Mystery City - The Fortunate Fortuneteller

ABOUT THE GAME

Mystery City - The Fortunate FortuneTeller is a prologue to the previous game Mystery City – The Secret Code. It tells the story of the young detective Thomas Falken, who investigates a fortune teller suspected of fraud at the request of Arthur Hayes, a journalist from the Mystery City Chronicle. But during a séance at her mansion, an unexpected event occurs, changing the course of the investigation.

GAME CHARACTERS

Thomas Falken (the player) A young detective at the beginning of his career, eager to prove his worth. Falken is analytical, observant, and possesses strong intuition, but is still viewed with some suspicion by the city’s establishment for being new to the field. He was contacted by journalist Arthur Hayes, who handed him the dossier on Madame Anya’s activities, making Falken the mastermind behind the operation to expose her. He attends the séance not as a client, but as an undercover investigator.

Anya Petrova Known as Madame Anya, she is an enigmatic Russian immigrant whose beauty and charisma quickly made her a confidante of Mystery City’s elite. Anya is highly intelligent and perceptive, using cold reading techniques. During the séance, an unexpected event occurs that changes the course of the investigation.

Arthur Hayes Investigative journalist for the Mystery City Chronicle. A veteran journalist—cynical and relentless—who has been suspicious of Madame Anya from the very beginning. For months, he investigated her activities, gathering evidence of fraud, and sought out Thomas Falken, an “outside agent,” to help expose the truth. He attends the séance to serve as Falken’s witness and document the sting operation.

Marcus Thorne The current Mayor of Mystery City, a charismatic and seemingly upright politician—but like all politicians, he has skeletons in his closet.

Beatrice Sinclair Heiress and widow of industrialist Alistair Sinclair. An elderly, lonely woman with a broken heart after the recent death of her husband, desperate for one last contact from beyond. She has become Madame Anya’s most devoted client. But could she be hiding a secret?

Leonard Finch President of the Mystery City Central Bank. A stern, proud man obsessed with control. What would someone like him be doing at a séance?

Ivan Morozov Madame Anya’s assistant. An enigmatic Russian. Rumor has it he would do anything for her.

AVAILABILITY

Mystery City - The Fortunate Fortuneteller is currently available for the following computer systems and languages: 

• English
• Brazilian Portuguese (Planned)
  

Platforms:

• MSX (Disk Format)
  
• ZX Spectrum Next (Planned)
• ZX Spectrum + 3 (Planned) 
• Commodore-64 (Planned)
• Amiga (Planned)

REQUIREMENTS AND INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

MSX

• Real MSX Machine: you'll need a MSX with 128Kb of RAM or higher and a disk drive. Just insert the disk into the drive and wait for the game loading.
• Emulators: tested with WebMSX and OpenMSX. Configure the emulators for the minimum requirements (MSX2, 128kb RAM) and load the .DSK files as required by each program. 

SAVING / LOADING

Mystery City - The Fortunate Fortuneteller is a mini adventure written in PunyInform platform. It has a compact and simpler script than the previous chapter (The Secret Code).  The entire game can be finished in less than one hour, but saving and loading your progress will be possible with the commands "SAVE" and "RESTORE". You'll be asked the filename and your progress will be assured.

GAMEPLAY

The game  comes with a reference card to guide you how the things work. Read it to get the basics. There are plenty of synonyms to keep things smooth and any new verbs you need will be introduced before the action hits. This is similar to Infocom but streamlined for 8-bit CPUs. Commands such as [talk to NPC], [ask NPC about topic] or [show obj NPC] are accepted.

The game uses the simple syntax based on two or three word logic, such as OPEN DOOR.  If you feel confused during gameplay, you can examine Arthur Haye's Notebook. It will help track your progress.

HINTS

• If you need any help, type the commands ABOUT and HELP during your play sessions;
• Pay close attention to texts, character dialogues, descriptions of places and objects;
• You should solve puzzles and think how an investigator work;
• The game has less than 10 rooms, so draw a map of the mansion to familiarize yourself  with the environment, especially in the first hours of the game;
• Explore the map and  talk to the guests. You may discover valuable clues in order your investigation may go ahead;
• Go to the Arthur Hayes and ask about the guests. Maybe he could have any valuable information;
• Talk to the guests, show them the objects and ask about topics to further your investigation;

 

CREDITS

Type VERSION and CREDITS to see which version of the game you're running and who contributed to the development of the game.

LEGAL

Mystery City is (C) 2025 Rogerio Biondi and Loopdigital. All rights reserved.

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