Hello, detectives!

Mystery Fest 2023

Detective Butler: Maiden Voyage Murder is part of the Steam Mystery Fest! As such, we've discounted the DLC to 33% off for the next week, so if you haven't picked it up yet, now would be a good time! Also, we've noticed that among all the free detective visual novels on Mystery Fest, we're sitting at the highest spot! Thank you all for playing the game and supporting us all this time! It's truly an honor!

Sequel Update

You've been waiting a long time for this one, we know. Many factors beyond our control forced us to pause development of the sequel. However, those factors are now resolved and we can focus our full attention on the game, and the state of the project has never been better than right now. Despite rewriting it from scratch this year (for the third time), we're already beyond 25,000 words, which is more than half of the original game's wordcount. The final game will likely be around 200,000 words long, so we've still got a ways to go, but we're making excellent time. Also, we've decided to draw all artwork in-house rather than commission it, cutting down on costs while also enabling us to draw whatever assets we need in order to make the best possible game. We've been pleasantly surprised by the positive reactions to our unique art style, an unintentional cross between Hotel Dusk and Paper Mario:
Please visit detectivebutler.com to read all about the game and sign up to our mailing list. We'll send updates on the game directly to your e-mail, specifically to let you know when there's a release of a demo you can play (and then eventually the full game). We will still post updates on Steam, but this list will help us know exactly how many people are excited about the next installment of Detective Butler, across all of our platforms, and how we can best focus our efforts to gain more fans. Our goal is to have an hour-long demo for you to play by April, which you'll be able to access from the sequel's Steam page. The demo itself is almost done (it contains just the first chapter) but we'll need time to polish and refine what's there for an ideal experience (and set up the Steam page too). We really want this thing to knock your socks off, so please look forward to exciting stuff coming soon! - Goldbar Games

[ 2023-02-21 02:56:24 CET ] [ Original post ]

Visual novels are story-based games, displaying characters on the screen while playing sounds and music in the background to create an immersive storytelling experience. Although most visual novels include branching paths and choices that affect the outcome of the story, Detective Butler: Maiden Voyage Murder has just one outcome. The only choice is how you choose to solve the mystery.

In 1962, a popular cruise ship goes out of business after the accidental deaths of two of its passengers. The ship remains a tourist attraction, until it sets sail again half a century later.

The CEO of a wealthy company takes his closest employees and son Gilligan on board for the maiden voyage. Gilligan happens to meet Detective Butler during the cruise, and as the two of them delve deeper into the ship's history, another incident occurs... Will Detective Butler find the culprit before it's too late? And will you be able to solve the mystery before the solution is revealed?

Meet the crew

• Through the eyes of Gilligan, you'll get to know the members of his father's company, the workers of the cruise ship, and Detective Butler himself.

Enjoy the atmosphere

• Hundreds of photo-filtered backgrounds and 29 lively music tracks create the backdrop for a mysterious cruise on the Pacific Ocean.

Review your notes

• During the game, your journal will update with any relevant information regarding the suspects and any evidence found.

Solve the mystery!

• Just like any classic fair-play detective story, the case can be solved through careful observation and deduction.