The Deed II

The Deed II is a short-form choice-based adventure from Pilgrim Adventures, set in the morally murky back streets of 1930s Paris. You play a man who spots an orderly from a mental asylum where he was abused, and decides to act on that grievance. The whole thing unfolds over a single murder plot - your job is to set up the perfect crime, cover your tracks, and walk away clean. At its core it is a puzzle dressed up as a narrative: you gather items, manipulate suspects, and pick your moment. Think less sprawling RPG, more tightly wound short story. The appeal here is the branching structure. Each playthrough is brief, maybe thirty to forty minutes, but the game is built around repeat runs. Different choices expose different evidence chains, different suspects get framed, and different combinations of items lead to radically different outcomes. For a game this small, the replay hooks are genuinely well-designed. You are not grinding XP or leveling a character build - the progression is entirely in understanding the system and finding cleaner solutions. If you liked the logic of old-school point-and-click adventures but wanted something darker and morally uncomfortable, this scratches that itch. The writing does what it needs to do. It is not Disco Elysium - do not walk in expecting literary depth or a protagonist whose inner monologue will haunt you for weeks. The characters are functional: the crooked orderly, the suspicious bystander, the fragile alibi. The 1930s Paris setting adds atmosphere without being especially lived-in. Pilgrim Adventures kept things lean, which is both the game's strength and its ceiling. There are no filler quests because there are no quests at all, just a single tightly constructed scenario with well-placed variables. That economy of design is respectable, even if it means the world never quite breathes. Where it falls short is ambition. The 148 Steam reviews are Very Positive, but that small sample reflects a niche audience who knew what they were buying. If you want moral complexity that actually challenges your assumptions, or writing that rewards a second read, the game does not quite get there. The premise - revenge against an abuser - has emotional weight the game gestures at but does not fully explore. A couple more dialogue layers, a moment of genuine doubt, and this could have been something that lingers. Instead it is a clever puzzle box that you crack, admire, and move on from. Best suited to players who enjoy short, replayable narrative games with a crime or mystery angle. Fans of Her Story, the original Deed, or text-heavy choice games will find it a comfortable afternoon. RPG veterans looking for character depth or build variety should look elsewhere - there are no stats, no skill checks, no classes. What is here is a well-made micro-experience with a genuinely nasty premise and enough branching paths to justify at least three runs. Monika, Scout Team