In 1802 the East India Company owned ship Obra Dinn departed from England to the Orient with nine passengers and valuable cargo. It disappeared with no traces and was declared lost. Now, in 1807, it suddenly shows up outside Falmouth without any crew. An insurance assessor is called in to determine the fate of the boat, the passengers and the crew of 51 men.
The game Return of the Obra Dinn starts immediately with the great mystery, and the player has to assume the role of the Chief Insurance Inspector in order to solve it. The two tools that are used for this are a logbook containing drawings of all onboard and the ship’s manifest and layout, and a device called memento mortem which can replay the last moments of a person’s life. The second item requires remnants of the person to function, but it is of course still extremely useful for the investigation.
The gameplay of Return of the Obra Dinn is essentialy a big logic puzzle that has to be solved. Based on limited information served in sjort chunks, the player has to determine the fate of everybody on board the ship. That also unlocks the story bit by bit (however not chronologically), and it is an intriguing story with some unexpected turns. The graphics is beautifully done in monochrome, and fits the story well. Similarly, the sound design and the music fits excellently. It is clear that the construction of the game was a labour of love. It can at times be rather difficult to figure out who did what to whom, and I had to resort to some guessing for a few of the people on board. Overall, it is a very nice game to play, but it should probably be best played over a limited amount of time since there are many storylines to keep fresh in the head while playing to be able to make some conclusions. It is also, probably, not a game to play more than once for the obvious reason: If you know the mystery it is not a mystery anymore.