
The alarm clock is blaring. The coffee is bitter. In the mailbox is a newspaper where murders appear earlier than in police reports. You are Jeff Dowliff, a private detective with a crumbling memory. In this case, the enemy is not only the maniac, but also your own failures.
Frustration is an intimate, story-driven first-person detective story. A growing layer of surrealism, where reality twists and turns, the entrance leads back to the apartment, and mundane details become gameplay.
Collect clues from real-life objects:
Newspapers – clip articles, photographs, notes; if you guess wrong, crumple them up and throw them in the trash.
Corkboard – pin clippings and photos, connect them with red thread, and draw logical connections.
Polaroid — look for the right angles at the crime scene, develop them, and conduct the investigation.
Investigation Journal — capture your thoughts to keep track when memory plays against you.
Everyday life is also a mechanic here. Make coffee, sort through your mail, light a cigarette, turn on the radio — simple minigames provide a break and throw up details that suddenly become important. The closer you get to the climax, the more reality cracks: teleporting doors, televisions, and scenes in which a single blink of an eye transports you to another state.
A powerful first-person detective story with elements of a psychological thriller and an unreliable narrator.
Focus on the essence: compact, dense locations without unnecessary markers.
A lively detective routine: clippings, thread, photos, developing — a hands-on investigation.
A unique "thoughts" interface instead of standard widgets.
Cool minigames (coffee, mail, cigarettes, cleaning)
Memory lapses as a mechanic: blinking, scene "jumps," surreal cutscenes.
Mind system: cigarettes, pills to wait out the noise in your head.
Repeat playthroughs change your perception.
For fans of intimate, atmospheric stories in the spirit of original indie detectives.