Hello everyone! We are a husband and wife team based in Oxford, and Sarawak is our first project together. Duncan has written the engine, and Marina has done the artwork and writing. Our backgrounds are in software development and writing (by way of theoretical physics and medicine), and we both love books, puzzles and games. In Sarawak we are working to merge these interests with something that has both the interactivity of a game along with the narrative flexibility of a book. Since this is an AMA, please ask us anything you like, including any aspects of indie dev life, the engine, our backgrounds, or whatever interests you really. We look forward to your questions!

[ 2020-05-10 12:50:02 CET ] [ Original post ]

Sarawak is a literary mystery game set in Oxford and Borneo.

A university professor is found dead on the steps outside your hotel. The police arrest someone very close to you for his murder. The dead professor has left behind him a web of secrets that you alone can unravel.

Sarawak is a narrative adventure game that takes you from the dreaming spires of Oxford to the jungles of Borneo as you make interactive choices and solve puzzles in a story that blurs the boundaries between narrative games and conventional literature.

For fans of narrative adventure games or old-fashioned mystery novels
Sarawak will appeal to players who enjoyed the likes of 80 Days, A Case of Distrust, Lucas Arts adventure games or Agatha Christie novels. Sarawak is best described as a narrative adventure, and gameplay is split between interactive text choices and image-based puzzles.

Choose your words wisely
Through dialogue choices, you interact with a whimsical cast of characters who help or hinder your progress. The more you unravel, the more conflicted you become as you start to question who's lying and who's telling the truth.

Solve image-based puzzles
Discover Sarawak's beautiful and interactive illustrations as you open locks and doors, discover secret rooms, hack into police equipment, pore through newspaper archives, and light up a jungle research station.