Mystery video game pitch.

1. Dicks
A Game About Private Eyes
On the Wrong Side of the Law

2. Premise
O You are a small town private investigator
pulled into the seedy world of crime and
political scandals in the early 1980s.
O You are not, strictly speaking, a Good
Guy. You take the jobs you can get, and
you accomplish them using any means
necessary.
O Quirky humor in the vein of the Coen
brothers’ black comedy crime dramas.

3. Gameplay
O Play it your way! You have a high level
objective, a contained yet non-linear
environment, and a wide range of tools.
O Be sneaky, be violent, or just be a dick—
the world is full of non-combat characters
to bribe, charm, or otherwise subvert.
O Share clues, trade gear, or challenge your
friends with the game’s connected
features.

4. Theme
O Quirky crime stories in the vein of Fargo,
The Big Lebowski, and Burn After
Reading.
O Separable narrative: A myriad of short
story arcs instead of one monolithic
narrative, modeled after serial television
shows.
O 1980s USA: Not the neon, new wave, and
cocaine of Vice City, but an everyday ‘80s
that unasks questions about tech in the
world.

5. Similar Titles
O Hitman: Blood Money: For its contained
mission structure, civilian NPCs, and mix
of stealth and combat. (Disregard the
more recent Hitman: Absolution, it was a
very different game.)
O Dishonored: For its contained mission
structure and play-your-way values.
O Deus Ex: Human Revolution: For its mix
of stealth, combat, and social simulations.

6. Target Audience
O Fans of “immersive sims” or open-ended
action games, who want to interleave
stealth, combat, and more, but without the
hard failure conditions of a pure stealth
game.
O Fans of quirky crime dramas, caper
stories, and serial television shows.
O Gamers who are tired of the same ol’
same ol’ shootyman AAA video games.