Crafting the Perfect Story

First, we needed a great story. Both being from Prague, we wanted to draw on the arcane mythology of Prague’s alchemists. But we also wanted a deeply human story, filled with believable, complex, tragic characters. We wanted to tell the story of how humans can make their own lives hell. Enter the legend of Dr. Faustus and his deal with the devil—and his infamous Faust House, located in central Prague, mired in legend. Currently, it’s occupied by Prague General Hospital. Now that’s a great location for a murder.

Building a World of Realistic Evidence

After about six months of writing and rewriting, we had enough material for a feature film—if not a novel. We knew these characters inside and out, which was crucial. We’d be creating detailed accounts of their lives: their credit card statements, phone activity, criminal records. All the evidence had to be completely realistic.

What does an autopsy report actually look like? Where do you order authentic evidence collection baggies? The design of nearly 30 pieces of evidence went through countless iterations across more than a year, involving a half-dozen different designers. We’re still worried about all the watchlists we got ourselves added to by endlessly googling each aspect of a murder investigation.

Bringing the Suspects to Life with Film

From the beginning, we were clear on one thing: the game would be heavily based on video. After all, the initial impetus was the desire to look these suspects in the eye. But being huge film noir lovers, we couldn’t settle for anything less than cinema quality. And for the video content to work, the acting and direction had to be flawless. There’s no point in looking for hints in a suspect’s face if all you see is a bad actor delivering lines.

Assembling a Talented Cast and Crew

We handpicked an international, award-winning cast of 10 brilliant actors, some of whom we flew in just for the shoot. We put together a crew of experienced film professionals who have worked on major European and Hollywood productions, rented cinema-grade technology, scouted Prague’s most atmospheric exteriors, and built complex dramatic sets. Altogether, video production and post-production took almost a year, involving about 30 industry professionals.

Designing the App for Interactivity

At first, the plan was to just present the videos in something like a YouTube playlist. But eventually, we realized we wanted more space for interactivity and surprising moments. The experience deserved to be fully integrated. We’d need an app.

Here, Branko drew on his Silicon Valley past and called on his former San Francisco co-founder, James, to architect the project. Tom brought in Lucie, an incredible art director from Ogilvy, and Bedi, who designs for Lego. We wanted something very lightweight, that would give the story structure and flow, but would easily fall into the background. The game was meant to be about doing something together with people you love—sharing a new experience. So we designed the app to be minimal and unobtrusive, something you’d only look at when it was time for the next piece of the puzzle, and easily push aside while you investigate.

The Missing Piece: Music

While we were at it, we realized there was one final key component missing to make the experience truly complete—our own music.

Tom, himself a successful lyricist and saxophone player, called on his music producer son and a couple of other special friends, and we got to work. We wanted something contemporary, but with echoes of the classic black-and-white whodunnit films. It also needed to be distinctively Prague. We fell in love with the idea of using a famous melody from Smetana’s Vyšehrad—a decidedly Prague theme. They even play it on the plane when you land in Prague sometimes. As for integrating it into our moody jazz/blues soundtrack—well, let’s just say it was a process. But something truly special came out of it, and the original soundtrack became an integral feature of the experience.