Another Night at the Archive
You are the new hire for the night shift at the dingy old archive in your city. But it turns out that there is information stored here that you can find nowhere else. So every couple of nights, you get a call by some weirdo government agent or private ghost hunter to find some very specific information for some very specific and weird questions they have.
Using the old card catalog, you look up names, cities, buildings and events to slowly piece together mysterious and horrifying tales of weirdness by looking at various newspaper clippings, old flyers, book pages, webpage print-outs and more, all stored in this archive, while the wind outside is howling and the old lightbulbs flicker.
ALTHOUGH YOU CAN PLAY IT ONLINE, I STILL RECOMMEND STRONGLY THAT YOU DOWNLOAD THE GAME.
SOME UNFIXABLE BUGS ONLY OCCUR IN THE BROWSER VERSION.
Heavily inspired by games such as “Return of the Obra-Dinn” or “The Roottrees are Dead”.
Jumpscares: No. Only a somewhat creepy atmosphere
Language: English
Duration: 60 min
Controls: Mouse & Keyboard
Download
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Hope this is not rude. I really wanted to enjoy this game, it's right up my alley. I still tried my best and I did like trying to puzzle out the mystery.
I understand this is a prototype, so I don't mind that we can't figure out *all* the disappearances and mysteries like DACA, but I still struggled to understand how the story we were giving to the detective worked. Who is the missing relative and how did we help?
My complaint is that I did not understand the mechanics of the game at ALL. The first time I tried, I even got stuck in the answer box & had to restart the game, because I didn't realize the "back" button was in a different spot. I was super confused on how to use/read the stuff you get from the archive (although I must say I thought all of them were beautifully made), and scrolled around in the comments on this page until I found an explanation. Even then, I played the entire game clicking on each individual file, because I had no idea there was a way to actually search up words. I also wish there was some way to make getting the archive pieces back (when you returned them but need them again). I don't mind how, but it was rather frustrating to realize I needed a piece, but not remember what file it came from or even what files had archive numbers.
Even though I struggled with the mechanics some, I LOVE the story and puzzles here. I think having to input a code to get new information from the archive is so unique, and again, all of the art and writing on the papers was so pretty & fun to read. I like the world of this story & I like the mysteries we were able to figure out, and that there was even more that we still don't know. I really liked having to piece things together to figure out the answers for the detective, and I thought all of those puzzles were neither frustratingly hard nor easy. I didn't get the camera question right, but I think I might have missed a clue on that one. I also loved how each question was slightly unique (not just yes or no, or all number answers).
I'll be looking forward to whatever full version this game turns into :)
Been playing a couple in this genre lately, and this one is a favourite. Very simple in concept, but well written and some of the puzzles took a fair bit of thinking.
hey! i came across Another Night at the Archive and ended up looking through some of your other games as well. i really like the concept of digging through the archive and slowly piecing together the mystery, and i saw that you've talked about expanding it into a bigger/full game.
i run Parody Boat Media, a new micro publishing group. i'm looking for indie games with strong concepts where i can help with marketing, short-form content, community building, playtesting and creator outreach while the developer focuses on making the game.
i noticed Another Night at the Archive has already built a pretty strong audience on itch, so i'm not reaching out just to offer generic “exposure.” i'm more interested in whether you're still working toward the larger version and what your plans are for releasing it commercially.
if you're planning to take it further and you're open to having someone help with the marketing/community/publishing side, i'd love to chat and hear what you have planned for the full game.
I had a lot of fun with this. After multiple hours I had to look up a walkthrough and I had one camera wrong. I wish I had been able to finish it by myself but it was tons of fun either way. The aesthetic and feel of the game are great and the actual game play loop of using the card catalog feels really good. It took a while to figure out what I was doing at all but honestly I enjoyed that part.
how... how do i read the files I get from the archive? they are TINY even in full screen and clicking does nothing, either on browser or download...
Zoom in with mouse wheel
I feel really stupid but also ok that should be made clearer in some way 🤣 Had a great time with the game, I definitely do wanna find out more details, and also loved the dark humor. Richard Kenner my dude... my man... ah well.
is there an option to remove the full screen if we download the game?
is there a way to make the documents bigger?
try zooming in with your mouse
How do I save my progress and are we able to search for files or manually only? Really confused how the controls work on pc.
the only problem I had was the table getting wiped clean after I went to card cataloge and back a few times but other than that the game is GREAT!!!
incredible game, can't wait for the larger release!
