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Show HN: mystery-o-matic offers a daily random murder mystery

48 points by galapago 3y ago

gus_massa 3y ago
Are you generating these puzzles manually or you have a random generator? Some emojis are not visible in my old computer? Perhaps you can add the initial of each room to the tables at the bottom.
- galapago 3y ago
  Hi, Thanks for the feedback. These puzzles are randomly generated, the code for it will be open-source soon! Regarding your issue, which browser/operating system are you using?
  - realpythonlover 3y ago
    Really like the idea. Would be fun to also get some mysterious music or score / leaderboard.
valyagolev 3y ago
there's also https://murdle.com/ https://murdle.com/
- galapago 3y ago
  Murdle is great and it was certainly an inspiration for mystery-o-matic
tobr 3y ago
Also posted 3 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36629195 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36629195 What has changed since?
- galapago 3y ago
  A few things: * (Hopefully) better UI and tutorial * Progressive Web Apps support * More types of clues * A more balanced gameplay (should not be too hard) * A few smalls changes based on the HN feedback
  - jsnell 3y ago
    I don't know, to me this seems indistinguishable from that (very recent) submission and didn't actually address the bulk of the HN comments. Why submit it again?
    - jcrash 3y ago
      'Launch as many times as necessary' seems to be basic advice from YC
famouswaffles 3y ago
GPT-4 gets this right. ran it twice https://chat.openai.com/share/07baf217-2b00-4e24-a6eb-1b14c68b0580 https://chat.openai.com/share/07baf217-2b00-4e24-a6eb-1b14c6... https://chat.openai.com/share/8ccce564-5285-45ea-a616-34cf379a175f https://chat.openai.com/share/8ccce564-5285-45ea-a616-34cf37...
- galapago 3y ago
  This is neat, I'm wondering if it can solve it reducing the number of clues. Have you tried it?
galapago 3y ago
I'm the main developer behind mystery-o-matic, happy to take questions and feedback here! PD: the code will be open-source soon, I'm finishing with the cleaning and refactoring..
- Nzen 3y ago
  I think the puzzle would feel more fun, to me, if I could choose the focus of the clue (body or interview specific person), rather than hoping the game gives me what I need. I highlight this because the game gives a rating based on how many clues a person needed.
  - galapago 3y ago
    Noted!, I will be thinking about this in the next iteration.
nebster 3y ago
Is there a way to see the optimal solution? It would be great to be able to see why I'm so bad haha
- galapago 3y ago
  Not yet. I'm wondering how is the best way to present it without avoiding people to be tempted to skip the daily mystery.
omgmajk 3y ago
I got excited because I read "mystery-o-matic offers a daily random number mystery". But this is cool too.
- moffkalast 3y ago
  Finally we would get to solve the eternal mystery of why six was afraid of seven.
  - jpsouth 3y ago
    I believe it’s because seven devoured nine like the ferocious prime it is.
jkyrlach 3y ago
Can the suspects lie? Is the rating at the end based on minimum numbed of clues required, or just on total number of clues used? Is the rating impacted by number of available choices when i guessed? There were a lot of time slots, and the clues did not intersect very much. I went through 17 clues before i guessed, and there were still logical options. Can we have wordle-bot analyze our play at the end and tell us how we did?
- galapago 3y ago
  > Can the suspects lie? Right now, the suspects will never lie, but the killer will avoid revealing "too much". > Is the rating at the end based on minimum numbed of clues required, or just on total number of clues used? The number of clues used. The mysteries are generated with a variable number of clues, so it is still an open question how the score should be adjusted. > Is the rating impacted by number of available choices when i guessed? Yes. > Can we have wordle-bot analyze our play at the end and tell us how we did? What do you mean exactly with this?
Someone 3y ago
I don’t find this engaging as a murder mystery. Firstly, the player doesn’t have agency other than revealing other clues. I think it would be more entertaining if the player could choose what questions to ask. Also, the 15-minute time blocks don’t make sense to me. From today’s mystery: > Clue #1 Eddie said "I saw nobody when I was leaving the bathroom at 10:45" > Clue #2 Eddie said "I saw Bob when I arrived to the living room at 11:00" I would immediately ask him why it took him 15 minutes to go from the bathroom to the neighboring living room. Are they in an electric wheelchair that’s almost out of power, or did they in-between commit the murder? Also, the suspension of disbelief isn’t there for me: - looking at the victim, how hard is it to choose between poison, rope, gun, and knife, especially given that it can be deduced that the body wasn’t moved? - if they don’t dare lie, why not just ask them “did you do it?”. A murderer that can lie would IMO make things more interesting. Minor items that affect play: - the player has to open all clues up to the murder weapon is revealed. Once you know that, opening those each day will become a chore. - in today’s puzzle, when I make an incorrect accusation that includes “Carol”, the text says “After apprehending the suspect”. Isn’t she dead?
- BadCookie 3y ago
  I think we’re meant to assume that the people can only leave rooms on the quarter hour and can only move to an adjacent room (arriving 15 minutes later) if they do move. But those are very odd assumptions indeed, particularly since they aren’t made explicit anywhere.
- galapago 3y ago
  I think these are fair points, let's take a look: > I don’t find this engaging as a murder mystery. Firstly, the player doesn’t have agency other than revealing other clues. I think it would be more entertaining if the player could choose what questions to ask. I tried to keep the game simple, but it is certainly possible to introduce more interaction. I guess, in its core, detective work is mostly reviewing clues and making accusation, but this is supposed to be fun as well. > > Also, the 15-minute time blocks don’t make sense to me. From today’s mystery: > > Clue #1 Eddie said "I saw nobody when I was leaving the bathroom at 10:45" > > Clue #2 Eddie said "I saw Bob when I arrived to the living room at 11:00" > I would immediately ask him why it took him 15 minutes to go from the bathroom to the neighboring living room. Are they in an electric wheelchair that’s almost out of power, or did they in-between commit the murder? I have to think about this, but the clues could be rephrased to convey that Eddie spend time the bathroom and the the living room, between 10:45 and 11:00. > > Also, the suspension of disbelief isn’t there for me: > - looking at the victim, how hard is it to choose between poison, rope, gun, and knife, especially given that it can be deduced that the body wasn’t moved? I'm not completely sure what you mean here. > - if they don’t dare lie, why not just ask them “did you do it?”. A murderer that can lie would IMO make things more interesting. I agree, and I will be introducing a murderer that could lie, which will make the game more interesting (potentially, harder in some cases). > > Minor items that affect play: > - the player has to open all clues up to the murder weapon is revealed. Once you know that, opening those each day will become a chore. This is not the case in fact, you can deduce where the murder weapon is located and discard the ones in rooms that were not visited. > - in today’s puzzle, when I make an incorrect accusation that includes “Carol”, the text says “After apprehending the suspect”. Isn’t she dead? Something to fix. I think Carol should not be in the list of suspects (except perhaps, if we allow suicides, which is an interesting idea) In any case, thanks for all the comments and suggestions!

