History VideoGame / LamplightCity

** Similarly, Jean [=DuPrée=] only married Laura in order to appear "normal" and she used to bully him by threatening to expose his secret. The exact nature of his secret is never stated explicitly, but it's heavily implied that Madame [=DuPrée=] was Jean's [[TheBeard beard]].

** Similarly, Jean [=DuPrée=] only married Laura in order to appear "normal" and she used to bully him by threatening to expose his secret. Jean is relieved when Miles agrees to keep quiet about it.

** Similarly, Jean DuPrée only married Laura in order to appear "normal" and she used to bully him by threatening to expose his secret. Jean is relieved when Miles agrees to keep quiet about it.

Following Miles over five different cases, the game is quite open ended. Each case requires the player to gather clues from crime scenes, interrogating suspects, and make deductions based on the evidence available to them. But amongst the clues are also several [[RedHerring false leads]], some more subtle than others, and the player can freely pursue these too, which can potentially lead Miles to accuse the wrong people or otherwise render the case unsolvable. But a case ending up in failure doesn't result in a GameOver though; the plot advances, whether Miles finds the right answers or not, and the outcomes instead influences the overarching story in different ways.

* TheBeard: [[spoiler:Jean [=DuPrée=]]] never outright says that he is gay, but when pressed about it he eventually does admit that he is only married to [[spoiler:Madam [=DuPrée=]]] because it makes him appear like "a normal man" in the eyes of society.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Guy Dumas]] confesses that he attempted to {{invoke|dTrope}} this when he tried to [[spoiler:have Madam [=DuPrée=] BuriedAlive]]. [[spoiler:As one of [=DuPrée=]'s preferred methods of torture to perform on her servants was to lock them into a small, coffin-sized room without food or water for days, he felt it was only a fitting end for her to die that way.]]

* NoJustNoReaction: After Miles reads Madam [=DuPrée=]'s "poetry", you can try to make him read it again, but Bill isn't having any of it.

* ParentalFavoritism: Juliette all but outright states that this was clearly at play between her and her brother Andrew when it came to their mother Madam Laura [=DuPrée=]. Juliette was TheUnfavorite, because she was always unfailing NiceToTheWaiter and went into academia, something that Madam [=DuPrée=] very much disapproved of. Andrew on the other hand was spoiled rotten by her.

* TortureTechnician: [[spoiler:Madam [=DuPrée=] would often subject her servants to cruel torture if she felt they disobeyed her or otherwise misbehaved. Her favorite methods were whipping them bloody and locking them in small room, no larger than a coffin without water and food for days.]]

* EvilMatriarch: [[spoiler:Madame [=DuPrée=] from the first case. Not only has she sabotaged her daughters attempts attending university and tried to have her brake off her relationship with a black man, [[FantasticRacism but she also beats her servants for relatively minor issues (all of whom are also black)]]]].

* SmallNameBigEgo: The small-time pianist Roland Devereux thinks he is God's gift to music, and is quite full of himself in general, something immediately telegraphed to the player by [[SmugSmiler the haughty smirk he wears in his conversation portrait]]. According to Addy, who worked with him a couple of times as a singer, he isn't even all that good at playing piano and even missed a few nodes on the occasions they performed together.

* StraightGay: In the fourth case, [[spoiler:Rolan and Jimbo]] were in a relationship. The latter outright confesses to it in an underground pub.

''Lamplight City'' is a PointAndClick AlternateHistory AdventureGame developed by the indie developer Creator/GrundislavGames and published in September 2018 for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] by Application Systems Heidelberg.

** If you declare two or more of cases 1-4 to be unsolvable, [[spoiler:Miles with admit himself into an insane asylum with him being putting a drugged-up stupor so he'll stop hearing Bill's voice]].

* BreakingTheFourthWall: To find the real bad guy in case one, you have to play four keys on the piano in Madame [=DuPrée=]'s house. If you try to play it before Miles is told what to look for, instead of the intended action, Bill will say that the tune should be named "The Cheater's Suite".

The plot takes place in year of 1844 in the port city of New Bretique, where two police detectives, Miles Fordham and Bill Leger, investigate a case about a rather strange burglary of a flower shop in the run-down district of Cholmedeley. The seemly innocuous case suddenly quickly escalates to a hostage situation, and then culminates in Bill's death. In the aftermath, Miles finds himself burdened by guilt over having been unable to save Bill, but more eerily, his deceased partner's voice has begun speaking to him inside his head, always urging him to find the burglar who caused his death. Now retired from the force, Miles continues to work as a private investigator, doing several jobs fed to him from a contact at the police while hoping to find the thief of these Easter lilies, and perhaps bring closures to others as he does so. But can he solve the mystery, before his slowly fraying sanity gets the better of him?

