# The Roottrees are Dead

The Roottrees Are Dead is a 2023 video game developed and published by Jeremy Johnston. The game is a browser-based detective puzzle game in which the player is required to undertake research to fill the incomplete Roottree family tree. In 2025, a remastered version of the game was released by designer Robin Ward in collaboration with Johnston, featuring an updated design and visual presentation and an additional case, Roottreemania, extending the narrative of the original game.

## Gameplay

The game is a puzzle game in which the player is tasked to fill in the names, pictures and occupations of characters on a family tree, represented on an evidence board. In order to uncover the identities of characters on the family tree and infer their relationships, the player must inspect photographs and attached notes, use a web browser on their in-game computer to search for relevant names or concepts. Once the player has correctly guessed the entries in a stage, they are locked onto the screen and cannot be changed. Correct optional names and portraits are also locked and removed from the pool of names. An 'Intuition' tab provides a list of items of evidence organised by the number of clues contained within the evidence. A list of Notable Roottrees is also provided to the player, listing family members which are more easily searchable on the web browser and marked with stars on the family tree.

## Plot

In December 1998, the private jet of the Roottree family crashes in a winter storm, leading to the deaths of Carl Roottree and his daughters, the Roottree Sisters. The Roottrees are the owners of the Roottree Candy Company, a company founded generations before by Elias Roottree in Butler County, Pennsylvania. Due to an agreement called the Clanced Trust, only blood relatives are eligible to partake in the Roottree inheritance. The player is an investigator approached by a shadowy woman asked to verify the relations of all claimants to the Roottree inheritance, offering a substantial reward if the family tree is completed. As the player progresses their work, the woman reveals she is a Roottree, and is making plans to publish an book on the family she expects the rest of the family will disapprove of. Upon completion of the family tree, the woman reveals herself to be Samantha Madsen, an illegitimate Roottree descendant. Samantha reveals that she was raised by John Miller and Edward Clancy Roottree, a twin brother removed from the family bloodline by the founder Elias Roottree due to his gay relationship. Samantha's book aims to reveal Elias' conduct and prove that Samantha's daughter and granddaughters are equal heirs to the Roottree inheritance, as well as establish her adoptive father's place in the family. Following the conclusion of the game, Samantha's book is published to mixed reviews and the Roottrees fade from media attention.
In the expansion, Roottreemania, the player is approached by Clark Rafferty, the new president of the Roottree Candy Corporation, eight months after the events of the main game. Clark discusses that Samantha's book has caused many people claiming to be distant relatives to the Roottree family to appear, once again creating a media firestorm over disputes to the family bloodline.

## Reception

Aggregate score :
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | 85% |
Review scores :
| Publication | Score |
| PC Gamer (UK) | 86% |
| PC Gamer (US) | 87% |
| Game Rant | 7/10 |
| Siliconera | 9/10 |
| Softpedia | 4/5 |
| Vice | Recommended |
The Roottrees are Dead received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Many critics praised the game's detective gameplay. Describing the game as an "exceptional detective game", PC Gamer UK wrote that the game had a "riveting story" anchored around the "interesting" Roottree family, and that the gameplay was "difficult and time-consuming, but extremely satisfying". Reviewers expressed reservations about the game's use of generative art, but PC Gamer UK found them to help "breath a sense of life" into the family. William Hughes of The A.V. Club considered the game to be a "good mystery" and "polished" in its execution, finding the core gameplay of understanding the Roottree family background to be a "pleasure" and reminiscent of the game The Return of the Obra Dinn. The website later named The Roottrees are Dead as the fifth-best game of 2023, describing it as "refreshing" and "one of the most concentrated doses of gaming joy we received all year".