Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz

Story

"I offer a guarantee—an absolute guarantee—that the tomes will contain the truth on the curse that afflicts you."

Such is the Witch's promise. Is it worth the price she demands?

Can Amadeus discover the truth within the first tome's pages before the moon Aska rises this very night?

Play as Amadeus, a young werewolf struggling to understand his condition, as he navigates a tale woven by Witches. He is equal parts desperate and determined; determined to reclaim agency over his own self, while afflicted by a curse that steals it from him every time the greater moon draws full.

Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee is a narrative game heavily inspired by Umineko When They Cry thematically, and Professor Layton aesthetically.

There will be 5 episodes in total. Episode 1 ~ Waltz out now!

 (Scroll down for accessibility info!)

Features

• A story about legacy and identity; layered with hints to a greater mystery yet to be unveiled
• 1-2 hours of linear, narrative-focused gameplay
  • 9 interactive Point-and-Click scenes
  • 12 pure Visual Novel scenes
• Notebook mechanic to track hints as the story progresses
• 24 music tracks in a textured, melodic, dissonant, electro-acoustic soundtrack
  • 6 tracks with dynamic layers
  • 15 tracks with live instrumental performances by 5 musicians
• Anime-ass opening cinematic
• All art physically hand-drawn in pencil and ink on paper
• Flexible point-and-click control scheme:
  • Fully playable with keyboard only
  • Fully playable with mouse only
  • Space supported as click alternative when using mouse controls
  • Cursor icon changes to indicate player interactions
  • "Cycle through all interactibles" hotkey
• Visual Novel QoL Features:
  • Toggle for auto-progressing text
  • Adjustable text appearance speed & auto-progression time between textboxes
  • Instant text appearance option
  • Backlog of previously-read text

 Accessibility

• Game includes a "glitch/flicker" effect in some scenes that cannot be toggled off.
• Fonts cannot be adjusted or re-sized.
• Supports manually scaling to any window size up to screen's native resolution.
• Features discrete volume sliders for music, sound effects, and ambiences.
• Fully playable using keyboard exclusively, mouse exclusively, or any desired combination of keyboard/mouse (including hover-and-spacebar)
• Save anytime in the menu. No autosave.
• No timed inputs or quick time events.
• No audio-only cues.

Credits

Designed, Developed, Written, Composed, and Drawn by Leo "ArcanaXIX"

Musicians

• Amadeus's Piano Performance - ENDYSIS
• Winds (various) - Lucas Bere
  • Deal with a Witch (clarinet)
  • Dartmaure (clarinet)
  • Spellbound Mischief (flute)
  • End Credits (flute, whistle)
• Marimba (Spellbound Mischief) - Jay Lee
• Bassoon (Watchtower Interlude) - Quill Grant
• Cello (various) - Leo "ArcanaXIX"
• Mix Consultant - Sonia Mokhtari

Art & Narrative

• Narrative Consultants - Ashlee Scheuerman, Frances Maples, Luke Tellson, Ageha Nacht
• Solea Design Consultant - Alecya Mitchell
• Proofreading - Ashlee Scheuerman

Programming

• C# Consultants - Dan Mellot, Carlos Nieto

Marketing & Assets

• Logo Design Consultant - Sarah Seward
• Convention Table Assistant - Derek Allsup
• Glitch Effect Shader - Tilman Schmidt

Playtesting

• Playtesting - Derek, Joanna, Luke, Aaron, Ashlee, Nathalie, Ageha
• Playtesting (original prototype) - Alex, Lucas, Skipper, Nathalie, Taylor, Dan

System Requirements

The game has been tested and runs well on most machines. Below are examples of tested systems.

*Asterisk indicates the game experiences lag or other issues. Scroll to the bottom for recommendations to improve performance.

MacOS:

• 10.13.6 High Sierra (2015 MacBook Pro, 16GB RAM)*
• 11.4 Big Sur (2020 M1 MacBook Air, 8GB RAM)

Windows (64-bit ONLY):

• Windows 7 (Intel core i3, onboard graphics, 4GB RAM)*
• Windows 10 (Intel Core i7, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, 16GB RAM)

Linux:

• Tested on Mint & Ubuntu distros
• Have a Steam Deck? Game is also on Steam, and it runs well!
• Ubuntu 24.04 (HP Stream 13 Laptop, 2GB RAM)*
• There are a few known issues specific to Linux:
  • "I" to cycle through interactibles does not move the cursor visually. It does still functionally highlight the objects.
  • Graphical glitches outside 4x3 gameplay if splash screen is toggled off.
  • Opening cinematic video rendered differently, resulting in slightly lower video quality.

If you experience performance issues on your machine, it is recommended to turn OFF the optional splash screen setting, and set the resolution to an option lower than "native" in the Window Settings:

More Info

Blog, Steam Wishlist, Other Resources: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

Original browser-based prototype: https://arcanaxix.itch.io/amadeus-game

Contact: leo_arcanaxix@protonmail.com | www.arcanaxix.com