48 points by galapago 3y ago

Are you generating these puzzles manually or you have a random generator? Some emojis are not visible in my old computer? Perhaps you can add the initial of each room to the tables at the bottom.

galapago 3y ago
Hi, Thanks for the feedback. These puzzles are randomly generated, the code for it will be open-source soon! Regarding your issue, which browser/operating system are you using?
- realpythonlover 3y ago
  Really like the idea. Would be fun to also get some mysterious music or score / leaderboard.

valyagolev 3y ago

there's also https://murdle.com/ https://murdle.com/

galapago 3y ago
Murdle is great and it was certainly an inspiration for mystery-o-matic

tobr 3y ago

Also posted 3 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36629195 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36629195 What has changed since?

galapago 3y ago
A few things: * (Hopefully) better UI and tutorial * Progressive Web Apps support * More types of clues * A more balanced gameplay (should not be too hard) * A few smalls changes based on the HN feedback
- jsnell 3y ago
  I don't know, to me this seems indistinguishable from that (very recent) submission and didn't actually address the bulk of the HN comments. Why submit it again?
  - jcrash 3y ago
    'Launch as many times as necessary' seems to be basic advice from YC

famouswaffles 3y ago

GPT-4 gets this right. ran it twice https://chat.openai.com/share/07baf217-2b00-4e24-a6eb-1b14c68b0580 https://chat.openai.com/share/07baf217-2b00-4e24-a6eb-1b14c6... https://chat.openai.com/share/8ccce564-5285-45ea-a616-34cf379a175f https://chat.openai.com/share/8ccce564-5285-45ea-a616-34cf37...

galapago 3y ago
This is neat, I'm wondering if it can solve it reducing the number of clues. Have you tried it?

galapago 3y ago

I'm the main developer behind mystery-o-matic, happy to take questions and feedback here! PD: the code will be open-source soon, I'm finishing with the cleaning and refactoring..

