Carmine and Charcoal

This game was entered into the Single Choice jam.

It's a long choice-based game with an elaborate setup and worldbuilding. You are part of a detective agency, and a couple has reported that something was stolen from their house.

It was stolen by a thief with a clever gimmick: they take an item, and then replace it with a photorealistic painting.

But this time, what was stolen is unknown, and it was replaced by a poem. The couple that hired you was a pair of alchemists.

Overall, the game manages to be engaging despite the 'one choice' limitation by adding a lot of outside-game thinking: what does the riddle refer to? Which clues matter?

On the other hand, it's hard to know what the player's thought process is supposed to be. I made a guess at the end, and it was right, but I couldn't pin down why.

The worldbuilding is rich and detailed. The setting feels extravagant, more like a cartoon than a film, if that makes sense. Could be fleshed out in more games or a revision of this one.

In this short game, you are task to find not who but what has been stolen from your client. Following a party where many artists were invited, including a known thief (a sort of Arsène Lupin gender-swap meets art forger), the hosting couple found a note from said thief, a momento left behind to replace what had been taken.
But nothing looks out of place…

This was a cute moment, with some humourous jokes, and - like the author admits - feels at time a bit incomplete/rushed. I wouldn’t say no to a longer version of this game, maybe in an episodic form with different cases, and showing a bit more the investigators’ relationship.