The year is 1935, and the Villensey couple are riding a boat to America. The wife Veronia urges her husband Malcolm to check out some dolphins, and when he bends over the railing to take a look, she pushes him… overboard (audience applause). The only thing she needs to do now is figure out how to get away with the crime… and maybe make a little money off of it, too…

Overboard! is a 2021 interactive fiction game by inkle, and I was excited to finally play this. inkle debuted with their 2015 game 80 Days, which was actually an early thing I wrote about that I liked. inkle’s since gone on to make a bunch of games, and today, I’m focusing on this nice crime story.

It’ll take the ship a few hours before it reaches America. Walking around the ship and talking to people will drain time, and for the most part, the game will end when the ship reaches port, where the Major on the ride holds trial regarding Malcolm’s disappearance. Complicating things though, is that Clarissa, another passenger who had a bit of a fling with Malcolm, witnessed Malcolm’s fall and believes Veronica to have been responsible.

Unless you have incredible foresight or are playing the game with a guide open like a fucking narc, Veronica will be found guilty of murdering her husband at the end of your first playthrough. Whether she’s trapped in some time loop or been trapped in a series of prophetic dreams, Veronica will reflect on what could be done at the start of the next playthrough to point the way toward what could be done next. Characters will do things at certain times, certain things become unavailable if you miss the chance to get them or fail to unlock them, etc.

Overboard! is all about building up knowledge on multiple playthroughs so that you can perfectly get away with everything. Or maybe you can kill a bunch more people while you’re at it. Get a multikill, do it do it do it, become Agent 47, make them dead. Find objects to move forward, say the right things so that people don’t suspect Veronica’s the Joker, you know, adventure game stuff. The game is not as complicated as 50 Days as it’s a more straight-laced adventure game, but it certainly entertains.

While you’re reverse Columbo-ing through things, the other passengers offer smaller stories. Carstairs is a guy that will discover evidence of Veronica being where Malcolm was last seen. You can simply steal it before he finds it, but he’s got some weird things about him that you can find if you dig into him that’ll lead to an alternative solution. Lady Armstrong’s a big help toward investigating other characters, because she simply loves to gossip… which also might be bad for Veronica. Those sleeping pills Veronica can get and Armstrong’s tendency to drink sure seems like a tempting mix. That Major is a snoop in his own right, while the ship’s captain Anders will happily keep secrets – just gotta flirt with him a little. Clarissa, meanwhile, is the biggest hurdle for Veronica to cross and the most closed off character, but Veronica can deal with her in different ways…

Oh, and don’t feel bad about Malcolm, everyone but Clarissa kinda hates him and thinks he’s a fucked up loser. He’s explicitly stated to be a sympathizer to European fascists in the 1930s among other things. Sure, everyone’s got something hiding in their closet, but he was probably the closest thing to a villain besides Veronica in the worst case scenario. Veronica didn’t kill him for that, but pretty girlboss of her to get rid of him, actually.

Overall, Overboard! is a nice, simple time. I wasn’t exactly looking for something earthshattering, and it isn’t as impactful as some of the other narrative games I played this year, but it’s still good fun time.