Game Summary

Overview

The Capra of Malsburrow (TCoM) is a choice-driven visual narrative game that blends emotional storytelling, character-driven drama, and branching narrative paths. Players follow Noah F. Clue as he navigates a small Taijekan port town, forming connections, uncovering buried secrets, and shaping the direction of his own healing. The game focuses on grounded choices, relationship building, and slow-burn character arcs to create an immersive and engaging story experience.

Premise

TCoM follows Noah’s main story arc from the moment his old life ends to the moment a new one begins. After years spent caring for his chronically ill mother, Noah F. Clue is left with nothing after her death—just debt, a failing home, and no clear path forward. Accepting help from a distant aunt, he begins a journey north that is cut short when his car breaks down in Timbermaw, deep in Taijekan territory. Stranded in the working-class port town of Malsburrow, Noah searches for temporary stability while confronting cultural divides, unresolved grief, and unfamiliar relationships.

Player Experience

Players experience Malsburrow through Noah’s eyes, shaping his journey through dialogue choices, branching story paths, and relationship-driven decisions. As Noah meets key characters—such as Juno Blackthorn, Adam Finch, Luca & Chloe Wynn, Iris Holloway, and Adrian Graves—players determine how he grows, who he trusts, and what kind of future he builds for himself.

Gameplay

The gameplay alternates between structured narrative chapters (Story Mode) and open-ended daily exploration (Lifesim Mode).
Explore → Interact → Make Choices → Build Relationships → Advance Story → Repeat

Story Mode

Story mode is anytime the player interacts with the Main Story Arc or any Character Arc, wherein players experience expressive dialogue made between characters and visual cutscenes depicting the story and writing. There will be times that the player makes mid-dialogue decisions that branch the path of future dialogue outcomes and can potentially influence the ending of the game. TCoM's main storyline has 4 total endings, while each individual character arc has 1, and dialogue choices during this time influence how long it takes to complete those arcs. The main storyline plays 1-2 chapters every 3 ingame days, while individual character arcs are sought out by the player during the lifesim period of gameplay.

Lifesim Mode

Lifesim Mode occurs whenever the player is free to explore the town of Malsburrow as Noah. During this time, players are free to do a wide variety of actions during a set period of time (also referred to as a day). Some actions include following a side characters story arc, trading with shopkeepers, interacting with NPCs and their schedules, crafting & foraging, etc. Lifesim has no "right way" of progression as during this time the player is free to make the decisions they want to. Certain actions require a "town reputation" which is acquired by interacting with events inside of the town or by completing certain quests or making proper story related decisions. Once the main story has completed, if players complete the correct ending (Ending 4 or E4), they may continue to play the lifesim mode in an endless loop to complete the remaining character arcs or whatever a player wishes to do.

Themes

Tone & Genre

A grounded psychological drama with slice-of-life intimacy, slow-burn relationship building, and emotional exploration, set within an open world structure.