Document Mystery Starter

A template for one-player document mysteries. One HTML file. No build step, no dependencies, no images, no network calls.

Contributed to the Imaginary Game Jam 2026 community asset pack. Theme category: Magical Research.

You give the player a file of documents. They read what they like, in any order, then write two things on a form: what the thing was, and who did it. The engine handles the drawers, the reading, the index, the progress saving, the puzzle line and the endings. You write the words.

It ships with a complete worked example — Eleven Weeks of Nothing, about an eleven-week observation at a magical research institute that recorded eleven weeks of nothing. Play it here in the browser. It takes 10–15 minutes and it is the documentation.

Make it yours in five minutes

Everything you edit sits in one block at the top of the file, between SECTION 1 — THE GAME and END OF THE GAME. Change the title, name three to six drawers, write your documents, list your suspects and their endings, and either write the puzzle line or switch it off. Nothing below that line needs touching.

If you get the data wrong, the page tells you what is wrong, in a red panel, in plain English — instead of showing you a blank screen.

What is in the download

• index.html — the template and the example, in one file
• README.md — the five-minute guide, the full data reference, and an honest list of what it does not do
• LICENSE.md — the terms

Licence

Shared under the jam's Shared Asset Commons Terms. Use it in games you submit to official Imaginary Game Studios jams, and keep your submitted version up afterwards. It is not a general-purpose licence — not for unrelated projects, commercial releases, other asset packs or other jams. Ask if you want that; the answer is often yes.

Disclosure

No third-party code, assets, fonts or network calls. No jam artwork, logos or characters are included. Written with the assistance of AI tools and read by a human before release.

— Ai-Q Labs

FOR FANS OF · Her Story, Return of the Obra Dinn, and document-driven mysteries you read rather than play