SFB Games

Factsheet

Developer:
SFB Games
Based in London, England

Release date:
2 Jan 2014 (Win/Mac/Linux/iOS/Android)
18 Aug 2014 (Steam)

Platforms:
Apple App Store
Google Play
Steam (Win, Mac, Linux)

Website:
http://www.detectivegrimoire.com

Regular Price:

USD	$3.99
GBP	£2.39
EUR	€2.99

Description

Detective Grimoire has been called to investigate a murder. The owner of a small tourist attraction, found deep within the heart of the marshes, seemingly killed by the very mythical creature his attraction is based around... Explore the surrounding area, inspect the scene of the crime, grill the suspects, solve puzzles, search for clues and uncover the secret of the swamp!

If you'd like a review copy, just email Tom at the address at the bottom of the page and he'll happily provide one for any platform except for iOS!

History

Detective Grimoire first starred in a 2007 Flash game of the same name and was well received on the big three Flash portals at the time, Armor Games, Newgrounds and Kongregate. Tom and Adam talked about a sequel, but other projects and school got in the way of any further development.

Jump forward to the October of 2010, when mobile games had fully taken hold, and the brothers decided to make it finally happen, recruiting their friend Catherine Unger to paint the games environments. They decided to call upon their voice acting friends too and hold auditions, in order to have the games cast fully voiced.

Raphael Benjamin Meyer was brought in to compose the soundtrack, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of the dark and mysterious swamp. Long before the game was released, the soundtrack was award nominated for the Jerry Goldsmith Award at the BSO Spririt Festival.

A few months into the part-time development of the game, Tom decided to switch technology from making a native iOS app with Cocos2D to using the familiar Flash AIR compiler, which also opened up the possibility of releasing on Android too. It also meant that Adam's animations, created in Flash Pro, could be kept in their original vector form.

In July of 2012, the brothers launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the final stage of development of the game, eventually raising over $25,000 from over 2000 backers. The Kickstarter campaign also led to Windows, Mac OS and Linux versions of the game being developed.

After delays due to technical problems and some poor health, the game finally launched on all platforms on 2nd January 2014. Shortly afterwards, the game was submitted to Valve's Greenlight system, where it was successfully greenlit in just 19 days. The Steam release was released on the 18th August 2014.

Features

A mixture of investigating and puzzle gameplay, designed with touch-screens/mouse control in mind
A fully voiced and animated cast of characters to interrogate
Beautiful digitally painted environments to explore
Award nominated original orchestral soundtrack
Designed to look great on all screens, from an iPhone to a Linux desktop

Videos

Steam Trailer YouTube

Mobile Trailer YouTube, Vimeo

Mobile Gameplay Trailer YouTube, Vimeo

Images

download all screenshots & photos as .zip (6MB)

Logo & Icon

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download logo files as .zip (0MB)

Awards & Recognition

"Honorable Mention for Excellence in Narrative" IGF, San Francisco, 2014
"Winner of Best Game Story" Casual Connect Europe, Amsterdam, 2014
"Nominated for Excellence in Storytelling" IMGA, San Francisco, 2014
"Nominated for Excellence in Sound Design" IMGA, San Francisco, 2014
"Detective Grimoire OST - Nomination for Jerry Goldsmith Award (Free Creation)" BSO Spirit Festival, Spain, 2011

Selected Articles

"Detective Grimoire is a better detective game than the likes of, say, L.A. Noire [...] The designers knew what they wanted the game to be and ensure that nothing got in the way of it. As a result, it’s thoroughly enjoyable"
- Chris Priestman, IndieStatik.com
"Definitely one of the better crime games I've played and it's a treat to experience"
- Mark Brown, PocketGamer.co.uk
"From the moment you set foot on the docks, Boggy’s Bog is engrossing, its characters alive and endearing"
- Jillian Werner, GameZebo.com
"It’s time well spent with this funny, intriguing and charming game that’s packed with so much personality that you’ll be left wanting more"
- Claudio Medina, AdventureGamers.com

Additional Links

Game Site
The game and soundtrack are available here through our Humble widgets http:.

About SFB Games

Boilerplate
SFB Games is a British independent game studio, founded by brothers Tom and Adam Vian, who have been making games together since 2003.

They’re passionate about designing unique games with a focus on fun, color, artistry and innovation.

These particular design philosophies lined up well with Nintendo, when the two companies worked closely together to create the Nintendo Switch launch title Snipperclips - Cut it out, together!

SFB Games often collaborate with game artist / illustrator Catherine Unger, who has provided art for most of their games since 2014.

More information
More information on SFB Games, our logo & relevant media are available here.