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When a party for a wealthy family’s ten-year-old daughter ends with the birthday girl dead, her older sister missing, and the father refusing to call the police, the detective isn’t exactly conventional. She finds herself at the site of the crime – a rented out old mansion – without any trace of memory. It’s the landlady who tells her that she is a private investigator who’s been hired to catch the culprit and bring them to justice.

But how can she solve a murder when she can’t even deduce her own name? Was it one of the party-goers who did the young guest of honor in? …Or was it the ghost said to wander the haunted halls? Can she manage to find the missing girl before another tragedy takes place?

…And will she be able to sleuth out her own memories and the meaning behind their disappearance at the same time?


♦ Interview suspects, present items, and scour the mansion for clues!

♦ A story-driven title – solve a classic but tragic murder mystery

♦ Choose between two variations of the ending – decide the culprit’s fate!

♦ Atmospheric soundtrack

♦ A custom evented menu, lighting effects, and other enhancements

♦ Approximately 60 - 120 minutes of gameplay


More information is available at DawnSeeker Studio.

Latest Blog

Version 2.2 Update + Steam Workshop

Happy Birthday is now available on Ace's shiny new Steam Workshop!
I also took the opportunity to finally update the game to Version 2.2.

The overdo updates are mostly minor, consisting largely of fixes for bugs and typos that players pointed out or that I've noticed while watching Let's Plays, with just a little bit of general editing and polish thrown in. The most notable addition is some new optional dialogue shown when presenting certain important clues to NPCs, for instance:
you can get some new comments by passing around the Threatening Card, Landlady's Identity?, and Ghost Stories towards the end of the game.
There's nothing that would make it worth it for a previous player to give it another go, but hopefully the updates will offer future players a slightly more polished experience.

Full change list:
♦ Fixed various passability errors
♦ Fixed various typos
♦ Fixed a bug that forced clues to be selected in a specific order during a certain scene
♦ Fixed a bug that wouldn't let the player re-enter the 2nd Floor Bathroom
♦ Clarified the names and descriptions of some clues
♦ Made menu full-screen and fixed color artifact errors
♦ Shortened some pauses
♦ Changed or lowered the volume on some SEs.
♦ Added more optional, unique dialogue when presenting certain clues
♦ Slightly expanded the dialogue during the intro and a few other minor scenes
♦ Some very minor, miscellaneous text and dialogue edits

Baring some unexpected disaster, this is the final update. Any further improvements will have to wait on potential sequels.

With over 8,000 downloads across all its mirrors, lots of Let's Plays and videos, a handful of reviews, and tons of comments on various sites, Happy Birthday certainly ended up garnering far more attention than I ever expected. I'll definitely take the motivation and feedback with me to future projects. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who's played.

And to new players, enjoy!

Posts

Thanks! Yeah, I'd like to see more detective games out on the platform, too.
I've been wanting to play this game for a while now but for some odd reason the download hasn't been working a few days ago but today it is allowing me to download it. I can't wait to play the game because it seems like you have put a lot of thought and time into this game. The summary makes the game seem very intriguing and it seems the main plot it finding the murderer of the birthday girl and subplots such as finding evidence of a ghost and trying to find the identity and memory of the detective. I can not wait to play this game! :D
I just finished the game... It is too beautiful! I especially loved the ending and the plot. I just love the story so much. I hope you make more games! :'D
Huh, that's weird about the download, wonder why it wasn't working.
Thanks for the comments, though - glad you enjoyed it^^
It'll be a while yet, but I do definitely plan to release some more stuff in the future.
I love this game, though it was a bit sad
I had a bit of trouble figuring some parts out, like having to search the beds at specific spots before I could continue
but overall it was lots of fun, good job!
Thanks for the comments - glad you had fun for the most part!
I absolutely loved the game as well as the ending. Here's to hoping you make other excellent games. ^_^
Thanks and glad you enjoyed it! It'll be a little while yet, but I'll definitely have some other stuff out eventually.


Did a walkthrough for this game on my channel, check it out if you want!
I'm enjoying the game so far! Is really interesting, and i don't really have suspection at all, only to that "lady". It really feels like you're inside of a mystery (i don't know if i explained it well) but, amazing game! can't wait to see one of the endings! good work!
Thanks, both of you!

@Shane21293: Awesome! Watching walkthroughs is always neat.
@nyao: Hope you enjoy the rest of it!
This was awesome i love detective games x3 any chance you plan on making more?
A really enjoyable game to play. Loved everything about it, specially the ending, and MAN! What an ending! Looking forward to your next game.
Thanks, glad you both enjoyed it! It'll be a while yet, but I do plan to have some similar stuff out at some point.
This is the best detective games I played!! I have found 2 glitches in the game ( in the 2 floor at the table and the book shelf in the 1 floor kitchen, but I dont know if that happens when I download it) but overall its a good game!! :D
shayoko
We do not condone harassing other members by PM.
515
i downloaded the game but so many things i gotta do so i cant play atm but when i do ill give feedback and thoughts on it
sounds interesting tho :)
shayoko
We do not condone harassing other members by PM.
515
i just finished the game with both endings
i had already guessed who the killer and you were within the 1st 5 minutes tho
it was a amazing game i loved it
looking for clues and stuff in a better way then the folkland case in which i gave up even in the tutorial
i dont even have any complaints about game play it was just perfect...
maybe ill upload a 10-15 min video to show peeps a teaser of the game :3
Thanks for the comments - glad you both had fun with it!
It seems like some passability glitches slipped by. I'll fix those if I end up updating it.