The Roottrees are Dead
About this episode
Bryan and Josh explore the game The Roottrees are Dead, a family mystery game centered around an inheritance dispute.
In this episode of Pixelated Playgrounds, Bryan and Josh dig through decades of dirt to reconstruct an American dynasty in The Roottrees are Dead! Originally developed by Jeremy Johnston during Global Game Jam 2023, the game began as a free browser title before being remastered for a full Steam release in January 2025 with hand-drawn illustrations by artist Henning Ludvigsen and expanded content courtesy of developer Robin Ward and studio Evil Trout. In The Roottrees are Dead, a private jet carrying the wealthy Roottree family crashes in 1998, triggering a massive inheritance dispute worth billions. A mysterious client hires the player to verify every legitimate blood descendant, a task that starts as a simple three-sibling family tree and explodes into a five-generation saga spanning 50 relatives and counting. In the tradition of games like Return of the Obra Dinn and The Curse of the Golden Idol, progress comes through careful reasoning rather than action: discover a clue, search the archives, verify the evidence, and lock in your answer before moving on. The investigation is anchored in Butler County, Pennsylvania, home of the Roottree Candy Company, and the game uses the…
People in this episode
Hosts: Bryan, Josh
Topics covered
- game development
- family mystery
- inheritance dispute
- 90s internet
- genealogy
- video games
Keywords
- The Roottrees are Dead
- game development
- inheritance
- genealogy
- 90s internet
- video games
- mystery
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Evil Trout, Roottree Candy Company
Books & works: The Roottrees are Dead, Return of the Obra Dinn, The Curse of the Golden Idol
Places: Butler County
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