Nzen 3y ago
I think the puzzle would feel more fun, to me, if I could choose the focus of the clue (body or interview specific person), rather than hoping the game gives me what I need. I highlight this because the game gives a rating based on how many clues a person needed.
- galapago 3y ago
  Noted!, I will be thinking about this in the next iteration.

nebster 3y ago

Is there a way to see the optimal solution? It would be great to be able to see why I'm so bad haha

galapago 3y ago
Not yet. I'm wondering how is the best way to present it without avoiding people to be tempted to skip the daily mystery.

omgmajk 3y ago

I got excited because I read "mystery-o-matic offers a daily random number mystery". But this is cool too.

moffkalast 3y ago
Finally we would get to solve the eternal mystery of why six was afraid of seven.
- jpsouth 3y ago
  I believe it’s because seven devoured nine like the ferocious prime it is.

jkyrlach 3y ago

Can the suspects lie? Is the rating at the end based on minimum numbed of clues required, or just on total number of clues used? Is the rating impacted by number of available choices when i guessed? There were a lot of time slots, and the clues did not intersect very much. I went through 17 clues before i guessed, and there were still logical options. Can we have wordle-bot analyze our play at the end and tell us how we did?

galapago 3y ago
> Can the suspects lie? Right now, the suspects will never lie, but the killer will avoid revealing "too much". > Is the rating at the end based on minimum numbed of clues required, or just on total number of clues used? The number of clues used. The mysteries are generated with a variable number of clues, so it is still an open question how the score should be adjusted. > Is the rating impacted by number of available choices when i guessed? Yes. > Can we have wordle-bot analyze our play at the end and tell us how we did? What do you mean exactly with this?

Someone 3y ago

I don’t find this engaging as a murder mystery. Firstly, the player doesn’t have agency other than revealing other clues. I think it would be more entertaining if the player could choose what questions to ask. Also, the 15-minute time blocks don’t make sense to me. From today’s mystery: > Clue #1 Eddie said "I saw nobody when I was leaving the bathroom at 10:45" > Clue #2 Eddie said "I saw Bob when I arrived to the living room at 11:00" I would immediately ask him why it took him 15 minutes to go from the bathroom to the neighboring living room. Are they in an electric wheelchair that’s almost out of power, or did they in-between commit the murder? Also, the suspension of disbelief isn’t there for me: - looking at the victim, how hard is it to choose between poison, rope, gun, and knife, especially given that it can be deduced that the body wasn’t moved? - if they don’t dare lie, why not just ask them “did you do it?”. A murderer that can lie would IMO make things more interesting. Minor items that affect play: - the player has to open all clues up to the murder weapon is revealed. Once you know that, opening those each day will become a chore. - in today’s puzzle, when I make an incorrect accusation that includes “Carol”, the text says “After apprehending the suspect”. Isn’t she dead?

BadCookie 3y ago
I think we’re meant to assume that the people can only leave rooms on the quarter hour and can only move to an adjacent room (arriving 15 minutes later) if they do move. But those are very odd assumptions indeed, particularly since they aren’t made explicit anywhere.
galapago 3y ago
I think these are fair points, let's take a look: > I don’t find this engaging as a murder mystery. Firstly, the player doesn’t have agency other than revealing other clues. I think it would be more entertaining if the player could choose what questions to ask. I tried to keep the game simple, but it is certainly possible to introduce more interaction. I guess, in its core, detective work is mostly reviewing clues and making accusation, but this is supposed to be fun as well. > > Also, the 15-minute time blocks don’t make sense to me. From today’s mystery: > > Clue #1 Eddie said "I saw nobody when I was leaving the bathroom at 10:45" > > Clue #2 Eddie said "I saw Bob when I arrived to the living room at 11:00" > I would immediately ask him why it took him 15 minutes to go from the bathroom to the neighboring living room. Are they in an electric wheelchair that’s almost out of power, or did they in-between commit the murder? I have to think about this, but the clues could be rephrased to convey that Eddie spend time the bathroom and the the living room, between 10:45 and 11:00. > > Also, the suspension of disbelief isn’t there for me: > - looking at the victim, how hard is it to choose between poison, rope, gun, and knife, especially given that it can be deduced that the body wasn’t moved? I'm not completely sure what you mean here. > - if they don’t dare lie, why not just ask them “did you do it?”. A murderer that can lie would IMO make things more interesting. I agree, and I will be introducing a murderer that could lie, which will make the game more interesting (potentially, harder in some cases). > > Minor items that affect play: > - the player has to open all clues up to the murder weapon is revealed. Once you know that, opening those each day will become a chore. This is not the case in fact, you can deduce where the murder weapon is located and discard the ones in rooms that were not visited. > - in today’s puzzle, when I make an incorrect accusation that includes “Carol”, the text says “After apprehending the suspect”. Isn’t she dead? Something to fix. I think Carol should not be in the list of suspects (except perhaps, if we allow suicides, which is an interesting idea) In any case, thanks for all the comments and suggestions!