Delete After Reading
New Update on the Build weight
We heavily optimized the build sizes so it takes less space your disks.
Thank you for playing our game,
Hotfix
Fixed Chapter 1 Hole in the wall puzzle
DELETE AFTER READING IS NOW AVAILABLE
We are really looking forward (and nervous) for you to live this fun adventure to which we have dedicated so much love during the last months. You know, cute characters, puzzles that make you feel intelligent, fabulous illustrations, and catchy music that give meaning to a story for all ages about the power to change our destiny.
We would also like to thank Alber Corberó, for his patience and his charming drawings; Jaime Bermúdez, Adrián G. Ruiz, and Xavier Paradis for providing the sounds and music; to Daniel Rissech for the humor and writing; to Rachael Pennington for the accurate translation; to Nerea Alfonso, Katabelle, Irene Mirás, Vincent Holmes, Sergi Mani and Ray O'Hare for bringing Nina, Cinco, and Tomate to life with their voices; to all the TLR Games team: Arturo Monedero, Alejandro Dominguez, Eneritz Arizkorreta, Javier Vigor, Manuel Mantecón and Alba Lupiañez, for their effort and dedication in programming; to Oscar Navalón and Iván de la Rosa from Lollipop Robots, for testing; to Cómodo Studio and VASAVA for those magnificent launch videos; and especially to you for supporting our crazy stuff.
Now please enjoy. I hope you have as much fun as we did making it.
Tell your people about it if you like it and please....
Don't forget to DELETE AFTER READING
Best regards,
Beatriz Osorio and Dani Calabuig
P.S.: DELETE AFTER READING is also available in iOS Apple Store, and Android Google Play.
Meet the characters: Destiny, the Ethernal
He lives in a castle surrounded by a giant hedge garden in the shape of a maze through which the only one who can walk without getting lost is himself. He always wears a hooded cloak of an indeterminate color between brown, gray and sometimes purple. His face is never visible. They say he is blind but his eyes can catch you and leave you paralyzed.
He hates ghosts in particular and anyone who interferes with his plans in general. He is mysterious, unpredictable (you never know his mood). He is tall and slender, you wouldn't be able to tell his age. He commands respect, though he doesn't generate rejection. He is immortal and pretends to be interesting.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1977220/DELETE_AFTER_READING/
Meet the characters: Martin Skrilhex, the hated billionare
Now Skrilhex lives with his pink poodle in a giant mansion, protected by security cameras, alarms, two bodyguards (Ortega and Gasset) and a squad of dangerous dogs ready to bite you without asking.
He usually dresses like a store clerk, easily recognizable by his polo shirt and pegged pants. Despite his good looks, his cunning nature should not be overestimated. With a chubby figure, Skrilhex has had several tics since he was a child, such as the (somewhat forced) villain's laugh he lets out at any time, even while sleeping.
An inveterate retro video game player, Skrilhex has rigged an auction to get his hands on the only existing Gold Master copy of the third and final installment of the video game Curse of Penguin Island. His diabolical plan is that no one in the world can play to the most anticipated game of the decade except him. And for his greatest joy, he plans to broadcast a couple of games live to make everyone even more envious.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1977220/DELETE_AFTER_READING/
Meet the characters: Tomate, the witty rabbit
Tomate is still funny, sarcastic and impulsive. Always ready for action. He says what he thinks but doesn't think what he says. No filters. He doesn't like to get up early, has a bad temper and unusual strength for a rabbit. Hates dogs. Wears a hat, tie and sunglasses. Nothing else. But he always denies that he goes naked. A real showman who keeps all his charisma and can't resist singing and dancing at the slightest opportunity. Especially blues and rock'n'roll.
He also loves playing the guitar and hamburgers. In fact, it is said that Nina and Tomate met at a famous hamburger restaurant. The rabbit had gone with his friend Bill Murray and they sat right down at Nina's table. "Yes, we're Bill Murray and John Belushi", Tomate told her "but no one will believe you when you tell them". She replied that it was okay, she was a 103 year old ghost girl and she was used to not being believed.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1977220/DELETE_AFTER_READING/
Designing Delete After Reading's mechanics
We hope you’ve had a fantastic week. Now that the weekend is ahead of us, we wanted to share some more bits of information about our upcoming game, Delete After Reading. Today, we want to focus on the game’s mechanics. If you played our previous title, Unmemory, you will remember they are very unique.
One of the benefits of developing Delete After Reading was to take advantage of everything we learnt, game mechanics wise, from our previous project.
We learned with Unmemory that if some puzzles were too complicated, they would end up frustrating and demotivating players causing them to abandon the story, something we don't want. We want everyone to get to the end and know how the story ends.
