The Roottrees are Dead was originally a free browser game, offered in 2023 by Jeremy Johnston. A new version has been recently released by Robin Ward, in collaboration with the original developer. While retaining the original premise (that the Roottrees are dead and a very large estate is up for grabs), the game has been expanded and updated to include new art, excellent voice-acting, a larger family tree, exceptional music, improved puzzles, and an intuitive interface.

I did not play the original game, so the entire experience was new to me and this game quickly moved into my list of all-time favorites. You are presented with a family tree that spans 70+ years and includes 5-6 generations of Roottrees. Your task is to identify all the nodes on the tree by name, face, and occupation. There is also a good bit of optional information to discover such as spouse names and additional photos. For tools, you have a web search engine, various periodicals, and the public library. That’s it. You take the opening clues and begin searching for terms and following the breadcrumbs. You can take notes in-game with a journal that allows you to copy between it, the search engine, and documentation. This is very handy. There are a few red herrings along the way and, if you are paying attention, there are some charming and funny easter-egg search results. Overall, it is a well-designed game with intelligent and clever writing.

The game autosaves each time you exit, and progress is never lost. In the base game, there are 50 nodes to identify on the family tree. Ever so often, your correct answers are ‘locked in’ (meaning no further attention is required). After finishing the main storyline, you have the option of playing Roottreemania which deals with potential descendants that are the product of infidelity. This fills in an unofficial family tree with 32 nodes. In the end, it is up to you to identify who the true Roottrees are.

Most achievements are related to finding all information available and identifying everyone on the family trees. Some achievements are silly (in a good way), and one is earned by completing 10 FamilyDoku! puzzles. A player with persistence and curiosity can get 100% with minimal assistance. A hint system (aka ‘ask the duck’) provides graduated assistance... from making broad suggestions to identifying a specific resource. There is no penalty for talking to the duck and it was a big help when my powers of deduction stalled.

I loved this game. It is a creative exercise that requires determination and brainpower. No platforming, no combat, no time requirements. Just searching, gathering data, and assimilating it into the tree. It is challenging and extremely addicting. I found myself deeply entangled in the Roottree history and delighted in their family stories. I've only played one other game that is remotely similar to The Roottrees are Dead . That would be The Return of the Obra Dinn (which is also in my list of favorite games). While it has a completely different look and feel, it is also based on the idea of observing and finding clues to identify people within a group.

I highly recommend this game. It is a must-play for thoughtful gamers. Prepare to step back in time, dial up the internet, and get to work (Boo-Yah!).

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The game seemed brilliant for many hours. After the difficulty ramps up, the problems become more clear. Especially in the second part. Deductions go out the door and you find all solutions by following the keywords. The game becomes frustrating as you go through previously opened pages trying to find keywords you can search with. A lot of the time there is no connection to the keywords and the case you are trying to solve. Key clues can be hidden behind some song name in an album that you forgot to search for.

This is not a problem in the early game as many things aren't hidden behind a single page. There are multiple clues or more than a single mention to an important page. Some of the multitude of clues are more vague and you can deduce things on your own and that is the brilliant. Too bad that it's replaced by keyword hunting.

Still enjoyed it for a time.

A good game I can't recommend.

The game crashed on me twice. This wouldn't have been a big deal, but both times my data was wiped and I had to start all over again, which is partialy why I played for 67 hours.

I contacted them both times about getting my data back. First time they said "Follow a link and learn some jargon and/or you're out of luck". Second time they ignored me.

That being said, the game it'self is pretty good.

An Obra-Dinn esq deduction game that is satisfing to figure out. Pretty hard, in a good way, which I appreciate.

Carl Roottree, head of a multi million doller candy company has died, along side his daughters and wife. You're job is to peice together his family tree. Set in 1998, you can't just log onto ansestory. You're going to have to get clever. Armed only with a rudeamentory search engine and some old documents, there are 50 places on this tree to fill in. Each one with the right picture, name and job. Every 3 or 4 correct deductions results in comformation.

I enjoyed most of my time with this game. Some of it does require guess work, but for the most part placing a peice of info down and hearing that comformation music is great.

The "final boss" however was almost impossible because of those crashes. You are required to look back through gathered info and give certain people a "yay", "nay" or "eh". The problem is, half the info was missing. When it crashed, the game though I had never played it before, so it said MISSING RELEVENT INFO. If it wasn't for the built in hint system I would never have beten it.