Grimsby-based games company, Red Herring Games, has announced their latest project and is currently in the crowdfunding stage.
The mastermind behind the project is Jo Smedley, who started Red Herring Games before COVID by “accident”.
“The Church Youth Group wanted a murder mystery to play, and there wasn’t one on the market that would suit, so I wrote them one.
“I started writing more and more, and I wanted to leave the NHS once I had children. Some friends said to me, ‘Why don’t you set up a website for it?’ and so I did.”
Since then, Red Herring Games has created numerous games, such as the Cosykiller Series, and is looking to crowdfund their latest project on Kickstarter, a case-file-style game about a series of killings called “The Dream Thief”.
Gi Grimsby News spoke to Jo about the new game, where she revealed that “The Dream Thief is our first-ever serial-killed-themed single-box puzzle narrative story.
“We don’t usually do case-file-styled games, but there is a big move out there in the gaming world towards case files.
“I think this will be the only narrative-driven puzzle box experience out there. A lot of other ones are more puzzle-focused and a lot less narrative.”
“We usually crowdfund most of our projects, but this is the biggest ask we’ve asked for with crowdfunding.
“Part of it is because there is a big move these days for things that are tradeable. People don’t want a game that is a one hit thing; they want to pass it on to others and get some money back that they invested.
“In order to do that, we’ve got to have a decent-quality box. They would get manufactured offsite, and the last time we did that, we needed to get 1,000 made in one go. To do that again, we need a big enough income to do that again, so that’s why we are looking at crowdfunding. 500 backers should probably see us through on the averages we’ve calculated.”
Jo also told Gi Grimsby News about the game that they are wishing to create, in which you try to catch the “interstate killer”.
“There will be a variety of puzzles in the box as well as narrative, combining the best of both to create an exceptional self contained game. You will need to engage with both the puzzles and the narrative in order to eliminate suspects as you progress through the case.
“We’re keeping this game entirely offline. We’ve been listening to comments in various game player forums, and there’s a definite preference for fully offline solving. So, this game won’t require access to a computer.”
“You can expect to play anywhere from 90 minutes, if you’re really good at this sort of thing, to around 3 hours. Other game series we have made can take up to 9 hours.”
For Jo, however, it is not just about creating the game but also helping her achieve her ambitions of creating games with Red Herring Games.
Jo said that “if we can get the project crowdfunded, we can get the company stabilised and be much happier going into next year.”
If the crowdfunding campaign reaches its goal of £35,000, those who pledged funds can expect their copy to be delivered in spring 2025.
