Earlier work // occult interactive fiction

Ashgrove Ritual

A shelved experiment in document-led mystery: a locked-room death, a broken ritual circle, and records that refuse to tell the same story.

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The Ashgrove Ritual suspect dossier and investigation interface
archived_evidence_index.txt

Read between the records

The Ashgrove Ritual explored investigation through case files, reports, timelines, journals, evidence, and suspect dossiers. The mystery lived in contradictions and in the details that official records almost managed to hide.

Its interface treated documents as the world itself: the player moved through the investigation by reading, connecting, and reconsidering what each source claimed.

What the experiment explored

  • Document-led investigation
  • Occult clues and ritual logic
  • Locked-room mystery structure
  • Case-file interface design

Archive notes

What the prototype was testing

Ashgrove remains in the portfolio as a record of the questions behind it, even though the playable build has been retired.

Reading as interaction

Reports, journals, timelines, and suspect dossiers were not supplementary lore. Moving between them—and noticing where they disagreed—was the central player action.

An interface made of evidence

The case-file presentation treated navigation, typography, document hierarchy, and information density as part of the mystery rather than a neutral frame around it.

A useful finished experiment

Shelving the project preserves an honest boundary: the concept and design work remain worth showing, while the site no longer sends visitors toward a build that is not being maintained.