PC game concept · 2026-10-05
Night Audit
Break into the same harbour records office for nine nights running, knowing every scratch, open drawer and dead bulb you leave behind will be turned into tomorrow night's security by a chief who reads her building better than you do.
Core loop
Get to one ledger page before the 05:40 shift change, then choose which of the marks you left to scrub and which to leave, because the morning walkthrough turns whatever it finds into tomorrow night's rules.
Target player
Thief and Gloomwood players who got tired of guards that run like clockwork. Learning a patrol usually solves a level. Here the patrol is something the chief pays to change, and she changes it because of you.
One night, ~12 minutes
- 22:00 Read the chief's memo through the guardhouse glass.
- Inside Pick, climb or slip past to the night's ledger page.
- Before 05:40 Scrub your traces, or leave some on purpose.
- Morning Watch the walkthrough find what you left, and see what she buys.
Standout systems
- Trace Ledger Every action leaves a mark rated 1 to 5.
- The chief's budget 2 points after night 1, up to 8. Bulb cage costs 1, a yard dog costs 3.
- Suspicion Decoys with no matching loss add up. At 3, she adds free spot checks.
- The Profile Eight fields of witness description. Fill all eight and the police stake out the building.
Nine nights, one new pressure each
1open
2clerk
33rd guard
4punch clock
5split code
64 picks
7pairs
8police car
9the chief
HARBOUR REGISTRY · SECURITY · MORNING AFTER NIGHT 3
TO: ALL NIGHT STAFF
TO: ALL NIGHT STAFF
- East wing windowsills to be dusted with talc. Report any prints.
- East stair door added to the round. Try the handle every pass.
- Ground-floor corridor bulbs now caged.
- Whoever is using the coal chute: it is now locked. It was always dirty.
A. Holm, Chief of Security
Spent 4 of 4 points. Two went to the east wing, where you forced a window and took nothing. The top-floor vent you actually used is still open.
Key features
- The defence is rebuilt every morning from the evidence you left, and every new countermeasure is announced in the chief's memo.
- Leave evidence on purpose: decoy traces steer where the chief spends her points, but a hidden suspicion count punishes decoys that don't match a real loss.
- Your description is a resource. Witness statements fill an eight-field Profile that changes who guards stop, and only stolen clothing clears a field.
- Cleanup is a timed phase of every night. Each tool has a slower scrub action, and the fixed 05:40 shift change forces you to choose which traces to leave.
- Nine nights in one four-storey building, with one new kind of pressure per night: a late clerk, punch clocks, a split combination, limited picks, paired guards.
- Fair by rule: the chief can never seal more than 5 of the 7 entry points, and guards give an audible line and a 1.2-second turn before they can see you.