Premise

When Oliver Hemlock, professional skeptic, is invited to film a seance at a recently-remodeled, supposedly-haunted island resort, he's fairly certain it's a trap. Not only are the paranormal investigators he'll be filming with vastly more popular than he is, but the invitation came directly from the psychic medium... a former stage magician who also happens be his ex. His general paranoia is further justified when, the night before the big trip, he meets...

THE MOST SUSPICIOUS MAN IN THE WORLD

His name is fake. His accent is fake. He'll say just about anything to get in on this trip, and he's definitely going to do something unsavory when he gets there. If the seance is a trap, then "John Smiles" is an entire minefield. He's so utterly, brazenly deceitful... that it's actually rather refreshing. If Oliver is already walking into a pit of vipers, he may as well bring a snake of his own.

Also the guy is hot. So what's the worst that could happen? Surely, he's not going to MURDER anyone...

About

• This is a murder mystery visual novel created for Mystery Game Jam 2026.
• The demo version submitted for the jam  is about an hour long, constituting half the length of the full story. 
• The story is set in an alternate universe of the serialized ontological mystery/dating game Castaway Memories, but completely stands alone. Although both games star the same characters, neither will spoil the other.
• It's super gay.

Content Warnings

• Violence
• Language
• Blood
• Disaster bisexuals

Credits

This game is a solo endeavor leveraging existing assets from Castaway Memories.

Writing, programming, art, and production: Ghost Clown

Original sprites: Souxie

Original background art: Inv Panda

OST: Benjamin Gear X