The Roottrees are Dead on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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A genealogical mystery straight out of 1998. Scour the early Internet for clues, uncover hidden connections, and piece together the family tree behind the secretive Roottree Corporation.
The Roottrees are Dead is a mystery, puzzle and detective game
developed by Robin Ward
and published by Evil Trout.
Released on January 15th 2025 is available in English on Windows, MacOS and Linux.
It has received 2,522 reviews of which 2,459 were positive and 63 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.3 out of 10. 😍
The game is currently priced at 19.50€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified The Roottrees are Dead into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at The Roottrees are Dead through various videos and screenshots.
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10 64-Bit
- Processor: 2.0Ghz Dual Core
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 510
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Your graphics card needs at least 2GB of VRAM
MacOS
- OS: macOS High Sierra
- Processor: Apple M1
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Storage: 1 GB available space
Linux
- OS: Linux 64-Bit
- Processor: 2.0Ghz Dual Core
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 510
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- Additional Notes: Your graphics card needs at least 2GB of VRAM
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
The Roottrees are Dead was originally a free browser game, offered in 2023 by Jeremy Johnston. A new version has been recently released by Robin Ward, in collaboration with the original developer. While retaining the original premise (that the Roottrees are dead and a very large estate is up for grabs), the game has been expanded and updated to include new art, excellent voice-acting, a larger family tree, exceptional music, improved puzzles, and an intuitive interface. I did not play the original game, so the entire experience was new to me and this game quickly moved into my list of all-time favorites. You are presented with a family tree that spans 70+ years and includes 5-6 generations of Roottrees. Your task is to identify all the nodes on the tree by name, face, and occupation. There is also a good bit of optional information to discover such as spouse names and additional photos. For tools, you have a web search engine, various periodicals, and the public library. That’s it. You take the opening clues and begin searching for terms and following the breadcrumbs. You can take notes in-game with a journal that allows you to copy between it, the search engine, and documentation. This is very handy. There are a few red herrings along the way and, if you are paying attention, there are some charming and funny easter-egg search results. Overall, it is a well-designed game with intelligent and clever writing. The game autosaves each time you exit, and progress is never lost. In the base game, there are 50 nodes to identify on the family tree. Ever so often, your correct answers are ‘locked in’ (meaning no further attention is required). After finishing the main storyline, you have the option of playing Roottreemania which deals with potential descendants that are the product of infidelity. This fills in an unofficial family tree with 32 nodes. In the end, it is up to you to identify who the true Roottrees are. Most achievements are related to finding all information available and identifying everyone on the family trees. Some achievements are silly (in a good way), and one is earned by completing 10 FamilyDoku! puzzles. A player with persistence and curiosity can get 100% with minimal assistance. A hint system (aka ‘ask the duck’) provides graduated assistance... from making broad suggestions to identifying a specific resource. There is no penalty for talking to the duck and it was a big help when my powers of deduction stalled. I loved this game. It is a creative exercise that requires determination and brainpower. No platforming, no combat, no time requirements. Just searching, gathering data, and assimilating it into the tree. It is challenging and extremely addicting. I found myself deeply entangled in the Roottree history and delighted in their family stories. I've only played one other game that is remotely similar to The Roottrees are Dead . That would be The Return of the Obra Dinn (which is also in my list of favorite games). While it has a completely different look and feel, it is also based on the idea of observing and finding clues to identify people within a group. I highly recommend this game. It is a must-play for thoughtful gamers. Prepare to step back in time, dial up the internet, and get to work (Boo-Yah!). [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow IndieGems if you enjoyed this review and want to see more like it.
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Deserves to be up there in the halls of mystery puzzle solving with the "Golden Idol" series and "Obra Dinn". The original "The Rootrees are Dead" mystery is 10/10, pretty much perfect. Beautiful mystery solving, and just the right difficulty for me. I found it incredible. I'd give the sequel "Roottreemania" mystery a 7.5-8.5/10, mostly because it got REAL hard real quick, and also very dependent on some menial searching and long passages with only a few clues, and many of them buried deep... I'd say this sequel mystery was maybe 3-5 times harder to solve than the original... and it was just too much for me. I had to look up a walkthrough for the final stretch. It was just getting too repetitive by the end. BUT I enjoyed the original part so much that I'd give the whole thing a 9.5-10/10. Because you're not going to find anything like it. Truly a unique game, through and through. One of my new favourites.
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This game was made specifically for me, a librarian with an interest in genealogy. It brought the same sense of accomplishment I get from putting together a physical puzzle -- each little piece fitting together until suddenly I have the whole picture. It made me want to create my own mystery game in the same way reading a good book makes me want to write my own. TL;DR: This game engaged my intellect, sparked my creativity, and watered my plants.
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i'm a huge detective/investigative game fan, and this is among the best out there, if not the very best. while it doesn't have the unique art appeal of obra dinn or the golden idol series, it more than makes up for it with the amount of breadcrumbs to follow and an incredibly satisfying gameplay loop and storyline. i welcome the roottrees to the detective game scene with open arms and have high hopes for what the creators have planned going forward.
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A lot of people are comparing this game to Obra Dinn, and that is by some extent a true statement. Your goal is to identify people on a list - and that's kind of where the similarities end. Roottrees is not physically searching for clues and context. It is 95% reading and 5% tearing your hair out. It is the curated Wikipedia deep dive of your dreams. It is the information hunt for a dissertation you will never write. It is following threads of articles for an hour to find out someone's maiden name. It is developing personal beef with the name Elias. And it is audibly cheering when you finally figure out the birth order of too many siblings. Roottrees will scratch that particular itch for these particular people. And once you're all done - there's an even harder familiy tree to sort out. An absolute treat that I still haven't fully cracked. Occupation: Baby.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Roottrees are Dead is currently priced at 19.50€ on Steam.
The Roottrees are Dead is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 19.50€ on Steam.
The Roottrees are Dead received 2,459 positive votes out of a total of 2,522 achieving an impressive rating of 9.30.
😍
The Roottrees are Dead was developed by Robin Ward and published by Evil Trout.
The Roottrees are Dead is playable and fully supported on Windows.
The Roottrees are Dead is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
The Roottrees are Dead is playable and fully supported on Linux.
The Roottrees are Dead is a single-player game.
The Roottrees are Dead does not currently offer any DLC.
The Roottrees are Dead does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
The Roottrees are Dead does not support Steam Remote Play.
The Roottrees are Dead is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for The Roottrees are Dead.
Data sources
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 07 June 2025 00:01 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 09 June 2025 06:00 |
| Steam price | 14 June 2025 04:21 |
| Steam reviews | 14 June 2025 12:05 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about The Roottrees are Dead, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about The Roottrees are Dead
- SteamCharts - Analysis of The Roottrees are Dead concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck The Roottrees are Dead compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
130
Developer
Robin Ward
Publisher
Evil Trout
Release
15 Jan 2025
Platforms