Loved this game! I got caught out multiple times with simple typos, and the cameras were something I couldn't conquer in the end and had to find a reddit thread to help me. Having said this, I was SO invested in this investigation and totally wanted to solve the further disappearances etc. I almost went as far as to screenshot all the documents and print them off to make it a tabletop version, but decided against it as that would mean I'd have to fix the printer...
VERY good game!
How do I save and quit in the download version?
This was super fun and I got really into it! I love how the progression of gameplay allows you to get the shape of the mystery while still leaving a few details unsolved. In case it's relevant, I played the downloaded version of the game.
Things I really liked:
The most important part of the game, scanning through the archives, is the most fun! The archive entries are very well written to capture all the wildly different tones of the entries (I especially liked the various news articles that complained about tourists just walking off when it's obvious to the reader that something really bad happened to them)
I also feel like the archive request paper (where you have to fill in the answers) also sets up the horror really well before you even read anything. The question 'In what chronological order did the Schutter family cross the wildlife cameras?' made me on edge about their mysterious disappearance in the woods before I even knew who they were!
I had way more fun than I ever thought I would taking wild conspiracy theory notes about everything I thought was going on in Swantal, and there were just enough limited details on the main people involved to get me to emotionally connect with them.
The music was incredibly ominous and really added to the unsettling atmosphere of the game!
Things I think could be improved:
Sometimes when selecting an archive folder there would be a bit of a delay and I'd end up on the folder next to the one I wanted (same with the files within the folders), which disrupted the flow slightly.
I'd like an option to alter the music level.
I'd like to be able to zoom in as far as possible on the desk to read the recovered archive entries.
It'd be great to have some accessibility options in the game (especially for blind players as the game is currently very reliant on sight, screen reading compatibility and audio descriptions etc would make the game available to a lot of potential fans!)
Things I think would be neat:
It'd be cool to have a note taking function within the game for convenience, though I had a lot of fun making my own notes anyway!
It'd be cool if the music changed with each mystery.
In conclusion, I had a lot of fun and got really invested in solving the mystery, and I'm very excited to see any future mysteries! Even if this were the only one, I'd still recommend this game to people as I had such a great experience!
At first I was a little put off by the simple graphics of the office, but once i had the first articles on the table I was hooked. It was fun to piece together what happened, the game design is well executed, with nice "aha"-moments when something finally clicks and you make a connection. Lore and World Buidling were great too, I really feel like i have uncovered a piece of history now that i finished the game. And there is still stuff that I will think about for a while, in terms of unexplained (or not discovered by me) events in the mountain.
Awesome Work! Loved it!
Oh, one small thing: One of the images of the cracked dam still has "Kruger" written on it. Confused me for a bit, but after finishing, I read another comment that mentioned the name change, which explains it
how do you put the things on the board im so lost 😭
Really, really fun. :)
Lo necesito en español!
LOVED THIS!! aaaaa i love research games so excited to see the full version of this too !!
I am guessing I can't play this game on browser? when it loaded all I see it multiple black rectangles on my screen, nothing else
Double that. Looks like fonts are broken ot something else happened with text rendering.
update I got a new laptop with new system now I can play on web
I loved it so much, and I really need more! 10/10
I love to take notes, it is so much fun! Finding out the cameras was the most difficult part, but tbh I just needed to read the documents more carefully.
I really hope to play the long version of the game with different stories or requests to do.
it took me a while but i finally finished it, i'd say the cameras were probably the hardest part and i must admit i sorta just guessed those untill i got it right. other then that this game was fun and awsome, 9/of 10 (:
best of luck on any future projects, may i ask if you plan to ever re-visit this setting/system?
this game is amazing! but I just wish that the instructions on how to play were more clear and emphasized since I didnt know you could search up any of the files so I played the whole game looking at every individual file and answered the request terribly 😓
there's another way to look up the files????? how?
I meant like that section with all the folders sorted in alphabetical order
I see that you are making a full game, but if you would ever consider adding just the smallest amount of UI to this, I would love a way to completely delete everything I've written on the message without having to go and do it manually while desperately trying (and failing) not to look at the half completed answers I've filled out previously.
Love the game but replayability suffers because of this.
Absolutely love this game! Love searching and piecing together the spooky evidence.
I did a LOT of notetaking. I'd love to see a note taking facility in the game.
