Tangle Tower
Cover art
Developer(s)SFB Games
Publisher(s)SFB Games
Platform(s)Apple Arcade, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
ReleaseApple Arcade
19 September 2019
macOS, Switch, Windows
22 October 2019
PS4, Xbox One
6 October 2021
Genre(s)Adventure game

Tangle Tower (also known as Detective Grimoire: Tangle Tower) is a murder mystery point-and-click adventure game developed and published by SFB Games. It is a sequel to the 2014 game Detective Grimoire and the third entry in the Detective Grimoire series. The game was launched with the Apple Arcade service on 19 September 2019 and was later released for Nintendo Switch and Steam on 22 October 2019, followed by PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 6 October 2021.

Gameplay

The game follows Detective Grimoire and his assistant Sally (who appeared in the previous game with a different hairstyle) as they travel to the eponymous Tangle Tower to solve the murder of a girl named Freya Fellow, who was seemingly killed by a painting. Players progress through the game by conversing with the various suspects and searching each room of the tower for clues. Searching the environment will often unveil puzzles that must be solved in order to obtain a new piece of evidence. When certain conditions are met, the player can question each suspect about something they're hiding.[1]

Development

After Detective Grimoire had been completed in 2014 with a light cliff-hanger ending, the team didn't have an immediate rush to do a sequel; however they soon learnt about the Creative Europe’s funding programme which offered funding for narrative driven games, leading to SFB formulating a sequel; they entered into in programme in January 2015.[2] The original development of Tangle Tower was put on hold after Nintendo approached SFB Games to make Snipperclips, but resumed after the game's expansion, Snipperclips Plus, was completed. The team "dusted off" the project and continued working on it for a 2 years before release.[3] Designed in Unity, the team ensured the game was compatible on a variety of platforms from the get go.[4] The Apple Arcade deadline pushed the development team to tie up loose ends and finish the game.[4] Adam noted that the game went from 90% completion to 80% due to the pushed-up deadline, but that the team were able to finish the project with minimal sacrifices.[5] Due to Apple Arcade's requirements, the game was translated into 17 different languages by Universally Speaking.[6] SFB Games attended their first PAX East Indie Showcase with this title.[7] The game was later released on Steam and Nintendo Switch on 22 October 2019. On 21 December 2020, Jonathan Harris did a 'Tangle Tower unused animation showcase stream'.[8] The game was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 6 October 2021,[9] with each version playable on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S respectively via backwards compatibility.[10][11]

Design

Characters were designed by Adam Vian and Catherine Unger, with Adam drawing finished poses into Flash. At this stage, PNGs of these static poses were added to the Unity project with a 'bobbing' effect to give a feel of movement within the scene's dialogue. Animator Jonathan Harris inbetweened each final pose, with multiple head positions, eyes, and mouths for each. Designed by Tom Vian for the 2012 game Detective Grimoire: Secret of the Swamp, FlAn exporter was used to save Flash files as PNGs, which through the TexturePacker tool were all placed into one spritesheet. The FlAn player reconstructed the sprites from the data files. A white outline was added around each character to avoid their outfits blending into similarly coloured backgrounds. A Squigglevision effect was added to this outline to "keep them alive [and] breathing". Tom created a tool using Unity's timelines that allowed Adam to type dialogue and choose poses from a list to perform the text straight-away.[12]

Many character designs were used throughout development. As an example, Fitz Fellow originally wore red opaque glasses, but after the voice acting tests were made, the team wished to make him more sympathetic and vulnerable, subsequently removing them.[3]

Reception

Tangle Tower received mainly positive reviews, holding an 82/100 score on Metacritic.[13] The game was praised for its voice acting, dialogue, and art style.[13][14][15] Negative comments were given about the undeserved ending and lingering plot holes.

ScreenRant wrote it "keep[s] you guessing until the surprising final reveal".[17] Pocket Gamer deemed it "gorgeous" and "thrilling".[18] PC Gamer write it was a "light-hearted, comfy murder mystery",[19] while Rock Paper Shotgun praised its "winsome cast, gorgeous music and sharp writing".[20] CBR highlighted a moment of dialogue that was "endearing" and effectively establishing the dynamic between characters.[21]

Imoire.com noted that "after several satisfying hours worth of gameplay" the game "ends somewhat suddenly" and contains "a handful of loose ends" by its conclusion.[22]

The game was nominated for "EE Mobile Game of the Year" at the 16th British Academy Games Awards.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Apple Arcade: 'Tangle Tower' Review – Unravel a Web of Lies in this Murder Mystery – TouchArcade". 8 October 2019.
  2. ↑ Simpkins, Jen (21 December 2020). "The Making of Tangle Tower". Edge.
  3. 1 2 "INDIE GAME DEVELOPER INTERVIEW WITH ADAM VIAN". Into Indie Games. 2020-01-31. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  4. 1 2 Tangle Tower | Interview | PAX East 2020, retrieved 2021-07-21
  5. ↑ Allen, Eric Van (2020-06-27). "Tangles and Snips: How Two Brothers Went From Flash to Nintendo and Apple". USgamer. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  6. ↑ "How Apple Arcade mystery Tangle Tower was translated into more than a dozen languages". 16 October 2019.
  7. ↑ @SFBTom (January 29, 2020). "Tangle Tower has been selected by @PAX to be in the PAX East Indie Showcase this year! Which means that @SFBDim and…" (Tweet). Retrieved 2021-07-23 – via Twitter.
  8. ↑ Tangle Tower unused animation showcase stream, retrieved 2021-07-23
  9. ↑ @SFBTom (October 6, 2021). "Killed by... a painting?! 💔🗡️🖼️Tangle Tower is now available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ @SFBTom (October 6, 2021). "@Wonchopmonkeyma It's the PS4 version running on backwards compatibility! There wasn't an opportunity to take advan…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ @BitSummit (August 26, 2021). "Unravel a thrilling mystery by exploring a strange and twisted mansion, discovering curious clues, interrogating pe…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Imgur, Tangle Tower and the Art of Animated Adventure, retrieved 2021-07-23
  13. 1 2 3 "Tangle Tower for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  14. 1 2 "Tangle Tower for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  15. 1 2 "Tangle Tower for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  16. ↑ Woodward, Tyler (2019-10-08). "Apple Arcade: 'Tangle Tower' Review – Unravel a Web of Lies in this Murder Mystery". TouchArcade. Retrieved 2020-04-06.
  17. ↑ "Tangle Tower Review". ScreenRant. 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  18. ↑ Bald, Cameron (29 January 2020). "Winners of the PAX East Indie Showcase include Tangle Tower and Door Kickers: Action Squad". www.pocketgamer.com. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  19. ↑ Watts, Rachel (2019-11-04). "Tangle Tower is the Disco Elysium detox I needed". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  20. ↑ "Wot I Think: Tangle Tower". Rock Paper Shotgun. 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  21. ↑ "Tangle Tower: Why You Should Play This Charming Murder Mystery Game". CBR. 2020-12-30. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  22. ↑ "Tangle Tower for Apple Arcade: A fun, funny whodunit". iMore. 2019-11-20. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  23. ↑ "Death Stranding and Control dominate Bafta games awards nominations". TheGuardian.com. 3 March 2020.
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