There’s a criminal syndicate running the city, half the people you’re questioning are lying through their teeth, and your reputation is hanging by a thread. You’ve got a notebook, a growing list of suspects, and the horrible feeling that the person you just arrested might actually be innocent.
Welcome to detective work. You’re going to need a bigger coffee.
Dupery: A Game of Solo Deduction launches on Steam today, October 15, bringing a rather clever twist to the social deduction genre. Developed by Gilded Rune Games and published by Yogscast Games and GamerSky Games, this noir-inspired roguelite takes the suspicion, accusations, and outright dishonesty of games like Town of Salem and turns them into a single-player detective experience. No friends required, which is probably a relief if yours are terrible liars.
Trust Nobody, Especially the Helpful Ones
The city has been infiltrated by a powerful criminal organization, and it’s your job to work out who’s involved before the syndicate takes complete control.
Each case presents a collection of characters with hidden roles, divided into four categories which are Innocents, Meddlers, Underlings, and Traitors. There are more than 175 handcrafted roles to encounter, with some characters are telling the truth, others are deliberately misleading you, and even those who mean well can make your job much harder.
You’ll need to question suspects, examine their statements, and cross-reference the information you collect to work out who’s hiding something. You have a proper detective board at your disposal, complete with notes, pins, and connecting strings. Yes, you can finally become that detective from every crime drama who covers an entire wall in evidence and insists there’s a connection nobody else can see.
One Wrong Arrest Could Cost You Your Badge
Every arrest affects your reputation, and throwing innocent people behind bars isn’t going to do your career any favors. That means you’ll need to resist the temptation to arrest someone simply because their story sounds suspicious. A convincing liar could be sitting right in front of you, while the person behaving strangely may have a perfectly innocent explanation.
The cases are procedurally generated, so memorizing a solution and hoping it’ll work next time isn’t an option. Instead, you’ll need to understand how different roles behave, recognize contradictions, and use logic to eliminate suspects until you’re confident enough to make your move.
As your reputation is on the line, guessing your way through an investigation could leave you unemployed long before you get anywhere near the syndicate’s leadership.
Three Regions, Nine Tiers, and One Big Criminal Headache
Your investigation takes you across three distinct regions, each introducing its own mechanics and character roles. Every region has a campaign that builds toward a confrontation with one of the syndicate’s generals. Defeating them earns you valuable clues and unlocks additional tiers of roles and quirks.
There are nine tiers to unlock altogether, and you’ll need to work through them before taking on the syndicate’s ultimate challenge. Once you’ve uncovered everything, you can enter the syndicate’s own region for a final run that draws on everything you’ve learned.
Of course, the roguelite elements mean there’s more to consider than simply solving the case in front of you. Between missions, you can choose which roles to introduce into future investigations and acquire quirks and modifiers that change how your runs unfold.
It’s a system that should give players plenty of opportunities to experiment with different challenges, whether they’re trying to sharpen their detective skills or deliberately make their next investigation a complete nightmare.
The Detectives Have Already Cracked One Case
Interestingly, Dupery has already had its community playing detective before launch. Gilded Rune Games ran an alternate reality game that sent players hunting for hidden clues and uncovering syndicate suspects outside the game itself.
The community successfully solved the mystery, unlocking a 20% launch discount for everyone on Steam. Not bad for a bunch of amateur detectives who haven’t even officially started work yet.
Dupery: A Game of Solo Deduction is available now on Steam for PC. With over 175 roles, randomized cases, and a criminal conspiracy to unravel, it’s perfect for players who love social deduction type games.