History VideoGame / Contradiction

''Contradiction: The All-Video, Fully Interactive Murder Mystery Adventure'' or ''Contradiction - Spot The Liar!'' or simply ''Contradiction'' is a FullMotionVideo mystery game, made by Tim Follin and released on [[UsefulNotes/IOSGames iOS]] on January 13th, 2015 and [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] on July 10th, 2015.

* NiceHat: Jenks' fedora.

* ColdHam: Paul Rand (played by Paul Darrow) doesn't need to raise his voice to take the whole scene.

* BigBad: [[spoiler: Rebecca, with Atlas serving as the BiggerBad and main RedHerring in an unusual combination of tropes.]]

** Most of the plot, in an [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerated]] example. You spend much more time investigating [[spoiler:Atlas than Kate's murder, and you discover that they're a cult who trains people to be amoral, guilt-free slaves for companies who are willing to pay a pretty penny, and they might have killed a student like Kate one year ago... yet neither Ryan nor Paul, the heads of Atlas, are responsible for Kate's death. The true culprit is Ryan's wife, who killed Kate because she [[MurderByMistake erroneously]] thought [[WomanScorned Kate was sleeping with him]]. In fact, Kate's investigation could have ended in less than two hours if Jenks had immediately noticed that the tape on Kate's driving license is the same as the tape that the killer used on a broken window of her bar, without the need to dig deep into Atlas's dark history]].

* RedHerring: Many of the clues Jenks gets from his conversations end up being these. Also ultimately applies to [[spoiler:Atlas itself, at least in regards to Kate's murder.]]

* SocietyMarchesOn: James grows the hallucinogenic plant salvia divinorum, and emphasizes that it’s completely legal. About a year after the game's release, the UK made it illegal to supply, produce, or import it.

** Liam Rogers, another dead Atlas student, was known to drink at seminars regularly.

* YourCheatingHeart: Jenks eventually finds out from Emma that [[spoiler:she's been cheating on Simon with Ryan, and that Kate was planning to blackmail Ryan with this knowledge. This ends up leading, indirectly, to Kate's death.]]

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The game takes places between 5 PM and midnight, just over seven hours. Jenks still manages to go down a pretty deep rabbit hole.

** And the random town drunk wandering around the woods!

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Two of them: the piece of tape with a fancy pattern on Kate's driver's license, and the piece of tape with the exact same pattern that was used to tape the pub's broken window (you can see the latter piece of tape in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot the first time Jenks investigates the broken window).]]

* TheHecateSisters: Referenced via the symbol on [[spoiler:the mask Jenks finds]]

* MyLocal: The George and Dragon

* TownWithADarkSecret: Atlas has been compared as a cult and Kate's suicide is not the first incident the town had.

* ChewingTheScenery: A big appeal of the game. Jenks and the Rands are the biggest examples. WordOfGod says this was on purpose, to compliment the eerie and otherworldly tone of the entire game.

* SocietyMarchesOn: James grows salvia divinorum, and emphasizes that it’s a legal hallucinogenic. About a year after the game's release, the UK made it illegal to supply, produce, or import it.

* SocietyMarchesOn: Salvia divinorum is said to be a legal hallucinogenic. About a year after the game's release, the UK made it illegal to supply, produce, or import it.

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: [[spoiler:Late in the game, Jenks finally gets Paul Rand to reveal that the Atlas course has a deal with several multi-national corporations: the Atlas course trains "perfect employees" to give to these corporations, and in return, the corporations give generous kick-backs to the Atlas course.]]\

* CharacterTics: Subtle, but there. Every character has some sort of tell when they're either lying or setting themselves up for a contradiction, except for the times when the characters aren't making contradictions (because they just haven't clarified something for Jenks) or just don't know they're lying. Notably:
** All characters generally avoid eye contact with Jenks.
** James grows more sarcastic or aggressive.
** Ryan laughs a lot or scoffs or gets jittery.
** Emma bites her lip or looks depressed.
** Paul is a special case; he usually likes to clam up during questions and exude an air of smug superiority. You know he's lying or setting himself up for a contradiction when one of Jenks' questions catch his interest and he [[SayingTooMuch engages with Jenks a bit more than normal.]]
** Rebecca pauses, then gives a confident explanation.
** And for the killer: [[spoiler:Rebecca coughs when you ask her about the driver's license.]]

* OnlyInItForTheMoney: [[spoiler:Late in the game, Jenks finally gets Paul Rand to reveal that the Atlas course has a deal with several multi-national corporations: the Atlas course trains "perfect employees" to give to these corporations, and in return, the corporations give generous kick-backs to the Atlas course.]]

** And for the killer: [[spoiler:Rebecca gives an ImportantCough when you ask her about the driver's license.]]

** Rebecca pauses, then gives a confident explanation

''Contradiction: The All-Video, Fully Interactive Murder Mystery Adventure'' or ''Contradiction - Spot The Liar!'' or simply ''Contradiction'' is a FullMotionVideo mystery game, made by Tim Follin and released on iOS and PC.

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** And the random town drunk wondering around the woods!

* CharacterTics: Subtle, but there. Every characters has some sort of tell when they're either lying or setting themselves up for a contradiction, except for the times when the characters aren't making contradictions (because they just haven't clarified something for Jenks) or just don't know they're lying. Notably: