A downloadable horror visual novel for Windows, macOS, and Linux

A curious journalist by day, author by night, investigates the inexplicable case of a vanished scientist in Hamburg in the early 20th century.

Uncovering the truth about his very own family history, he has to face the awakening of an ancient being.
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The Madness Of [Redacted]

A lovecraftian horror visual novel.

7k+ words
Two endings

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Contains written description of Loss, Death, Murder, Blood and Violence.
Contains visual depiction of Blood and Eye Horror.
Viewer discretion is advised.

For the Spooktober VN Jam 2022

Maricu: Writer / Artist
Koncookie: Programmer
Cygni: Editor

StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Rating
Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars
(30 total ratings)
AuthorsMaricu, cygni
GenreVisual Novel, Puzzle
Tags2D, Dark, Halloween, Horror, Lovecraftian Horror, Monsters, Mystery, Ren'Py, supernatural
Average sessionAbout an hour

Download

Download
TheMadnessofRedacted-1.1-win.zip 73 MB
Download
TheMadnessofRedacted-1.1-mac.zip 56 MB
Download
TheMadnessofRedacted-1.1-linux.tar.bz2 62 MB

Development log

Comments

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Really neat game- the puzzles were fun! Had a bit of trouble on one and couldn't find the second ending (although I see that someone kindly posted how to get in here in the comments, so I might go back and see it through). Absolutely loved the protag as well. Thank you so much for such a great game!

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Ok

Hello creator of this maguinifico game, I am a person from Brazil who wants to know if it's okay to make a translation, or even mods of the game (of course, being free), and this including people from other countries, is everything okay?

Translated whith DeepL https://www.deepl.com/app/?utm_source=android&utm_medium=app&utm_campaign=share-...

Hello,

thank you for your kind offer, but right now there won't be any translations of this game. Please don't redistribute this game or modifications of it on any other plattform.

Thank you very much!

This was a good game. I could only find one of the endings though. For me the puzzles were pretty hard even though I feel like they are supposed to be easy.

WARNING: this coment contains spoilers

moonlqaw, thank you so much! your video helped me to finish the game!!! you said you couldn't find the other ending, well in the last puzze were obviously you have to make an eye, you can spin the part to create an hourglass then you'll have the good ending!

Oh ok thank you. I would have never figured that out on my own.

I was super intrigued by this after seeing your art style, and wow it did not disappoint! The whole game is a visual treat and incredibly polished, and more than that, very VERY fun as well!

I loved the main character and his wilful disregard for private property, loved the super mysterious premise, LOVED where you went with it, and ahh the place you ‘end up’ was just PERFECTLY done, and the visuals and writing there gave me a proper chill.

The puzzles were super impressive – one of them I did find quite frustrating, but I believe you’ve updated it since I played it (I am very behind with my commenting) so I’ll look forward to checking that out when I replay (as so far I only got the 1 ending!)

I admit that the game did leave me wanting more, but only because I was hooked in so much - and I equally respect the mysterious note you left it on! A really fantastic submission.

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omg I love the artstyle and your horror visual novels I must have more lmao

This game was so fun and kept me surprised!!

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I had a lot of fun with this game, one of my favorites for sure! The graphics are so cool, I love the colors. I had fun poking the eye on the main menu too XD

It reminds me of the first lovecraft story I read, Dagon. Especially the scenario of the other world. And the protagonist has an interesting backstory and he's charismatic (I might draw fanart whenever I get the chance)

Overall it's a great and fun game, also I loved the puzzles! I think they were the right amount of challenging 

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Finally got around to playing this game!! Gosh the aesthetic is soooo cool!!! I really love the whole vibe the art gives combined with Albert's narration; it all feels like a spooky supernatural mystery comic with a lot of suspense and I keep wanting to read more!! Also, that main menu art IS FREAKING AMAZING, I love how it fits so well with the lore of the story too with Albert being a journalist and THE EYE. 

I really liked how the story started off somewhat comedic with Albert's commentary and slowly started heading into horror-mystery 👀 I also absolutely loved Hendrik and I hope to see more of him and his crazy laughter (I'm an absolute sucker for these type of characters 😂).

The puzzles were a lot of fun, I feel proud for having completing them without skipping, I love jigzaw puzzles 🧩💖 

The open ending only makes me impatient cause I want to know what happens next lmao 😂 I need more!! Will be looking forward to the continuation, awesome game!! ❤️

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This game gave me a sense of nostalgia for classic 'whodunnit' type detective stories. I loved the use of pink and blue in the backgrounds, making a nice contrast compared to the characters themselves. However, I do have some things of note:

**Spoilers**





As some others have noted, the puzzles were slightly tedious. Especially the one where you have to piece together the artifact. Some of the lines are ever so slightly off, making it difficult to tell whether a piece is in the right position or not. 

The plot of the game starts out well enough, drawing inspiration from standard detective stories. Where I found myself lost is toward the end of the game. It felt very rushed, like the questions placed earlier in the game needed answers, but there wasn't enough storyline left to put them in. Why are Albert's parents involved with a cult? Why was Albert's neighbor killed? How was the cult involved with the police? There were quite a few questions that were crucial to the plot left unanswered, unfortunately leaving me more confused than satisfied with the end of the game. 

Great art, good concept, just a few things that could have been changed with the overall execution.

