Hands-On Preview: Devil’s Bluff – The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings

I was going to write a preview about my time with the Alpha build of Devil’s Bluff I was invited to play earlier this week, but now I really want to just go watch Futurama .

. This right here, my friends, this is the struggle.

For those who haven’t heard, Devil’s Bluff is an online murder mystery game currently in the final leg of its Kickstarter campaign. It’s a 12-player scavenger hunt, where one person is designated a murderer (unknown to the group) and is tasked with silently eliminating the other 11 players while they try to hunt down a list of items based on riddles and clues. The game takes place in a “haunted” mansion on Halloween, so players select one of 12 costumed characters who have dressed up for the occasion, including a witch, a wizard, Frankenstein and his bride, and of course, the nerd. No two players can select the same character, so everyone can identify each other during the match.

The Alpha demo I played was actually 5v1, instead of 11v1, as only 6 characters were available; they included 5 mentioned above, as well as the lady nerd/librarian/soccer mom having a mid-life crisis. I played two matches, and was somehow selected to be the Devil both times, so I never spent much time playing the “Survivor” side of things and completing the scavenger hunt, except in the beginning when I was trying to blend in with the crowd. Either way, the game pairs players up into teams of two and sends them on their way, which means some poor unfortunate soul always starts off paired with the Devil in disguise.

Gameplay mechanics are pretty simple: Every character has the same abilities, so it’s easy to get into. Players can walk with WASD, or sprint for a limited time. If the player sprints for too long, they will trigger a tripping animation, which has no consequences when just exploring the mansion, but could spell death if the Devil is on their tail. Then there’s a slap mechanic, which sends people back a few feet and lays them out for a few seconds. This doesn’t cause any damage to health, so it’s mostly used to create some separation between people, or just to annoy your friends. Finally, there’s a button to interact with the environment that can do anything from springing traps (which can be used to harm the Devil, or Survivors. Losing too much health results in death, and Survivors can harm each other using traps) to opening secret passageways, to collecting the scavenger hunt items.

When playing as the Devil, characters have an alternate Devil costume (it’s the same costume for all characters) they can transform into at will. The Devil can only kill opposing survivors in this form though, so it’s a risky gamble that requires strategy and subterfuge. Obviously, if anyone sees you transform, the jig is up and everyone will know to either avoid you or attempt to capture you. There are four total win conditions in Devil’s Bluff , two for the survivors and two for the Devil. For the Survivors, either completing the scavenger hunt with at least one person left alive or capturing the Devil will trigger a victory. The Devil wins either by killing all the Survivors, or by tricking the survivors into capturing the wrong player. Survivors only get one chance to try and capture the Devil, so if some hotheaded player who thinks they know best decides to throw a net out early into the game and chooses wrong, it’s Game Over for everyone.

One of the core, unique features of Devil’s Bluff is the proximity-based audio chat, which is basically what it sounds like: Players can only chat with each other when they are close to one another, so the further away you walk from someone, the quieter the audio gets until they fade out completely. This presents a really interesting layer of strategy, as players have to huddle together to chat with one another, and it’s easy for two players to sneak off and chat privately. Of course, the mansion is filled with hiding spots and peep holes into rooms, which players can utilize to spy and eavesdrop on each other. The proximity-based audio is basically a catalyst for paranoia in Devil’s Bluff , one that is used to great effect. You never know who’s listening, or what their true intentions are.

Considering the game’s early state, KBJ Games has put together a demo that plays surprisingly smooth. There is an occasional hiccup with hit detection, which definitely needs to be addressed, but otherwise I didn’t run into any issues. The mansion is quite large, with many rooms to explore. The hints for the scavenger items, which pop up and remain visible at the bottom of the screen for everyone to see – including the Devil – sounded pretty fair in terms of conveying what Survivors should be looking for. Certain elements of the scavenger hunt, such as the location of items, are randomized each playthrough to keep things fresh. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on the game to see how things progress.

Devil’s Bluff is looking to raise $20k on Kickstarter, and is more than 75% of the way to its goal with just over ten days left in the campaign. Those interested in checking out the online-only demo can click this linkto try it out for free. (The demo currently works with PC and Mac only.) Of course, you’ll need someone to play with, in which case I recommend trying your luck around 8pm EST daily, as that’s when both the creators and most of the community are online playing. If you do get around to playing, let us know about your experiences in the comments section. Stay tuned to IGM for future coverage of Devil’s Bluff as development progresses.