Writer's Blog: Unsolvable Mysteries (Patreon)

Current Wordcount (not including Chapter 14): 389k

Next Update: September 16

I’ve finished one of the pathways, and Chapter 13 is now written from beginning to end . . . assuming that Button has a high relationship with Nick and either met Isaiah or gave Caleb’s USB drive to AL.

(Team Disaster Cousins seems to be winning at the newest interview poll, by the way. If nothing else, it’ll be funny to eventually rub in Reese’s face during their interview that they ranked below both dogs and Caleb. I’m not sure which they’d consider to be the greater indignity. Probably Caleb.)

I’m also almost done with the other version of Caleb’s route, and then just need for Nover!Buttons (Buttons with no relationship with Nick) . To summarize, everything is on track for September 16’s update!

Tonight’s post is a little late since I spent the better part of my evening wrangling small children out of walls (aka babysitting), but I’ve been mulling over this topic for a while: Unsolvable Mysteries In Interactive Fiction. 

By unsolvable, I really mean unsolved, not that the mystery itself is impossible to be solved. It's both solvable and unsolvable, depending on your Button. Because just as there exists pathways where you uncover all the mysteries, there also exists routes where you hardly learn any at all and your only achievement is . . . well, there's a few, but it doesn't involve being a successful detective.

That’s right: it will be possible to play Mind Blind from beginning to end without ever learning Noh’s true identity.

While this “unsolved” pathway will be the exception rather than the rule (Button will have at least three opportunities to unmask Noh), it’s a path that took me a long time to come to terms with. Because, personally, I wouldn’t be satisfied if I played through a game and never learned the identity of a major character. That being said, Mind Blind has been written with replayablity in mind, and I’ll be doing my best to make which the options on which you can no longer pursue the mystery to be very clear. 

It’ll be kind of like giving Caleb’s flash drive to AL . . . sure, it’s an option, but it’s also an option that really shouldn’t be taken (by Button, that is. Players get some fun fallout.). Unlike with Caleb’s drive, however, which is one impulsive click and uh-huh no longer in your possession, the option that lets Noh go unmasked will come with a double-check page. Which usually I'm wary of (it break immersion if not done right), but here seems important to include.

This warning won’t break the third wall, as it’ll still be written from Button’s perspective, but it will make it pretty clear the ramifications that will happen should you choose this option. I’m hoping that’s a good compromise. The alternative would be to force all routes onto the same pathway where Noh gets revealed, which (while easier) limits both the value of replay and giving readers control over their Button’s story. Maybe you don’t want your Button to learn who Noh is, because their priorities shift once Nick is kidnapped and saving their brother at a sacrifice feels more poignant. (I should note that you can both save Nick and learn Noh’s identity. Pretty easily, in fact.)

Either way, having a path in Mind Blind where Noh gets away with everything wasn’t a decision that I reached lightly. But I do feel like it’s the best way to let the story play out, as well as to make sure that your choices actually do matter.