The first title to be released under this deal will be Batman: Everybody Lies, a design by Ignacy Trzewiczek and Weronika Spyra that uses the co-operative deduction game system found in Portal's 2018 release Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. Here's an overview of this title, which will have a preorder campaign open on March 4, 2022 ahead of a Q2 2022 release:
Throughout the game, players co-operatively make decisions running the investigation and trying to solve a series of challenging cases. They visit famous locations in Gotham City (like the Batcave, Arkham Asylum, Blackgate Penitentiary, and the Gotham City Gazette) and cross paths with well-known Batman characters (like Batman, The Penguin, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, and more) while trying to chase leads, identify suspects, and gather enough information to help save Gotham City. The game also adds a brand new hidden agenda mechanism, which assigns secret goals and unique win conditions for each player based upon which DC character they portray.
In Batman: Everybody Lies, players utilize a variety of physical and digital game components — a deck of cards with essential clues and plot twists, various physical handouts, and a dedicated website with access to in-world resources from the Gotham City Gazette archives — for a truly immersive experience. The game also features another new thematic treat — scenes — that bring memorable gameplay moments to life via original comic book illustrations that feel torn straight from the pages and panels of the beloved comics.
Beginning with an introductory prologue designed to get players acquainted with the game rules, Batman: Everybody Lies then continues with three big cases to solve, each taking roughly 2-3 hours to play. Each case can be played separately as standalone episodes, yet should players crack all four cases, they will unravel a master narrative with an epic climax. Every scenario ends with a final report with questions verifying how well the team has investigated the case.
Future games may explore other corners of the DC Universe as well as pluck inspiration from DC film and TV content. "Batman is easily one of the greatest crime-solving sandboxes ever created," says Genuine Entertainment CEO Joe LeFavi, who brokered the Portal/DC deal and serves as a producer and brand manager on Portal's tabletop game series. "So as long as there is a need for the Dark Knight in Gotham City, we can only hope to give him and our players more cases to crack in the years to come."