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The Roottrees are Dead
A genealogical mystery straight out of 1998. Scour the early Internet for clues, uncover hidden connections, and piece together the family tree behind the secretive Roottree Corporation.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-04 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-13.
What reviewers agree on
91 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I admit I have never been one for gossip, and my wife's questions like "how are his children, or any news of her brother since he left abroad" fall on deaf ears. I don't find joy in hoarding tidbits of information about…”
“Just beat Roottreemania. An absolutely fantastic logical puzzle game. If you like Return of the Obra Dinn you'll enjoy this a lot. Not TOO hard but it definitely doesn't hold your hand (i did have to use the ingame…”
“Absolutely brilliant, if slightly easy, until you reach the "endgame" where things go a little crazy. I hope this game spawns an entire genre, it's that good.”
24 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I admit I have never been one for gossip, and my wife's questions like "how are his children, or any news of her brother since he left abroad" fall on deaf ears. I don't find joy in hoarding tidbits of information about…”
“Just beat Roottreemania. An absolutely fantastic logical puzzle game. If you like Return of the Obra Dinn you'll enjoy this a lot. Not TOO hard but it definitely doesn't hold your hand (i did have to use the ingame…”
“The main game was fun - the puzzles and clues felt balanced, both requiring a solid amount of brainpower without feeling too obscure. All in all, it took me about 15 hours to complete the family tree without using any…”
15 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Just beat Roottreemania. An absolutely fantastic logical puzzle game. If you like Return of the Obra Dinn you'll enjoy this a lot. Not TOO hard but it definitely doesn't hold your hand (i did have to use the ingame…”
“love how this game was written, the loop was immensely satisfying, and level of challenge was just right!”
“One of the only decent analog mystery games to come out in the past few years. The puzzles make sense and follow an engaging difficulty curve, and the characters and plot are thought-provoking yet endearing. The only…”
8 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Beware the addictiveness and also the frustration when stuck. Beef Baby is a fantastic song. I also appreciate that Baby can be an occupation. That's mine from now on.”
“Very fun game, and a very cool concept, takes detective work and sleuth work to a different level I hadn't thought of for a game before. Very fun, great music and artstyle The only thing that I can think of to make the…”
“My Instagram feed is a bubble of retro gaming and primarily 90s aesthetics, and within such a backdrop, this game fits like a glove. Dial-up internet, wonky websites, band posters on the walls - everything evokes the…”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Writing this review, I was shocked to see how many hours I spent on The Roottrees Are Dead. I was so absorbed in it that I completely lost track of time. The game is definitely not for everyone, but for me, it scratched…”
“Very fun game, and a very cool concept, takes detective work and sleuth work to a different level I hadn't thought of for a game before. Very fun, great music and artstyle The only thing that I can think of to make the…”
“My Instagram feed is a bubble of retro gaming and primarily 90s aesthetics, and within such a backdrop, this game fits like a glove. Dial-up internet, wonky websites, band posters on the walls - everything evokes the…”
10 of the 104 reviews raise this · 8 of them still recommend the game.
“The main game was fun - the puzzles and clues felt balanced, both requiring a solid amount of brainpower without feeling too obscure. All in all, it took me about 15 hours to complete the family tree without using any…”
“You really have to divide the rating for this game into two main categories; gameplay and story. Gameplay wise, I mostly really enjoyed this. It was pitched to me as a genealogy sim, and as someone who does a lot of…”
“Pretty much the best detective game out there. You have to read a lot and while you do that you also have to check for hints. Every little sentence can have one. Who is who, who is older, who is the…”
4 of the 104 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“Absolutely brilliant, if slightly easy, until you reach the "endgame" where things go a little crazy. I hope this game spawns an entire genre, it's that good.”
“Beware the addictiveness and also the frustration when stuck. Beef Baby is a fantastic song. I also appreciate that Baby can be an occupation. That's mine from now on.”
“Pretty much the best detective game out there. You have to read a lot and while you do that you also have to check for hints. Every little sentence can have one. Who is who, who is older, who is the…”
4 of the 104 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“Banger quick little Obra Dinn-like game. Loved every second”
“great game! the play cycle of researching is repetitive but not in a way that becomes annoying or not fun, and the ending is very satisfying - I wish there was more to play!”
“Incredibly fun research driven investigative / deduction game. The mystery is pretty fun even though it kind of fizzles out at the end. I was expecting something a little more nefarious by the end but it was still…”
4 of the 104 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“You really have to divide the rating for this game into two main categories; gameplay and story. Gameplay wise, I mostly really enjoyed this. It was pitched to me as a genealogy sim, and as someone who does a lot of…”
“I liked the premise of the game, but unfortunately soured on it as I played. Searching and cross-referencing information to uncover the secrets hidden deep inside a family tree sounds great until you only have yahoo…”
“Incredibly fun research driven investigative / deduction game. The mystery is pretty fun even though it kind of fizzles out at the end. I was expecting something a little more nefarious by the end but it was still…”
3 of the 104 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“游戏难度适中，适合新手推理，画面和音乐都很精彩，非常推荐！最好尽快打完，如果中途停下再开始会出现忘记证据的情况，游戏难度会增加，并且会感觉疲劳”
“this game is good!! super interesting, i love doing research & diving down rabbit holes(tho i don't like genealogy typically) and this gamifies that in a really satisfying way! the main game is super tight and solid and…”
Counted across 104 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 96.4% positive rating · as of 2026-05-13
“I would play dozens of games with the same basic mechanics, uncovering different family mysteries along the way!”
— a player, Steam review · 30 hrs played“Terrific little game that's absolutely worth the money. Completed the base game in 13 hours, then put 3 more into the follow-up campaign "Roottreemania" before deciding to quit. I had my fill once I realized I would have to go back over previous evidence that featured updated…”
— a player, Steam review · 16 hrs played“I'm going to rate this positively, because the main game is a lot of fun and a great puzzle game. But man, is Roottreemania, the extra second campaign, really bad. The first, main campaign is great. You're searching around the late-'90s internet and magazines, looking for clues,…”
— a player, Steam review · 14 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Minor fixes for Italian
Thanks to some keen Italian players, we've caught some minor issues and fixed them.
The Roottrees are Dead arrives in Italian!
As promised, Italian armchair detectives can now take a crack at untangling the Roottrees’ family tree.Big thanks to our translation team and to our Italian players for their patience while we prepare
Update Notes for Apr 29
- Contains fixes for typos on French - Added simplified Chinese logo for Galley House for Chinese players.
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-13.
| Genres | Adventure |
| Player tags | Mystery · Puzzle · Detective · Point & Click · Atmospheric · Story Rich · Investigation · Singleplayer · 1990's · Adventure · Logic · Interactive Fiction (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * , French, German, Spanish - Latin America, Simplified Chinese * , Portuguese - Brazil * |
| Achievements | 22 |
| Official site | https://roottrees.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 64-Bit Processor: 2.0Ghz Dual Core Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 510 Storage: 1 GB available space Additional Notes: Your graphics card needs at least 2GB of VRAM