This is out today on Steam and I can't recommend it highly enough. What a game! If you liked Return of the Obra Dinn, you'll love The Roottrees Are Dead. - ThreadSky

jasonschreier.bsky.social • 47 days ago

This is out today on Steam and I can't recommend it highly enough. What a game! If you liked Return of the Obra Dinn, you'll love The Roottrees Are Dead.

Reposted from Jason Schreier

Seven days into 2025 and I've already played what I suspect will be one of my favorite games of the year: The Roottrees Are Dead, a narrative logic deduction game (à la Obra Dinn) that has you searching for clues to unravel the dramatic story of a rich family store.steampowered.com/app/2754380/...

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kryven.bsky.social•47 days ago

ok, you got me the moment you compared to obra dinn. now that i think about it, i never searched for any game that feels like it, guess i need to take a look

chrishouston.bsky.social•47 days ago

I really liked Obra Dinn but also I’m not smart enough to fully complete it so I had to look up a couple of things. Is this similarly tough?

eviltrout.com•47 days ago

It's super hard to establish that kind of difficulty but I think it's on a similar level. However, the game does have an integrated hint system which you can ask for hints any time. There's no shame in using it! People should make their own fun.

soupwitch.bsky.social•47 days ago

shame

mikedrach.bsky.social•47 days ago

There's a comprehensive, context-aware hint system built into the game. It has different levels of assistance, so if you're stuck, it guides you through the section gently at first, then gets more detailed each time you click.

That way you still get that sense of accomplishment, with some backup! 😎

chrishouston.bsky.social•47 days ago

Oh that sounds perfect. I can’t remember specifics about Obra Dinn but there were a few that even after looking them up I had no idea how I would have figured that out!

456fakest.bsky.social•47 days ago

I haven't played the Steam version yet, but I thought the free web version of Roottrees was significantly easier to 100% than Obra Dinn. Still a great game, though!

molisani.bsky.social•47 days ago

Someone needs to coin a new subgenre name for these, mostly because I want to set up an alert for new Steam releases so I can buy all of them

bobthepetferret.bsky.social•47 days ago

Oh heck yes, I loved the browser version so I'm jumping right in on this

dominonation.bsky.social•46 days ago

Obra Dinn is one of my favorite games of all time. I'll definitely check this out!

drednaught.bsky.social•46 days ago

How well does it play on Steamdeck?

fanatexe.bsky.social•46 days ago

Judging from the system requirements it would play well. Desktop mode with a keyboard/mouse would be ideal since it involves typing, but you could get away with the onscreen keyboard in Gaming mode if you had to.

kuroryo1.bsky.social•46 days ago

Thank you for the recommendation. I've been looking for an “Obra Dinn” style game for a while, and this is exactly it. It also has some really cool moments so far, I can’t recommend it enough

mkampa.bsky.social•46 days ago

@ridiculous.chat

ridiculous.chat•46 days ago

that was an $18 tag

mkampa.bsky.social•46 days ago

lol my bad

drell42.bsky.social•37 days ago

Thank you for posting this, finished Roottreemania yesterday and was very enjoyable! Never really looked into this genre of games before and now I am contemplating Obra Dinn, or seen others mention Her Story, for my next gaming purchase.

zachruff.bsky.social•47 days ago

I love obra dinn but i was too stupid for it I ended up just watching a youtube letsplay 😭

camdaxon.bsky.social•47 days ago

you and kirk praising obra dinn really changed the kinds of games I'm into! looking forward to playing this

talos111.bsky.social•47 days ago

Was just looking for mystery games like Outer Wilds yesterday. Already played Obra Dinn, enjoyed it (though I did need walkthroughs, thanks to the people who make the hint versions so you can guess before also giving the answer)

Screw it, impulse purchase time.

fyzeera.com•47 days ago

Always Detective type game whenever Jason recommend game 😅

jaxantilles.bsky.social•47 days ago

Quick, someone tell Yahtzee!

ekkebus.bsky.social•47 days ago

Anytime someone invokes the words "Obra Dinn" I'm sold.

pat.pbsky.xyz•47 days ago

Here's hoping to a GOG or a Switch physical release!

jirnsum.bsky.social•47 days ago

Thanks for the tip! Bought it, and totally sucked in within 10 minutes

ogto.bsky.social•47 days ago

damn that's high praise, since Obra Dinn is basically a masterpiece. sold.

stephane1.bsky.social•47 days ago

Looks interesting! Added to my wishlist.

annlynzee.bsky.social•47 days ago

I bought this so fast, thank you for talking about it. I'd heard nothing at all and this is my exact fav genre.

jay4k.bsky.social•47 days ago

Roottrees vs Obra vs Golden Idol - which is best to play side by side with an impatient non-gamer spouse?

roddds.bsky.social•47 days ago

I'd recommend Chants of Senaar or Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (both played to completion side by side with my very ADHD partner)

456fakest.bsky.social•47 days ago

All of them require a lot of patience. IMO Golden Idol probably requires the *least* patience, since it does a good job of helping you organize your thoughts with the thinking panel, and each mystery is (mostly) self-contained, unlike Obra Dinn where you constantly need to revisit old memories.

kressnik.bsky.social•47 days ago

It's say none of them.

stabbitystyle.bsky.social•47 days ago

Hopefully it gets a PS5 port.

vandirrein.bsky.social•43 days ago

Thanks for the reco, I hit this point and instantly knew I was in for a good time.

There goes my Sunday!

notcaulfield.bsky.social•47 days ago

Been waiting for this release since like October, I'm so happy it's out

jk001-ie.bsky.social•45 days ago

Hopefully this makes it to Switch. I loved Obra Dinn.

hysope.bsky.social•47 days ago

📌

u2ybwicbiz75.bsky.social•46 days ago

The art of the deal applies to international relations too. Trump will likely negotiate hard with Russia and come out on top.

ianusich.bsky.social•47 days ago

Never played Obra Dinn, but this looks really interesting. 👀

mddee.bsky.social•47 days ago

Sold. Steamdeck, or should I sit at the PC for this one?

firsthour.net•47 days ago

wondering this too, it's not verified right now

jasonschreier.bsky.social•47 days ago

You definitely want a mouse and keyboard for this

eviltrout.com•47 days ago

Sit at the PC please! I have a SteamDeck and love it but due to the heavy reliance on typing in searches I could not prioritize it during development. Now that the game is out I'd like to spend some time trying out a version that works with an on-screen keyboard

firsthour.net•47 days ago

I'm going to pick it up either way, love games like this and more need to get made! Thank you!

fittytuckz.bsky.social•46 days ago

Cool, I'll check this out. Anyone know if it's steam deck compatible?

bck43delagon.bsky.social•46 days ago

Your last reference to Obra Dinn was Chants of Sennaar, and I enjoyed that game a lot. Added to my wishlist.

tanalam.bsky.social•47 days ago

Thank you! Adding to the Wishlist now 👍

vale3k.bsky.social•47 days ago

that’s a mighty high endorsement but it’s one I can’t ignore

borednoodle.bsky.social•47 days ago

Sounds to me like a government PSYOP to get us to empathize with rich people. My attitude toward this - "oh they're gone? No investigation needed, let's just move on."

petersterne.com•47 days ago

Is this the game you alluded to in your last newsletter?

jasonschreier.bsky.social•47 days ago

Yup

kressnik.bsky.social•47 days ago

You know how to sell a game to me. Damn...

party-on.bsky.social•47 days ago

Obra Dinn rules so hard. Thanks for the rec

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