This one took me MONTHS to finally get through, since the music keeps me so on-edge and the file system took more frantic, random sifting from me than intentional name searches (my current scroll wheel is broken, so it took more effort to look through all the documents than necessary). I finally got into the flow of it and managed to finish it in less than 3 hours.
Unfortunately, every reasonable camera combination I tried was either "several" or "few" errors. Even after looking up a successful YouTube playthrough where ONE of the combinations I used was correct -- it still says a "few" errors! I'm not sure if it's the difference between browser and download versions.
might have been a typo somewhere else; for me it was that i wrote "03" for year instead of "2003" :(
help! i tried to play, and after getting a few peices of info, the game would not let me get specific info cards. i tried getting the one under "Ad" but the numbers kept changing and the system would not let me put it in. am i doing something wrong, i speculated that it was because there was too many things on my desk, but i dunno. also, how in the world do you find out where the hobos friend lives. because no matter how much i look, i cant seem to find it, thank you.
in case you didnt know it asked where he worked, not where he lived, its just in the file of his name. Idk which specific one tho since I havent played the game in a while
I had the same issue with the number changing. Clearing the desk didn't fix it, so i suspect its one of those browser specific glitches the creator mentioned in the description
Fantastic game! I loved figuring out this mystery. (although I still wonder what exactly happened!) I ended up making a spreadsheet to organize all my findings and the camera timelines. Would love to see more of this game and I'm excited to see this expanded on.
Im confused how to even start. I looked up all 3 key words in the initial letter. What next? nothing unlocked and I have no new leads
youre supposed to look for any 3 set of numbers in the files that have them, then look it up so you get additional info
Shout out to KorbohneD, please answer!
Does there exist anywhere an uncensored version of "that one heavily censored document" and if so, how could one possibly get there hands on it?
For anyone who thinks they might have missed something, there is a total of eight WORKING location codes.
The unrelated codes (which I did not count) do not work and, in fact, change every time you close the drawer.
This is only for the codes, there is other information in the cataloge that leads somewhere useful.
For an extremely basic example:
Ernst Kreutz Did you mean: 'Kreutz, Ernst'? People are catologed by surnames not first names!
Hi ! The game is really cool, i figured out most of the info (the camera was the one i did NOT find) but i still loved having to search and discovering the story :)
i did it :)
very fun, decently long too
interesting lore as ell, very excited to see where this goes next.
I remember playing this game about a year ago and it was great! However, it was not finished. Is it now?
i played the game in one sitting, had a great time 9.5/10!
i think the camara identification should get a retry, because i somehow managed to "guess" it (calculated guess, elimination) but never 100% sure.
in the end, it drove me crazy, because i thought i got the camaras wrong, or something else wrong; when actually the only thing i was sure i was right about, the street name, was a mistype, i dropped an "n", lmao.
also a suggestion: this game feels like a great escape room (i felt like i was actually a detective/researcher, would play other stories like that) - i can see myself playing this with friends on two screens, one for the index archive, and one with the table/item archive, maybe there's a way to implement/integrate this into the game.
also, i would love for it to be an option to download a file for print and play physically.
bug: the game reacts too slow to typed input - writing the code into the archive machine, if i typed too fast, it wrote the second key twice (i.e. typed 13 fast, the machine wrote 33). i guess that's the reason i dropped an "n".
I liked this game! Simple in style and gameplay but challenging and engaging. Havent completed it 100% yet, still figuring out the cams. Though if I had to share any critique it would definitely be q.o.l improvements. The lack of tutorial/introduction makes it a bit hard to get into playing the game the first few minutes. Also be nice to have an "archive" to hold files that you arent actively using so you dont have to go back and forth to the catalogue. Besides that, its not bad, I enjoyed finding scattered information, very rewarding to put the pieces together :)
not really playable on the web bc it jsut crop half the screen sadly :(
Once you start the game, zoom out or scroll left until you see the button for fullscreen <3
Does anyone have any hints on how I can find the time for the Swantal incident? I've got it pegged for sometime in between 21:09 and 22:25
look at the medical report that you get after looking up the "Overstatter Drinknight" in the archives :)
Loved the reference to Dave the Diver in the Di file. This game could be packed full of references that I'll likely never find, and I love that.
OMG! I really enjoyed this game even when english is not my native language, but I understood the story behind the complex situation. I really wanna play more to discover all the other details for the rest of the story. Thanksssss
Can't play without a mouse as this game requires the zoom in function to read the newspaper clippings, seemed promising but I'm sadly unable to play.