ShelfLife: Art School Detective is bizarre. In this upcoming New Zealand-made game, you are a psychic art student named Johana who must investigate a recent “murder” of priceless artworks at Cruston Academy, carried out by a ruthless Art Killer. While all may seem hopeless, you have access to strange psychic abilities and charming dating skills – both of which will help your investigation.
In its mix of dating sim and mystery adventure-exploration gameplay, ShelfLife: Art School Detective is somewhat like Persona, but it also feels completely unique by design. You travel a gorgeous pixel world, rendered with plenty of style, investigating a central mystery through dialogue and analysis of found objects.
Everyone you meet is quirky in their own way – snappy, sassy, and incredibly Kiwi. There’s also plenty of fun in chatting to folks and preparing to “investi-date” them, as the case of the Art Killer advances. It’s a neat twist on both the dating and detective sim genres. You meet folks, use your charms to spend more time with them, and then hit them with question: are you the Art Killer?
You’ll have clues and evidence at your disposal, of course. This includes little scraps of paper that feature drawings of all sorts – including hilarious depictions of badly-drawn furry warriors wielding swords. “I’m sensing… the unfulfilled dreams of an aspiring novelist,” Johana says on the discovery of these particular artworks.
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By nature, those you “investi-date” will be relatively closed off and secretive – but that’s where Johana’s other special abilities come in handy. They’re not only psychic, they can also “enter” the world of paintings to discover their stories, in wonderfully surreal sequences.
In these particular scenes, ShelfLife brims with unique, creative energy. As Johana enters the world of art, they encounter all sorts of strange, wonderful sights – towering plazas of eldritch proportions, paths made of living words, and beings that defy all logic. Fnife Games plays around with convention in these scenes, combining the game’s pixel artwork with disconcerting real-life art in scrapbook style. It’s strange and discombobulating – but it’s also just plain cool.
That’s really what drew me to ShelfLife: Art School Detective at SXSW Sydney 2024. It’s a game that looks incredibly cool, with pop art-inspired visuals supporting a snappy, stylish mystery all about appreciation for art and creativity.
I’m always a sucker for a good mystery game, but ShelfLife drew me in for everything it does beyond convention – its killer art style, its darker and more surreal themes, and its novel integration of the dating sim genre. There’s a lot going on in this game. But with the ambition and creativity of Fnife Games backing it, there’s every chance it will realise its goals – and that it will demand your attention, when the time comes.
To keep up to date with all things ShelfLife, you can visit the Fnife Games website, or wishlist the game on Steam.
