TR-49 Review: An Inventive Narrative Deduction Game Steeped in Wartime Secrets
TR-49, the latest release from UK game developer Inkle, is a database mystery constructed from an archive of fictional books. Set in the mid-2010s during a fictional civil war in Britain, the game immerses players in a world where the combined contents of these books threaten to crack the code of reality itself.
A Strange Piece of Tech Beneath Manchester Cathedral
The premise revolves around Bletchley Park, famed for the Enigma machine and Colossus computer, but here it houses an altogether stranger piece of technology. According to the game's lore, two engineers created a machine that feeds on esoteric books, including treatises on quantum computing, meditations on dark matter, and pulp sci-fi novels. This arcane tool may hold the key to victory in the conflict.
Players take on the role of Abbi, a straight-talking northerner and budding codebreaker, who is sifting through the machine now relocated to a crypt beneath Manchester Cathedral. With no understanding of how it works, you begin tinkering by inputting four-digit codes—two letters followed by two numbers—corresponding to authors' initials and publication years. Correct inputs whisk you away to corresponding pages, filled with clues, further codes, and book titles.
Unraveling a Rhizomatic Network of Information
Your primary goal is to match codes with book titles to find the crucial text, Endpeace, which holds the key to understanding the machine's erudite ghosts. The mystery unfolds naturally from any player's investigations, with connections cascading like a waterfall and swerving in unexpected directions, defying traditional linear logic. TR-49 provides an in-game notepad, but keeping actual pen and paper handy is recommended for tracking the intricate web of information.
Broader Themes and Comparisons
While some might see TR-49 as a comment on AI large language models that scrape data, its concerns are broader and more ambitious. It recalls the works of Chilean author Benjamín Labatut, brimming with awe, scepticism, and horror at the reality-shredding possibilities of 20th-century scientific advances, all while pushing these concepts into a playful, fantastical space.
Less compelling are the radio conversations between Abbi and her companions, which feel thin compared to the lavishly detailed mystery within the machine. The nature of the conflict above is sketched in frustratingly vague terms, leaving some narrative threads underdeveloped.
An Unqualified Success in Interactive Mystery
Despite this, the interactive heart of TR-49—trawling the codebreaking device for secrets—is an unqualified success. The game rivals Sam Barlow's Her Story and Immortality, though it is of an unashamedly literary nature compared to those more filmic works. Initially, the mass of inscrutable writings may feel overwhelming, but players quickly learn to swim elegantly amid its peculiarities.
Across a handful of evenings, I relished disappearing into this archive, cavorting from log to log and title to title, following threads and losing track of time. Each scrap of paper, water-damaged periodical, and rare first edition threatened to solve the mystery, yet none could in isolation. Just as the fictional archive maker fell under the spell of these records, I too was seduced by TR-49's immersive world.
TR-49 is out now, released on 21 January, offering a unique and engaging experience for fans of narrative-driven games and literary mysteries.
