One victim. 15 suspects. One chance to get it right.

No-Tell Motel is a single-player murder mystery where you take on the role of the overnight clerk at a seedy motel, spying on the shady guests who stay there. Someone here is a murderer, and you’re going to catch them.

With a deck of cards, a six-sided die, a collection of dossiers and your motel ledger, you’ll track the activities of your guests night after night. You'll sift through gossip, innuendo and what you observe on the sly to find out who these people are, the surprising ways they’re connected to each other, and who among them did the deed.

As the nights wear on, doubt will creep in, and certainty will become an illusion. So build the best case you can before you point the finger. Because if you’re wrong, a killer walks free, an innocent life is ruined and your own may very well be in danger.

In this game, you will…

• Determine who was murdered and how it was done
• Track the movements of 15 other guests
• Generate gossip, suspicious behavior and liaisons between them
• Build a case to point the finger at your primary suspect
• Determine if you were right or wrong
• Find out the consequences of your accusation

The thick of the action in No-Tell Motel resembles something familiar to anyone who's worked long, slow hours in the dead of night: a hand of Solitaire.

Split a standard deck of playing cards into two: the Face cards and the Numbers cards. These are your guests and their activities, respectively. You'll lay out six face-down cards to represent the six available rooms of the Stellar Motel. Then, through rules of play, you'll use you two decks to check guests in and out and log their activities on your overnight shift.

In short, the Face cards tell you who shows up each night, and the Numbers cards tell you what they get up to. It's up to you to make sense of what you see, and to log your observations in the included Ledger with an eye toward building your case.

The prologue (where you determine who died, and how) and epilogue (where you make your accusation, file your report, and see what happens) play out a little differently, but are essentially a simplified version of this idea.

• All backers receive PDFs of the Dossiers and Motel Ledger. These will be available online, for free, forever. All backers will be listed by their chosen names in every edition of the game going forward.
• With the No-Tell Motel PDF, you will receive a complete 28-page PDF of the game delivered digitally upon release. If you're short on shelf space or just like to travel light, this is all you need to play.
• The No-Tell Motel Print Edition is a saddle-stitch zine with full-color cover and black and white interiors. You will also get a PDF. The zine is 6.625" x 10.25", sized like a standard American comic book. Perfect for leafing through while you're killing time in a cheap, sleazy purgatory.
• Go all in on solo gaming with the Dirtbag Solo PDF Bundle. Get PDFs for No-Tell Motel , ENNIE Award-winning VOID 1680 AM , and Lighthouse at the End of the World at 3 for the price of 2.  Bonus points if you can make the central character the same person in all of them.
• The Room 7 Keychain, as seen on the cover, is attached to an actual key. Keychain is 3.75" long high-quality plastic with hot stamp foil imprint on both sides. Tier art is, obviously, a mockup. Final product will be gold foil stamped on royal blue. Where does the attached key go? Only one way to find out. 
• The "Dice Tray," swiped from the common area of the Stellar Motel, is perfect for dice rolls or whatever else you might use such a thing for. "Dice Tray" is 5.4" in diameter and made of durable tin. It has four grooves to hold things that aren't dice. Thumbnail is a mockup and not final art, but it's pretty darn close.
• With the Retailer/Educator 5-Pack, you get five print copies of No-Tell Motel  at 40% of MSRP, perfect for stocking the shelves of your game shop or classroom. You will also get a PDF. As the title says, this is for retailers and educators only. Everyone else: keep it moving.

If the campaign hits $6,500, Dark Lofi beats producer Dated of Ill-Advised Records will create a No-Tell Motel Original Soundtrack, which will be made freely available on major streaming services. Ill-Advised Records will also host a YouTube video of the OST, featuring an animation of the cover art. The track in the trailer above is his, to give you an idea of the vibe.

There's some loose talk about a stretch goal to unlock custom playing card decks. I'll get back to you on that.

Aside from that, any  further funds received will be split evenly between Ken, Shawn and Kelsea. They worked hard!

The game has been written and play-tested. Layout and character art are in progress, and will be completed before the campaign ends. PDFs will be sent out as soon as the check clears and files will be sent to the printer within a few days of that.

Printing for the book, the keychains and ashtrays should take approximately four to five weeks (assuming the proof is right the first time), then they'll be shipped to my fulfillment partner, who will begin packing up and sending them out to you.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, all physical products should begin shipping six to seven weeks after the campaign concludes - approximately the first week of May. 

Writer and game designer Ken Lowery is, well, a writer and game designer publishing under the name Bannerless Games. His previous games include the ENNIE Award winning solo playlist game VOID 1680 AM, the solo journaling game Lighthouse at the End of the World, and the horror-comedy group game Killer Ratings. He lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife, three cats and two dogs. You can find his games on itch.io. He's worked with Shawn and Kelsea in the past, so this is a fun little reunion.

Designer Kelsea Zwerneman is an illustrator, graphic designer and horse girl who's worked as an art director, package designer, and brand builder. She lives with her husband, kiddo, and two dogs in the mountains of Wyoming. Find more of her work at kelseazwerneman.myportfolio.com.

A fact sheet, visual assets, social-ready images and more are available for free here.

Press inquiries can be directed to bannerlessgames@gmail.com.