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Really liked the art style, it suits the genre and theme really well! I really liked the first 2 puzzles but the 3rd was really misleading, i had to skip it after 30 mins ;; 

Overall a really great game!

Thank you so much for your feedback!

We updated the game and overhauled the 3rd puzzle, so it shouldn't be as tricky anymore!

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Great little game! Like the other commenters have said, the color palette is great and worked well with the distinctive art style to create some really stylish visuals. The Lovecraft vibes were immaculate. The puzzles were misleadingly hard lol, the pentagon one definitely threw me for a loop. But it made it all the more satisfying to solve them. Awesome job! 

Managed to get both endings somehow c:

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Thank you for your comment! I'm happy to hear you liked the Lovecraft vibes!

We updated the game after reciving some feedback from you and others and overhauled the pentagon puzzle a bit!

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Got the two endings~ Really cool experience.

The artstyle is a joy to see!, love the use of complementary colours, that really cold green/dark cyan in contrast with the warm orange light, it looks like an eerie sunset in the bottom of the sea, feels like it's the end of time and Cthulhu is coming to say hi, it really complements the story.

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Thank you so much! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed our game :D

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Loved the game ! The colors went well with the atmosphere and I really liked the story. I didn't find the second ending though, but I'll keep trying !

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Thank you!
We're currently working on a QoL update and have planned to add a hint leading to the second ending after reaching the first one, since it is a bit tricky to find!

I really loved this! Especially all the interactive parts of the game and how goofy Hendrik is at the end. This is excellently put together!

I made a video of me playing it if you're interested. If anything please definitely take a look at the last 4th of the video as I did some audio editing there and I think it's really fun c:

Timestamps are given in the beginning of the video for those recommended portions. ^^
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Thank you so much for making this amazing let's play! <3

Of course! Thanks so much for making such a great game to play~

I hope you liked my audio editing too. I really like how the overlapping voices sounded haha

Loved the title screen! Very creative. Character movement was great. The colour palette is really moody and effective. Love the point and click, although it made me a little sad I ran out of time to do that in my game :( Had to skip all but the first and last puzzle, I was terrible at them :D

PS double posting this from the game jam page because it really annoys me it doesn't do that automatically.

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Thank you for posting your comment here too! :D

god these puzzles were hard

not in a "hard to understand way", in a "patience is key" way? tbh if i were to suggest anything it would be adding a visible timer to the puzzles to play off the narrative tension of being forced to solve a hard and all no-rush puzzle while being short on time

the second and third puzzles were better than the first tho!! the first one was a bit frustrating because the horizontal lines clearly align but the vertical lines - you have to either know how wide exactly the columns are or test pieces at random to match the edges

anyway, that's all about puzzles

i really liked the limited color-scheme, makes the game very stylish, and the artstyle is working very well with the writing

tbh not a big fan of Lovecraft the airconditioning dude myself; but the writing is solid, and the beginning, intrigue and tension were written really well - the whole street, the personality of the protagonist, the mystery set-up, seamless and pleasant read 

however, near the end i felt like some parts were left unexplored...? i felt like i'd like to know more about how Albert's parents were involved in the mystery, who are those who oppose the cult, and more tension and time in unsolving the motives of the mysterious cult itself

and officer jaeger - i half-expected him to turn out to be a member of the cult, especially because the cultists said they were working with the police, so him appearing again would've been really great, i think! 

"the outerworld" BG was amazing and beautiful, and the imagemaps really fun and effective way to learn about our MC and his backstory

all and all, it was a wonderful and stylish game, just wish i had more of it and more answers to the questions posed! 

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Thank you so much for your nice and detailed feedback!

We're currently working on a QoL update and try to improve the design of the puzzles!

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OH GOSH.

Just finished and still just sitting here taking it all in. What a ride this was, DANG! Even from the very beginning upon opening the game, you're immersed in the world, style, and colors, from the wonderfully done (animated!) title screen to the subtly creepy and ambient music to the AMAZING BGs. Literally each BG always gave me chills when they popped up on screen. I'm so in love with the colors and art style!!! Everything works together SO well and creates this chilling stark atmosphere that's like being transported straight into a comic book.

I had a ton of fun with the interactive segments! From the little point and click moments to the puzzles! Admittedly, the second and third puzzles took me awhile, especially the third one... BUT!! I PUSHED THROUGH AND WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE THEM. I somehow felt quite proud of myself afterwards LOL 

The story is wonderfully dark and surreal. I enjoyed learning about little bits and pieces of the mystery as it went along. And holy crap did those... "transportive"(???) scenes towards the end give me the chills! I fell in love with Hendrik the moment he came on screen. I do have a thing for unhinged characters, and his little shadowy sprite was so well done and deliciously creepy hehehe 🤭 AND GUH THE ENDING. HELP. Oh god, the way it leaves everything open dklfjasdlkfjas it just left me with this weird guttural sense of "off"-ness even after it went back to the title screen.

Just a wonderful little treat! I enjoyed it immensely and it was amazing at really sucking you in immediately. Super polished and well done!! 💕

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Oh my, thank you so much for your nice comment ;_; <3
I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed the experience!

Koncookie made all transitions and he did an amazing job, even though it was his first time playing with these options! Same goes for the drag&drop puzzles!

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It was good <3 the art reminds me of hunted fair or something 

(1 edit) (+1)

Thank you very much!
Yes, The Haunted Fair was our spooktober game from last year :D