A new Batman game is set to hit tables this month. Batman: Everybody Lies is a unique spinoff of the popular Detective game series published by Portal Games. The Detective series features players working together to solve a mystery on a short timeline, chasing leads and expending resources while trying to collect enough clues to solve the puzzle. Players use their deductive skills and logic to solve each mystery and are scored based on how they answer a series of question at the end of each session. __
Batman: Everybody Lies uses the core tenets of the Detective series , but with a few unique twists. To better understand how Portal Games built a Detective game featuring DC’s greatest detective, we spoke with Batman: Everybody Lies lead writer Weronika Spyra via email about the new game.
Everybody Lies: How does building out a Detective board game story in the world of Batman differ from the true crime narratives we’ve seen in past Detective games?
Weronika Spyra: Contrary to most past Detective games, the playable characters in Batman: Everybody Lies are not spies or investigators from a detective agency, but a group of unlikely allies, all with different motivations and reasons to join the investigation. These characters are Harvey Bullock, Catwoman, and two Gotham City Gazette journalists—Vicki Vale and Warren Spacey. Every card is written from one character’s point of view, and every player has a secret introduction to read before the game.
For me, the main difference concerning the game setting was the introduction of supernatural elements. It was all very exciting from a creative point of view, but tough to tackle in the design process. If everything is possible, nothing is impossible, and the Detective board game system is all about logic and deduction. Nevertheless, I think we managed to make a game that is accessible not only to people who are familiar with the DC universe but also to new fans who are yet to be acquainted with all the superheroes and their superpowers.
Other than that, Batman: Everybody Lies doesn’t differ much from the classic Detective experience. There’s still a challenging investigation to solve, evidence to collect, NPCs to interview, and a database to search. We introduced several new mechanics, but the overall feel remains the same.
What sort of research went into Batman: Everybody Lies?
Spyra: The narrative in Batman: Everybody Lies isn’t based on any particular comic book series, but we had to make sure everything is believable and as truthful to its origins as possible, of course.
How does this person being a police commissioner influence the work of other police officers and vigilantes such as Batman? What technology can we use to analyze this piece of evidence found during an investigation? Is it believable for this character to visit this place and talk to people met there? What past crimes could we refer to make the story more complex? These are only a few of many questions we had to ask ourselves before we even started writing.
Also, a big part of the research went into studying the player characters—Catwoman, Spacey, Vale, and Bullock. We needed to grasp the idea of how they talk, how they behave, what is their work ethic, what allies they could meet during their lifetimes, and so on.
Also, a big part of the investigation in one of the scenarios is tightly connected to the history of Gotham City, so we also had to delve into that.
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Players notably do not actually control Batman in Batman: Everybody Lies, but they instead control some of his allies. How will players interact with Batman in Everybody Lies?
Spyra: Batman is not a playable character in this game, but he’s definitely an important part of the narrative. There’s one scenario where investigating his actions is a crucial part of the plot, but that’s all I can say without spoiling anything.
Moreover, there’s a location in the game, the Batcave, that can only be accessed by Catwoman. There she can ask Batman to use his tech to help with the investigation or share his knowledge on certain characters and events.
Could you talk a little bit about the Scenes in Batman: Everybody Lies? How do these gameplay moments factor into the story and gameplay?
Spyra: The Scenes in Batman: Everybody Lies are illustrated by two amazing Polish artists, Hanna Kuik and Maciej Simiński. Each Scene refers to one of the Lead cards the players will draw during the game. Sometimes the illustrations are there just to better describe what’s going on on the card, but sometimes they contain hidden clues that might help them with the investigation, so it’s crucial to give every Scene a good look before continuing the game.
Besides, we couldn’t make a game based on comic book stories without including any comics, right?
Одна интересная концепция в Бэтмене: все лят секретные цели и условия победы, которые есть у каждого игрока. Как это фактор в повествованиях и как это работает в игровом процессе?
Spyra: В своих секретных представлениях каждому игроку представлен секретная цель для достижения в расследовании в настоящее время. Иногда эти цели связаны с основным повествованием, и иногда они касаются чего -то очень личного или даже аморального. Во время игры игроки сталкиваются с ссылками на личные карты целей. Это зависит от них, если они хотят поделиться своим содержанием с остальной частью команды или держать его при себе. Они могут выбрать, какой уровень секретности они хотят поддерживать.
В конце игры игрокам будут задавать вопросы об основных целях, а также о их личных целях.
Есть ли планы по большему количеству игр в детективном стиле, установленных в мире DC Comics?
SPYRA: Да, мы в настоящее время работаем над следующей детективной игрой, Detective Batman Chronicles. Вопреки Бэтмену: все лгут, это не кампания, а серия отдельных случаев для изучения, с различными наборами играбельных персонажей, злодеев, настроений и конкретной механики. Например, один из сценариев будет вращаться вокруг охотничьей и членов семьи Бэтмена, другой расскажет историю последователей Риддлера, и еще один вступит в темные схемы двухпродажного. И это не все, конечно.
Краудфандинговая кампания в настоящее время находится в создании.
Batman: все лгут будут выпущены в этом месяце и имеют розничную цену $ 50.
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