One Rainy Night

One Rainy Night is a four-act detective adventure starring Cole, who drives to Sleepy Falls to collect his cat, Jigsaw, from his Aunt May. The town is empty: dinner sits cold on tables, the phones are dead and a flood has blocked the only bridge out. Above it, Grimsby Aerosols, the factory on the hill, continues to hiss despite having no one inside to run it.

The mystery

You explore the abandoned town, break into the factory that poisoned it, enter Blackpine Forest, row across a storm-lashed lake to a strangely lit house, and descend into a flooded bunker. There, you meet the man responsible and make the choice that ends the night. Along the way, you can question survivors, including a stranded trucker, an amnesiac reporter, a farmer who refuses to leave his animals, a doctor, a postman two weeks behind his round, a girl absent from every census and the courteous monster at the heart of it all.

Explore and investigate

The game has 26 hand-built scenes in detailed 2D pixel art, with VGA-inspired dithering, shaded interiors, rain, lightning and drifting dust. You click to walk and interact; a context-sensitive cursor selects talking, using, looking or walking at each hotspot, while right-clicking examines the world for extra observations and detective humour. You collect and combine clues and solve inventory and environmental puzzles.

There are more than 25 puzzles across 14 systems, including lock-picking, map-tracing, pipe routing, jigsaws, breaker panels, valve balancing, keypads, radio tuning and spot-the-difference. Failed attempts quietly make puzzles easier, and a built-in hint system lets Cole think aloud when you are stuck.

Hazards and endings

Hazardous areas drain your AIR meter, so you need to find a mask and manage its filter. The town's air can also affect your perception. In Blackpine Forest, something very large guards the way, and your flashlight reaches only so far.

The story has three endings, each with its own animated cinematic, as well as a quest-game epilogue for every character you meet. The game also includes six manual save slots and autosave.

Sound and atmosphere

An original stereo soundtrack has ten tracks scored to the acts, alongside four ambience layers and 26 sound effects. An optional CRT scanline filter is available. Jigsaw the cat accompanies Cole and is furious with him.