Tales of Chinatown

See the game

Building the case

Screenshots

About this game

Observe, cross-check and prepare your night-time intrusion.

Pause

Three stages, one case

Pause

What you do

Pause

Pause

Lala

Pause

Pause

Details

Languages

Language	Interface	Full Audio	Subtitles
French	Yes	No	Yes
English	Yes	No	Yes

French and English interface and text; no voice-over.

Features

• Single-player
• Full controller support
• Reduced motion
• No timed actions

System requirements

These are engine baselines, not verified minimum requirements for this game. Testing on the corresponding hardware is still required.

Recommended : To be measured before publication.

Mature content description

Death, spiders and period racist prejudices challenged by the story.

How it is made

Each fact ends with “Show the proof”: the path or command, in the repository, that lets you check it. Paths are relative to the repository root.

From scene to source

Game capture 01, the text as the player reads it, and the Ink file that produces it. Click a line of dialogue: its lines are highlighted in the source, tags included. Click lines in the source: the dialogue is highlighted.

Real excerpt of the story (Monday, the mortuary visit), as is. Lines without a tag are the displayed text; the # voix, # piece and # mot tags drive the interface.

Facts

Dates

First commit on 6 October 2026; store preparation on 11 October 2026 (248 commits at that date).

Show the proof

Engine

Godot 4.7.2 (migrated from 4.6 on 9 October), Compatibility / OpenGL 3.3 rendering; exports for Windows x86_64, universal macOS (x86_64 + arm64), Linux x86_64.

Show the proof

Story

Story written in Ink: 44 .ink files (27 in French, 17 in English; ≈ 38,600 words in French, ≈ 32,300 in English), compiled and played by a Godot reader.

Show the proof

Tests

60 Godot test scripts (bounded Ink playthroughs, full controller play through injected events, observation puzzles, store preparation).

Show the proof

Screenshots

The 16 store screenshots are rendered by the real game (game/tests/steam_capture.gd replays bounded Ink playthroughs), at native 1920×1080, copied byte for byte, with SHA-256 hashes recorded.

Show the proof

Trailers

Trailers filmed in the real interface with MovieWriter at 1280×800 / 30 fps (game/tests/steam_trailer.gd), 7 takes per language, 1080p export, mix normalised to −16 LUFS / −1 dBTP.

Show the proof

Art

Original drawings and title lettering: Cédric Lab. Derived illustrations and animations produced with generative tools from his references; every image recorded in the register (sources, prompts, hashes).

Show the proof

Audio

Music and songs generated locally with YuE2 (YuE2-3B, Multimodal Art Projection); 19 interface sound effects and 6 night sounds with Stable Audio 3 small-sfx (Stability AI), chosen by ear by Julien; ambiences by procedural synthesis.

Show the proof

Fonts

Game fonts: IM Fell English, Caveat, Special Elite, Noto Sans Symbols 2.

Show the proof

Accessibility

Fully playable with a controller, a Reduced motion setting, no timed actions (narrative time advances on choices in Ink).

Show the proof

The inquiry’s branches

Every place, clue, choice and ending of the Huang Chow case, read from the game’s own story: what opens each place, what each clue proves, and which choices lead to which ending.

Show the branches · contains the solution

Overview Every clue

• Place
• Clue
• Deduction
• Prejudice (a false deduction)
• Choice
• What the choices add up to
• Ending

