This Bed We Made - A Neo-Noir Hotel Mystery
In the shadowy corridors of the Clarington Hotel, a world shrouded in mystery lies hidden. This Bed We Made invites you to step back in time to February 1958. In this immersive third-person narrative mystery game, you play as Sophie, a hotel housekeeper with an insatiable curiosity.
In the shadowy corridors of the Clarington Hotel, a world shrouded in mystery lies hidden. This Bed We Made invites you to step back in time to February 1958. In this immersive third-person narrative mystery game, you play as Sophie, a hotel housekeeper with an insatiable curiosity. As you go about your daily routine in the hotel, an eerie light spills out from Room 505 setting the stage for a mesmerizing tale of intrigue and suspense.
This Bed We Made, developed by Lowbirth Games, offers a unique twist on the mystery detective game genre by immersing players in a neo-noir narrative full of intrigue and suspense. Set in the late 1950s, the game introduces Sophie, a housekeeper at the Clarington Hotel in Montreal, who can't resist the allure of snooping through guests' belongings during her cleaning duties. While this premise may seem morally questionable, it immediately draws players into an engrossing storyline.
The narrative unfolds as Sophie steps into Room 505, a pivotal moment that sparks the central mystery. The bathroom of the room has been transformed into a makeshift darkroom, with incriminating photos of Sophie herself snooping around guests' belongings. While she's been snooping on the guests, a guest has been snooping on her!
Alongside the photos are notes, maps, and mysterious clues, hinting at a looming threat. However, the mystery doesn't stop there. Throughout her cleaning tasks, Sophie uncovers various other intriguing puzzles within the Clarington Hotel.
Room 509, for example, presents the mystery of a troubled couple, with signs of a potential affair. The game masterfully intertwines these seemingly unrelated threads, leaving players to wonder if everything is connected.
The game isn't just about snooping and playing detective, though. Sophie remains true to her role as a hotel housekeeper, and players must engage in various cleaning tasks, such as tidying bathrooms, making beds, emptying trash cans, and collecting used glassware.
This is where player choices come into play, as the game suggests that your actions will have consequences. Decisions like cleaning graffiti in the staff area or disposing of notes can impact the employment status of certain staff members, revealing hidden agendas within the hotel. Early in the game, the choice to not mop up the water from a leaking pipe causes a hotel colleague to injure themselves. This interactivity adds depth to the game but leaves players to ponder the consequences of their choices.
While some actions do have meaningful repercussions, others might feel less impactful, such as discarding cigarettes found in a fellow maid's locker. Nevertheless, the freedom to meddle in these affairs provides a layer of moral decision-making within the game.
In the process of unraveling the mysteries of the Clarington Hotel, players must solve cleverly integrated puzzles, crack safe codes, decode encryptions, and find combinations to unlock suitcases and vanity boxes. Sophie's inner monologue offers guidance if players find themselves stuck, but this feature can be disabled for a more challenging experience.
One limitation of the game is the relatively small number of areas that can be explored. Not every guest room is accessible, although exceptions exist. However, within the areas players can access, they have the freedom to explore every drawer and cupboard, creating an engaging and immersive experience.
This Bed We Made offers multiple endings, influenced by player choices and investigative skills. To experience the full narrative, players must follow all possible leads and thoroughly explore the intriguing story, which takes unexpected turns and provides a sense of mystery and excitement.
From a technical standpoint, the game runs smoothly for the most part, with few graphical glitches or performance issues. However, some players may encounter frame rate drops, especially on older hardware, which slightly affects the overall experience.
In summary, This Bed We Made is an engaging neo-noir mystery game that seamlessly blends immersive storytelling with voyeurism and puzzle-solving. The game's unique feature of allowing players to explore the lives of its characters through their personal belongings makes it captivating. As Sophie, players can eavesdrop, discover secret messages, rummage through guests' belongings, and piece together an intriguing narrative without getting caught.
This game draws inspiration from cinematic legends like Alfred Hitchcock and combines the elements of classic mystery storytelling with player interactivity, offering a must-play experience for fans of the genre.
This Bed We Made demonstrates the appeal of indulging in curiosity and provides a memorable narrative experience. While the game could benefit from additional content to extend its duration and explore more areas, the Store Page does clearly note that the game plays for just 5-6 hours.
If the premise of uncovering dark secrets while taking on the role of a housekeeper, the allure of neo-noir aesthetics, or a love for unique and immersive storytelling experiences pique your interest, This Bed We Made is a game that you should definitely consider.
The game releases today (1 November) on Steam and PlayStation 5, and on 13 December for Xbox Series X|S & PlayStation 4. A short demo showcasing Sophie's interactions when she first enters Room 505 is available on Steam.
This Bed We Made scores a sparkling clean 8 / 10 on the Reddometer, but if you really insist on other opinions...
Jon Bitner
Kim Snaith
