name for the cafe.) Sloane is the lone employee at the coffee shop, other than you, who is the trusted new hire. You work closely with Sloane and Fred, and are entrusted as the detective early in the story to find out who stole the coveted coffee “recipe” which gives it its special qualities that keep customers coming back. So who stole it? Well, Fred locks you and the other regular guests of the coffee shop inside the building with a magical spell, all of whom have happened to show up closely together on this bustling Monday morning. There’s a vampire, a siren, and a somehow still upright skeletal badboy. Each of which has a lot to say and some surely soon-to-be-exposed backstories to explore in the full game.
In the end, how you pit one another against an eventual culprit to be framed, and how to produce “evidence” that this person stole the recipe is going to be the main goal of the story. I’m looking forward to how they develop the characters and reveal more of what goes on in their lives outside of the little coffee shop. If you are too, you can wishlist the game on Steam and follow Skeletal Games on Twitter. The demo releases June 10th, 2024!
You can watch my full playthrough of the demo here!