Every step as a table

Monday

Kind	Step	Condition	What it does
Place	Mortuary	Imposed first. 1 h.
Place	Limehouse police station	After the mortuary. 2 h.
Place	The police surgeon	After the station. 2 h, 1s.
Place	The informer on the wharf	After the station. 1 h, 2s.
Place	Huang Chow’s alley	After the station. 1 h.
Place	Huang Chow’s house	After the station. 3 h.
Place	Back at the station: Poland	After the station and two other places. 1 h. Stays open until Poland confesses.
Choice	Give Lala a reason to come back		Lala’s trust +1, and the walk is fixed for Tuesday.
Choice	Show Lala a police clue		The ring, the wound, the surgeon’s report or a statement from Poland. She understands you are police: your cover falls, her trust drops to −2, and the house is closed on Tuesday.
Choice	Press Lala about the coffin		Lala’s trust −1. Asking what she wishes to show you gives +1 instead.
Clue	Cohen’s ring
Clue	A mark on the hand
Clue	Inspector Kerry
Clue	“The Pennyfields dens”
Clue	Two punctures
Clue	“A poison of their own”
Clue	Jim Poland
Clue	“He was only to look”
Clue	Gone in at Huang Chow’s
Clue	The coat left behind
Clue	“What the old man keeps”
Clue	Mr. Hampden’s card
Clue	“A tong”
Clue	“He was holding his hand”		Poland’s confession, when his statement is pressed point by point.
Clue	The surgeon’s report
Clue	Ten o’clock, hand clenched
Clue	The skylight
Clue	A scratching
Clue	Lala Huang
Clue	The house inventory		Bought for 1s.
Clue	“What was not for sale”
Clue	Huang Chow
Clue	The long chest		Seen by looking round the showroom.
Clue	Lala knows
Deduction	Not a robbery	“Whoever hurt Cohen went for …; he left …. It was not a robbery.”	At the station, one more question for Poland.
Deduction	The purpose of the visit	“Cohen called on … to …, not to steal.”	A question for Lala about the American buyer.
Deduction	The weapon	“Cohen died of …, let in by … on his hand.”	Tomorrow, Jamrach’s menagerie may tell me more about this animal.
Deduction	The place	“Cohen was hurt …, near ….”	At the report, grounds to ask for a watch on the house.
Prejudice (a false deduction)	Not a robbery: a tong	“Whoever hurt Cohen went for …; he left …. It was not a robbery.”	Ring + “A tong”, with the words “a traitor”. Blocks “Not a robbery” until the tong is disputed (the American buyer, Huang’s house, Jamrach’s ledger). Left with Kerry, men from Pennyfields are picked up.
Prejudice (a false deduction)	The weapon: a Chinese poison	“Cohen died of …, let in by … on his hand.”	“A poison of their own” + a mark on the hand, with the words “a Chinese poison” and “a needle”. Blocks “The weapon” until the surgeon strikes it out.
Prejudice (a false deduction)	The place: the Pennyfields dens	“Cohen was hurt …, near ….”	The Pennyfields cutting + the hand, the punctures or the informer, with the words “in a den”. Blocks “The place” until the informer strikes it out. Left with Kerry, his men spend the night in the dens instead of watching the house.

Monday evening · the report

Kind	Step	Condition	What it does
Choice	Ask Kerry for a watch	Offered when you leave “The place” on his desk.	Two men at the corner of Pennyfields. Withdrawing “The place” from the report cancels it.
Choice	Leave the Pennyfields lead with Kerry		The cutting or the false “place”: his men will spend the night in the dens. No watch tonight.
Choice	Leave three useful clues		Kerry adds 2s on Tuesday morning if he received at least three useful clues (Poland’s statements count as one; the people and your borrowed identity do not count).

Tuesday

Kind	Step	Condition	What it does
Place	A walk with Lala	Fixed at 2 p.m. if you met Lala on Monday without blowing your cover, and her trust is at least 0 or you gave her a reason to come back. After a note, at 6 p.m. at the earliest. 2 h.
Place	Huang Chow’s house	Closed if your cover fell: “Miss Huang is not receiving.” 2 h.
Place	Write to Lala	Only if your cover fell or you missed the walk. 1 h, 1s.
Place	Jamrach’s menagerie	Opened by the deduction “The weapon”. 2 h.
Place	The Institute library	Opened by the deduction “The weapon”. 2 h, 1s.
Place	The Shadwell bird-seller	Always open. 1 h; 3s to learn the hour of his rounds.
Place	Limehouse police station	Always open. 1 h.
Place	The wharves, at night	After 4 p.m., on the rising tide. 1 h.
Choice	Give your real name		Lala’s trust +2. Keeping up the Hampden identity costs 1. The note of apology gives the same piece, signed with your real name.
Choice	Accept her conditions		Lala’s trust +1: you will tell her the danger, you will not use her to draw him out, and she may refuse. Evading the point costs 1.
Choice	Arrange for Kerry’s men		At eleven, his men take the alley and the wharf behind the house. “Do without Kerry’s men” cancels the watch.
Choice	Do without Kerry’s men		Cancels a watch asked for on Monday.
Clue	Lala Huang		Her card changes with her trust.
Clue	My real name
Clue	Lala’s conditions
Clue	“I never hear them for long”
Clue	The midnight round		Also told at night, if she holds the lever.
Clue	Lala knows about Cohen		Show her the ring, the wound or the surgeon’s report once she knows your name: trust +1. Without your name, she learns you are police from the evidence: trust −1.
Clue	Lala is afraid of Ah Fu		Show her Ah Fu’s birdcage.
Clue	Ah Fu
Clue	Huang Chow’s pipe
Clue	“A present for a friend”
Clue	Huang Chow is wary		If Huang sees through you: +1 noise as soon as you are in the house tonight.
Clue	Jamrach’s ledger
Clue	The plate of bird-eating spiders
Clue	Ah Fu’s birdcage
Clue	A quarter past eleven		3s. Tonight you can wait for the delivery on the landing, silently.
Clue	Kerry’s men confirmed
Clue	The water under the house
Deduction	The feeding	“Ah Fu’s birds are there to … whatever … keeps.”	On the night plan: wait for the delivery, and learn what it feeds on.
Deduction	The guardian	“The coffin holds …, brought from ….”	Tonight: do not touch the coffin before seeing what lives in it.
Deduction	The tide	“Under the room, … rises with ….”	Tonight, a trapdoor under the rug will be known for a deadly one.

