Q: What kind of game is Three Cards to Midnight?
TCM is a new style of game with elements of traditional adventure games and casual games built around a compelling story experience. The game is for PC and will be available initially as a download. Plans to offer a special boxed edition and, possibly release on other platforms, are being discussed. See the "Game Features" section on our home page for story details and other game information.
Q: What is the gameplay?
The gameplay is one part solving puzzles and one part what we call "word play". You search locations to find objects that connect to specific "keywords". For example, the first keyword in the game is NOTE; objects you can find include a Quarter, a Foot, a Key, and a Book all of which connect to the word Note (Quarter Note, Footnote, Keynote, Notebook). When you find all the required objects, a memory is unlocked that has something to do with the Keyword.
In context, you must figure out how to unlock memories (or flashbacks) of people and events associated with a series of specific locations. As more and more flashbacks are unlocked, they begin to fit together like a mosaic, gradually revealing the full story.
Q: What were the inspiration and influences for Three Cards to Midnight?
We've had the idea for the story for a long time too long ago to remember where the seeds of the story came from. We were definitely influenced by one of our favorite movies, The Usual Suspects, particularly in the story structure (telling the story in a series of flashbacks). The biggest influence has to be the old Twilight Zone TV series, both in tone and execution. We love how they told great stories by playing on the viewer's imagination, rather than making everything explicit and obvious. And they were masters at creating suspense and sending chills down the spine without resorting to cheap scare tactics or gratuitous violence.
