/// ARCHIVE · TRACE · UNCOVER
Photographs, notes, and fragments. Every detail is a clue.
Slow looking, careful listening, and the thrill of discovery.
Stories that shift as you gather more evidence.
We are archivists, not detectives. Xael was founded to build games about the process of investigation — the careful sifting, the false leads, the moment when everything clicks. Our games are case files waiting to be opened.
Based in a former police archive in Chicago, our team of four builds investigative experiences. Our current case load includes a game about a missing archivist, a narrative about a forgotten disaster, and a quiet detective game with no dialogue.
The truth is in the margins. Read carefully.
Investigation game. Case file available on itch.
Design diary and evidence sketches. Free PDF.
How we design non-linear investigation.