[2] The player takes control of Andreas Maler, a journeyman artist from Nuremberg who becomes embroiled in a series of murder mysteries in Upper Bavaria.

[3] The story is set in the fictional Alpine town of Tassing and the nearby Benedictine Kiersau Abbey during the 16th century, and takes place over the course of 25 years.

After collecting physical proof and gleaning information from townsfolk, the player is meant to accuse an individual based on either who they think committed the crime or who most deserves punishment.

[3] Throughout the game, the player is also presented with the option to define Andreas' personal history through dialogue trees, including his previous travels, language skills and academic background, which can affect how the mysteries are resolved.

Baron Lorenz Rothvogel, a friend of the Prince-Bishop of Freising and longtime benefactor of Kiersau, pays a visit to check on a manuscript he commissioned.

Fearing that the murder could damage Kiersau's reputation and lead to its dissolution, Abbot Gernot blames Piero for the crime and has him detained until the archdeacon can conduct an inquiry.

In 1525, Andreas returns to Tassing to find the town on the verge of revolting against the abbot's heavy taxation, having been inspired by the Twelve Articles.

Andreas once again investigates the crime and finds several townspeople received the same kind of mysterious notes he found seven years earlier, all trying to manipulate them into killing Otto.

Thomas, not wanting the townspeople to discover the town’s real history as it contradicted the Christian version, orchestrated the murders as well as the attack on Claus.

Claus eventually dies of his injury, and Magdalene decides to leave Tassing for Prague, while Andreas remains in the town to start a new life.

[5] Sawyer decided on setting the game in the 16th century, an era of great upheaval that saw the beginning of the Reformation, the outbreak of the German Peasants' War and the rise of Copernican heliocentrism.

GamesRadar+ loved the setting, feeling it captured the anxiety of the time: "the dawning of a new age is palpable, and the struggle to come to terms with it rumbles furiously throughout, whether from monks still painstakingly scribing tomes... or young firebrands who've learned to read and question authority".

While criticizing the unclear choice mechanic, PC Gamer enjoyed the town characters and the role that they play in the story: "over 25 years of chats, shared meals... That makes it all the harder when you want to condemn a family man for a crime he might not actually have committed".