Client: Independent. Year: 2020. Produced through: Limited Games.
A narrative detective game where investigation unfolds entirely inside simulated digital spaces, turning reading, interpretation, and deduction into the core gameplay.
The question
How do you design a detective game where story and mechanics are inseparable? Many games rely on emails, journals, and documents for world-building, but these elements often sit at the edges of play, interrupting momentum rather than driving it. Greyhat set out to make investigation itself the primary action, rewarding attention, curiosity, and interpretation without relying on spectacle or traditional combat.
The approach
The experience was structured around a simulated operating system, where players investigate by navigating virtual desktops, reading emails, analysing files, and communicating through text-based interfaces. Every interaction serves both narrative and mechanical purposes, allowing the story to emerge organically through player discovery rather than scripted exposition.
Puzzles were designed to feel grounded and legible rather than technically complex. Mechanics such as the tunnelling mini-game were simple to implement, but refined through iteration to ensure they communicated clearly and felt fair. Difficulty tuning focused on improving understanding and flow, treating player confusion as a design problem rather than a challenge to be overcome.
The project was developed entirely solo, with design, programming, narrative structure, UI, puzzle systems, and audio all built as a single cohesive practice. Scope was intentionally constrained from the outset, prioritising coherence and intent over scale, and ensuring that every system justified its presence within the experience.
Selected images
Primary investigative interface where files, emails, and tools form both the narrative surface and gameplay space.
Puzzle interaction designed around clarity and deduction rather than mechanical complexity.
Text-based communication system used to advance narrative and present branching interpretation.
Overview of the simulated desktop environment, showing how narrative and mechanics are fully integrated.
Reflection
Greyhat was a formative project for me. Working solo forced a deep focus on intent, communication, and restraint, and clarified how strongly mechanics can carry narrative when treated as expressive tools rather than technical layers. It reinforced my belief that interactivity is most powerful when players are given space to think, interpret, and discover for themselves, a perspective that continues to shape how I approach interactive work today.