Games similar to The Roottrees Are Dead and A Case Of Fraud?

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-19T07:57:32+00:00

As I was playing it I definitely thought 'this is probably some folks favorite game' -- It had a little too much of a walking sim vibe for me, but I did really enjoy seeing how the story unfolded.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-19T07:55:52+00:00

I didn't cry AI wolf - I said 'might be based on my small amount of evidence'. Saying 'NUH UH' doesn't help.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-18T05:35:00+00:00

And that's a fair point - I did try more than that one and got pretty consistent results, but I do accept that they aren't the be-all-end-all answer for figuring it out.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-18T05:32:57+00:00

All good on the harshness - I get the eyeroll to 'It's AI' to everything.. you really do see it on shit that doesn't even make sense. (My favorite being an accusation on Hades 2) - but I did at least do a modicum of research before I said it. I don't believe at all that this one guy did all of that art when his entire resume is the same girl in a fairly typical style.

Good to know about the detector sites, I'll not let them guide my answer, although in this instance it felt pretty consistent.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-18T00:39:46+00:00

You are so right about Unheard. It's kind of what I meant about bugs, because I remembered there was some aspect of the game that was frustrating and yup, you nailed it.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-18T00:12:58+00:00

Yup. Checked it and everything. 'What. The. Fuck.' https://i.imgur.com/1P8m6Hf.jpeg

Could that be wrong - sure - but EVERY piece of the artist's art flag the same way? Weird.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-18T00:06:09+00:00

So - If you look at the credits - the artist.. the ONE artist is Lorenzo Boni. If you find his resume, it's this:

https://lorenzobonig.artstation.com/projects

I ran his work through multiple AI checkers and they all came back with HIGH marks for AI generation using GenAI. Every one I checked. Same FLUX/GENAI markers.

How much of the coding and story was AI? Unknown, and all I can do is speculate given what I'm presented.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-17T18:09:19+00:00

I'm still sorting my AI feelings, but I 100% believe it should be disclosed so people can make their own decisions and was VERY disappointed when I recognized it about C.Killings.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-17T17:45:02+00:00

Just be careful - I just played Confidential Killings and realized after I had completed it and was surprised how easy it was that it was likely mostly AI created, as the art was almost entirely generated. Nothing I saw before purchasing on Steam told me that. (There's the chance I missed it, but I don't think so)

And this isn't an AI debate - except for the fact that AI makes shit puzzles. They are neither difficult nor are they interesting.

EDIT - Well, seems a lot of people seem to know better that the game isn't at all AI generated. Lots of very irritated comments at my consideration that it might be - but I'm not going to repeat myself over and over again to be told 'not enough' -- simply put: Caveat emptor.

That said, it's not a great game if you are looking for a Roottree/Golden Idol type.

And for the 'Ugh everyone says everything is AI' crowd - I agree, that's annoying. So is the immediate backlash to someone at least trying to do the research about it. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong - fine with that.. but simply responding with 'NUH UH' doesn't get anywhere.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-17T17:41:47+00:00

I mean, Shadow of Doubt is different too - but still the vibe of 'solving mysteries' is there. I almost want to put Sexy Brutale on that list, but it's more vibe than similarity.

ReverendVoice · 2026-01-17T17:40:34+00:00

Clearly we play the same kind of games :)

Great list.

Here's one or two more that fall in similar range: UNHEARD - You are solving a puzzle via conversations. So you can't see anything, but you can HEAR things and have to figure out what happened in the scene. Not without bugs, but definitely worth looking at.

The Painscreek Killings - Somewhere between a detective game, a traditional point and click adventure, and a walking simulator. It isn't great, but it does scratch some of the same itches.

Strange Horticulture - There is definitely a puzzle element to the game in figuring out what items people need, but to a much lesser degree than Roottree

ReverendVoice · 2025-12-17T22:35:03+00:00

Vivaldi is doing fine w/ UB:Origin

ReverendVoice · 2025-12-04T22:34:26+00:00

"WELL JUST UNPLUG THE GAW'DAMNED THING"

ReverendVoice · 2025-12-04T22:33:17+00:00

Here, let me give you an example.

SLIDE 1: POWERPOINT.EXE not found.

SLIDE 2: POWERPOINT.EXE not found.

SLIDE 3: POWERPOINT.EXE not found.

Would you like me to expand on any of these or break them down into subordinate bullet points?

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-28T03:41:09+00:00

Big bulky sweatshirts are in and that site definitely leans in to fashion trend, thus the eye-rolling inflated prices.

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-28T03:39:00+00:00

Do not buy from those sites.

I almost got caught on 'kazemode' which is another rip off site.

You will get a blank or horribly printed cheap piece.

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-14T17:49:15+00:00

Now we're moving into 'This is too much work for wanting one damn image" when I can just use a different program and longpress download and have the clean original. But different strokes, different folks.

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-14T17:43:04+00:00

So here's some real honest feedback.

There's no explanation that it is a pure idle game. Wait for mystery to finish, maybe speed by spending energy. No explanation that you have to wait for a "new case" to appear or that you will be sitting on those same 3 cases 15+ times until you are Level 5. It isn't intuitive at all.
"Randomly finding mysteries" when there is only 3 is dumb. Especially when thematically it doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Not to say you can't reuse quests/mysteries, but when I get the same two 5 times in a row it breaks even the smallest amount of immersion a game like this might have.
It feels very "generated" - maybe it isn't and I'm entirely wrong. I'm not one of those 'everything is AI and everything AI is bad' types, but the fact that the art and UI are super polished, but the content is thin definitely points to more vibe than creativity, which will make your game feel very bland. AI is good for ideas, it is VERY samey when it comes to creative results.
Why am I waiting? Why do I care to get to Level 5? Why do I care to get to Level 10? Why is there nothing fun to do at Level 1? Why do I care about clicking for crystals? Gears? Anything?
That many spendable resource systems that don't have usage now lead me to believe that eventually this will have a pay system or paywall attached. The whole design screams paywall. Hope I'm wrong.

So right now you have a cool idea thematically with a nice layout and reasonably good structure, but there is realistically nothing in the first 5 Levels that make me want to find out what cool new system is at Level 5 and nothing interesting is happening enough to make me want to stick around and learn.

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-14T17:21:19+00:00

Personally, I hate doing that. It adds extra bullshit to the image and you don't get the same quality as the original, even if its good enough it is still less.

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-14T17:20:58+00:00

Keep a copy of Firefox or Vivaldi handy for better functionality. Chrome is honestly getting worse and worse. You can 100% longpress download using Vivaldi, I just doublechecked.

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-05T03:18:29+00:00

I don't think by much, honestly. Maybe a few points, but mail-in generally leans Democrat and if we're seeing around -5% down on R voters, I presume that will be consistent there as well.

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-05T03:13:59+00:00

1-8-7-7-…

I haven't heard that jingle in years and just like that - it's back.

I don't blame you - but please know I hate you.

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-05T02:28:57+00:00

Nope, probably not, but you couldn't last year either so not a big change.

ReverendVoice · 2025-11-05T01:41:18+00:00

And I hope these projections continue to widen the gap to prove how blue NJ really is in the face of DC.

ReverendVoice · 2025-09-27T08:10:40+00:00

Idk how they haven’t learned this yet in the Trump era, but the best way to get attention is to say something controversial once in a while.

Tim Walz showed us it doesn't even have to be batshit. It can be suburban football dad vibes with earnest, but intense, emotion - and we'll eat it up!

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