Tuesday evening · the night plan

Kind	Step	Condition	What it does
What the choices add up to	Kerry’s men outside		“Kerry will come in at the shot, with a rope.” Without them: “No one will come. If you fall, you are on your own.”
What the choices add up to	Lala’s trust		From −3 to +3, never shown as a number. At 1 or more she can help upstairs; at 0 she will want to check your words; below, she leaves the room as soon as she sees you.
What the choices add up to	Noise on entering		The skylight lets you in silently; the service door costs 2. If Huang is wary of you, +1.
Clue	The rope		Always with you.

The night

Kind	Step	Condition	What it does
Place	The treasure room	+1 noise. Going to look at the coffin closely adds 2.
Place	The lever, by the stairs	After the treasure room. Silent.
Place	The upstairs study	After the treasure room. +1 noise.
Place	The gallery	After the treasure room. Silent with Ah Fu’s hour; waiting for him otherwise costs 1.
Place	The service passage	After the gallery.
Clue	A scratching, inside
Clue	Water under the floor
Clue	The alarm wire
Clue	The coffin’s hatch		Only by going to look at the coffin closely (+2 noise).
Clue	The trapdoor lever		Shown by Lala, unless she has left.
Clue	The camera obscura
Clue	Ah Fu’s tongs		Seen in the gallery, or in the camera obscura at half past eleven.
Clue	The moult
Choice	Read the moult right		Three other readings are wrong: a dead spider, a young one, a stuffed specimen. Only the right one lets the spider be named.
Choice	Linger by the trapdoor	Offered only if you have not deduced “The tide”.	The only early death. You may resume before the trapdoor.
Choice	Tell Lala the danger		Trust +1. At 2 or more, and with the house quiet (noise 4 or less), she holds the lever. Otherwise she stays but will not; she may first check the projection with you (+1 noise, +1 trust).
Choice	Ask Lala to keep her father upstairs		“One more part you have chosen for me.” She leaves.
What the choices add up to	Lala holds the lever		Her full cooperation. She is gone if her trust is −1 or less, or if you asked for a diversion.
Deduction	The spider	“The coffin holds …, fed by …. Cohen was killed by ….”	At the coffin: the rope can hold the lid down before it is opened.

The coffin

Kind	Step	Condition	What it does
Choice	Blind the watcher	Needs the camera obscura.	The first of three precautions.
Choice	Lock the trapdoor	Needs the trapdoor lever, and Lala at it.	Alone, you cannot hold the lever and engage the stop.
Choice	Secure the lid	Needs the rope and the spider named.	“You do not yet know what the rope must hold back.”
Choice	Carry out the plan with Lala	Lala holds the lever, the spider is named, the three precautions are ready, and Huang is still asleep.
Choice	Open the coffin without the plan		The precautions already taken stay in place.
Ending	Ending 2 · Lala Lives	First in order: the plan carried out.	The spider shows itself, held back by the crossbar.
Ending	Ending 1 · As the Book Ends	Otherwise, if Kerry’s men are outside.	Kerry comes in at the shot and fishes Durham out. Lala dies.
Ending	Ending 3 · The Cellars	Otherwise.	Durham dies. Titled “No One Came” if the trapdoor was locked.
Ending	The Trapdoor	Lingering by the trapdoor.	The early death, with a resume before the trapdoor.