Draft:The Roottrees Are Dead

The Roottrees Are Dead is a 2022 video game developed and published by Jeremy Johnston. The game is a browser-based detective puzzle game in which the player is required to undertake research to fill the incomplete Roottree family tree.

Gameplay
Players are required to fill in the names, pictures and occupations of characters on a family tree. Once players have correctly guessed the entries in a stage, they are locked onto the screen and cannot be changed. Correct optional names and portraits at this point are also locked and removed from the pool of names. An 'Intuition' tab provides a list of items of evidence organised by the number of clues contained within the evidence. A list of Notable Roottrees is also provided to the player, listing family members which are more easily searchable on the Internet and marked with stars on the family tree.

Plot
In December 1998, the private jet of the Roottree Candy Corporation crashes in a winter storm, leading the onboard members Carl Roottree and the Roottree Sisters to perish. The Roottree inheritance is left open for direct relatives to claim, and player is an investigator approached by a shadowy woman asked to verify the relations of the claimants to the Roottree inheritance.

Reception
Describing the game as an "exceptional detective game", PC Gamer UK wrote that the game had a "riveting story" anchored around the "interesting" Roottree family, and that the gameplay was "difficult and time-consuming, but extremely satisfying". Reviewers expressed reservations about the game's use of generative art, but PC Gamer UK found them to help "breath a sense of life" into the family. William Hughes of The A.V. Club considered the game to be a "good mystery" and "polished" in its execution, finding the core gameplay of understanding the Roottree family background to be a "pleasure" and reminiscent of the game The Return of the Obra Dinn. The website later named The Roottrees are Dead as the fifth-best game of 2023, describing it as "refreshing" and "one of the most concentrated doses of gaming joy we received all year".