So for Delete After Reading, we have taken two important decisions: we have worked to improve the design of the puzzles (to avoid frustration) and we have also reduced the story’s length, shrinking it from 8 to 5 chapters.
Let’s take a look at the mechanics. We have tried to keep mechanics from Unmemory that players loved the most while adding some new ones. For example, we have designed a whole chapter with “room” navigation (as in Chapter 7: Betrayal of Unmemory). The mechanics consist of moving through a labyrinthine mansion to find a secret room making decisions and rescue the most anticipated videogame of the decade from the villain's safe.
We have also implemented one of Unmemory’s most valuable features, the one we called Text-Action (as in Chapter 6: Kill Jay). By using only text we have created a series of puzzles and skill challenges that need to be overcome under the pressure of a countdown. This mechanic adds a very important layer to the project, replayability, at least partially, so that’s why we have dedicated a whole chapter to it. Unmemory’s players will also find other familiar mechanics such as infrared lights, hidden texts, or sound puzzles but with a new twist, to give them a fresh look.
We are satisfied with the final result. The first chapter may be simpler in terms of puzzles but it responds well to what you always expect from an introduction to a story. The second chapter raises the level and introduces the main characters. But the real challenge starts here, as each remaining chapter (3, 4 and 5) features a totally different mechanic than the previous one (and with the extra difficulty that any mechanic must be text-based). But then is when the fun begins: once it seems you couldn't get one more turn, we found a new loophole to exploit the possibilities of text as a mechanic. But that’s something you will have to experience by yourselves. You don’t want us spoiling all the fun, right?
We are very expectant to see if everything we had in our heads, if all the previous learning finally leads to an attractive experience. And the best part is that you will be able to test it real soon. Remember that Delete After Reading’s demo will be available next week on the Steam Next Fest, on June 13-20, so we hope you can take a look at it and give us your most sincere feedback.
Until then, have an amazing weekend!
The lessons we learnt with our previous game, Unmemory
Today we want to talk to you about how our first game has had a significant impact on the design of Delete After Reading. One of the lessons learned from our previous project, Unmemory, is that it was a dense game. Not only because of the difficulty of the puzzles, but because of the approach of the story itself. The plot was unstructured and complex in a deliberate way in order to make the reader feel lost and play with his memory. And although the comments and analysis of both the press and the players about Unmemory have been very positive, we began to wonder if the format of a book to be played, a game to be read could reach a wider audience.
This is how Delete After Reading was born, it is a friendlier, more accessible project, about the power to change our luck. A fantasy story inspired as always by various and different references: movies like The Goonies or Ghostbusters, comics like Little Vampir or video games like The Curse of Monkey Island. And considering the lessons learned with Unmemory, we decided to reduce the number of chapters, create a more linear story, and we aimed at crafting simpler puzzles but trying to make them funnier.
Those who know us already know how much we love books and their power to stoke our imagination. With Delete After Reading we keep pursuing to improve the reading experience, making it as immersive as possible through basic tools like text, sound, images, game mechanics and some interaction.
The good news is that you will be able soon to take a first look at Delete After Reading and judge for yourself if we have succeeded in our attempt to create a more accessible experience. Remember that the game will be featured on the Steam Next Fest that will take place from June 13 to June 20. It’s less than two weeks away so we believe it’s time to wrap things up to continue polishing our demo.
See you next week!
What now? The idea behind Delete After Reading
On the one hand, as much as we feel tremendously proud of Unmemory, the development and release process took a long time and although we are a little ashamed to admit it, we ended up a little exhausted (I guess everyone does). Thus, it made sense to look forward to doing something new.
On the other hand, however, we got a lot of messages from you, the reader-players of Unmemory, asking us to make more games like Unmemory. We consequently think it is definitely an option since a second one wouldn't take so much work and that we could take advantage of all the learning.
That's from an authoring perspective.
Then, we have to take into account the studio’s perspective.
As a company, you also have to take care of the feasibility and look at the economic side. In that sense, although Unmemory has had incredible reviews from public, press and festivals, it is also true that it is not a mainstream product. That's not necessarily a bad thing. We love making projects for a huge minority. But the question remains the same: what should be next from a studio perspective?
One option would be to launch something totally new and different. We have some new ideas, which are aligned to our studio’s DNA: they explore new ways of storytelling through game mechanics, which we see a lot of potential for. But, of course, maybe we're the only ones who see it. Innovation always implies risk.
Another option is to continue building on what we already have: a small but lovely and loyal audience that likes a format where the story and puzzles are well integrated, where reading becomes fun again.
Delete After Reading responds to this second path. An exciting choice that has to show us that beyond the stories, the format of a book that is played, a game that is read has more to offer. At least, we hope so. And you’ll be able to find it soon. Stay tuned and never forget to Delete After Reading!