murmures

Clara does everything she can to stay emotionally stable.
It's not going very well.

Something is chasing her, and every place she passes through seems to know what she still refuses to understand.

We're constantly told to stay positive.
To move on.
To be resilient.
murmures is more about what happens when that doesn't work. About the emotions we keep somewhere because they're inconvenient, because they take up too much space, or because we've been taught we should get rid of them as quickly as possible.
murmures is a short, contemplative narrative exploration game. Clara moves through ordinary places, searches, observes, listens, opens doors, watches TV, or simply stops to pet a cat.

Very ordinary things, then.
Except something is wrong.
Explore
An abandoned swimming pool, a snow-covered car park, a park, a neighbourhood, a house.
Clara moves slowly and tries to understand why something always seems to be following her.
A door might be hiding something. A television might tell you far too much. A changing room might just be a changing room.

Sometimes.
Roll your d20s
As you explore, you'll find actions you can attempt.
Search a locker. Force open a door. Read something you might have been better off leaving alone. Help someone. Hold on.

Then assign a d20 to each of those actions.
A good roll can help Clara.
A bad roll can too, in a way.

You'll never be blocked because you failed a roll. You'll simply get a different version of what just happened, of what Clara understands, or of what she'd still rather not understand.

There's no perfect playthrough.
Some words hurt
And sometimes they literally become projectiles.
Some sequences turn the words, thoughts and expectations that follow Clara into very real objects she'll have to avoid.

It's a little less subtle when a word comes flying at you at high speed.
You won't save the world
There's no combat and no brutal game over. You explore, observe, miss some things, understand others, and slowly piece together what these places are trying to tell you.

And all the while, something keeps following Clara.
The real question might be how long it's been there.

murmures is a short, slow and strange narrative exploration game, developed solo by Selane Studio.