I have a new game coming out. FOR THE TIME BEING, it is a Patreon exclusive. But you can hear Jenni and me playing it on a new episode of Clash of the Type-Ins and you can stop listening to it whenever you decide you don’t want to hear any more spoilers.
The name of the game is Ryan Veeder’s Agatha Christie’s the Murder on the Orient Express.
10 posts were split to a new topic: Copyright/Parody/Fanfiction/Fair-Use
I would highly encourage anyone tempted to use this game as any kind of precedent or data point in a discussion about adapting non-public-domain works to experience a couple rooms of it first, then, y’know, see how you feel
Well, there’s no such Christie novel as “The Murder on the Orient Express”, so this could be a Predator/The Predator type situation.
From playing some of Ryan Veeder’s “Little Match Girl” games, I suspect nobody will ever accuse him of adhering too rigidly to the source material!
True, those games have nothing like the fidelity of his adaptation of Poe’s Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.
This game is very funny and although I’m not a lawyer, it might qualify as a parody.
I will probably try it out. Knowing the content of the “Little Matchbook Girl” series (which is in public domain) I am aware that Ryan strays so far from the source material that it may be a violation in title only. Titles are not copyrighted (you’ll often find dissimilar works with the same title). Titles can be trademarked. Apparently “Murder on the Orient Express” is trademarked (by the Christie estate), due to expire July 4, 2027
Reference: https://anguskidman.show/2023/10/20/the-agatha-christie-trademark-that-expired/
I am very much looking forward to playing this game!
I don’t care what the reason is–a new episode of Clash of the Type-Ins can only be a good thing.
I am pretty biased when it comes to Ryan’s games, but this one has an excellent structure, an amusing tone, and an ingenious antagonist. I’m a huge fan of Poirot adaptations, and I also particularly enjoy several writers and storytellers referenced within the text (who should remain nameless because I was so delighted to be surprised by their inclusion). If you think you might be a clone of me (or perhaps a long-lost twin), you should probably play this game once it’s available to everyone.
When I was a kid, for the longest time I was sure the word was oh-bee-skwee-us and not ob-seek-wee-us and this podcast episode is reminding me that I still think it should be 
I have an update! Based on the very positive Patreoneer reaction to Ryan Veeder’s Agatha Christie’s the Murder on the Orient Express, I thought I should enter it in IFComp. So this game will enjoy its public release tomorrow, or, the day after tomorow, or whenever those games enjoy their public release.
I hope you have fun with it! I really like it a lot!
For health reasons I will be trying my best not to read any reviews of this game. If you happen to write a review, first of all I really appreciate your engaging with my game to that extent, but second of all I would extra-appreciate if the header of your review said “HEY RYAN DON’T READ THIS YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T READ THIS” or something to that extent, ideally in all caps. Of course, if I do a good job on my end, I will never know that you were so kind as to do this for me. But I still appreciate it very much, in a thought experiment sort of way.
“RELEASE THE CLAPPER!” commands Zoos. Purse-eus claps his hands. Medusa’s mouth releases a noxious fume which immediately intoxicates and stones the Crack-en causing it to fall asleep.
What if we DON’T review the game, how should we title that?
Hint request please!
What do the levers do?
How to find the meaning of rhinoceros ? The lady in Yugoslavia isn’t sure .
Is the betting guy at the racetrack’s tip any use for anything ?
First question:
Have you opened the trunk in the baggage car?
Have you made it through the portcullis at the bottom?
Keep going in that direction and you’ll discover seven of something.
Each lever affects one of those seven.
Second question:
I suspect you may have mistyped it—the lady in Yugoslavia should tell you it means trespassing.
Third question:
Yes.
Have you seen anywhere else in the game that you can bet on something?
How about a casino?
Play roulette at the Casino Greco.
Listing all of the lever locations in case it’s useful to anyone! Since these aren’t included in the walkthrough. Also, a general hint/tip: consult the travel guide (which you get from the portmanteau in room 20) often, especially in locations that clearly have unsolved puzzles; it contains vital info in some cases.
Have you tried…
I am having trouble finding the 50th clue.
Is there a point where the game takes certain clues out of play, because listening in Casablanca does not reveal a clue. I checked in my scrollback to make sure that I haven’t tried it before but I haven’t.