* TheCityNarrows: The Cholmondeley district is the worst neighborhood in New Bretique. Fist-fights, muggings, vandalism, and homelessness are a common daily sight in the Chum. It is so crime ridden that the police don't go out of their way to respond to much of it. In addition, since Bill grew up in Cholmondeley, he'll repeatedly mention how horrible it was growing up there and how happy he is that he and his sister left it.
* CityNoir: New Bretique isn't a particularly good place to live in. Between the rampant crime and death rates (especially in Cholmondeley), the racism among both the wealthy elite and the police force, a terrorist group blowing factories, dangerous working equipment, and the unsanitary streets, almost no one in the city doesn't some sort of issues.
* TheCoroner: New Bretique police force's local medical examiner, Dr. Malcolm Edwards, is still on friendly terms with Miles, despite him having quit the force, so he is quite willing to unofficially help him out with some of the technical medical questions he might stumbles on in the course of his investigations. He also likes to crack very dry jokes about his work with bodies all the while.

* HappilyMarried: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]] with Miles and Addy. They start the game off very happy but run into marital problems as the game continues due to Miles keeping Bill a secret from her. This culminates in Addy [[spoiler:throwing Miles out of their house at the end of case 3]]. From there, it's to the player to decide what happens. If you tell her the truth, Miles and her patch things up weather Miles catches the final bad guy or not. If you get the [[spoiler:insane asylum]] ending or just not decide not to go tell her the truth when prompted, this will be subverted, as they will never reconcile, even in the good ending.

* ArrangedMarriage: When pressed about it [[spoiler:Miriam Harris]] will admit that her marriage with [[spoiler:Malcolm]] was done as a deal between their fathers, both powerful business magnates who both thought it would be mutually beneficial for their corporations. She adds that it is [[AwfulWeddedLife by no means a happy marriage]], and confesses that she regularly cheats on her husband by seeing [[spoiler:a guy named Roland, a local piano-player]] behind his back as an outlet.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Considering Madame [=DuPrée=] regularly beats her servants, locks them in an air tight room as punishment, and literally beat one to death, it's no wonder someone tried to have her buried alive]].

** If you declare two or more of cases 1-4 to be unsolvable, [[spoiler:Miles with admit himself into an insane asylum with him being putting a drugged up stupor so he'll stop hearing Bill's voice]].
* EarnYourHappyEnding: If you manage to get through case 5, [[spoiler:Miles will be saved from the killer either by Snelling or Upton. After the killer is dead, Miles will no longer hear Bill's voice. Satisfied that he solved Bill's murder, Miles will start up his own detective agency with Upton and Adelaide]].

* HappilyMarried: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]] with Miles and Addy. They start the game off very happy, but run into marital problem as the game continues, resulting in Addy [[spoiler:throwing Miles out of their house at the end of case 3]]. However, if you get the good ending, the ending implies that they managed to patch things up. It is also possible to have Miles tell Addy the truth about hearing Bill's voice in his head which starts to repair their marriage. Subverted in the bad endings.

* SeriouslyScruffy: After Bill's voice starts haunting him, Miles' appearance takes a toll from the he lack of sleep and stress he suffers as a result, going from a clean cut, well-groomed officer in the Prologue, to sporting PermaStubble, MessyHair, and ExhaustedEyeBags for most of the game. Addy also fusses a bit over it, telling him he should really consider getting a haircut.

The plot takes place in year of 1884 in the port city of New Bretique, where two police detectives, Miles Fordham and Bill Leger, investigate a case about a rather strange burglary of a flower shop in the run-down district of Cholmedeley. The seemly innocuous case suddenly quickly escalates to a hostage situation, and then culminates in Bill's death. In the aftermath, Miles finds himself burdened by guilt over having been unable to save Bill, but more eerily, his deceased partner's voice has begun speaking to him inside his head, always urging him to find the burglar who caused his death. Now retired from the force, Miles continues to work as a private investigator, doing several jobs fed to him from a contact at the police while hoping to find the thief of these Easter lilies, and perhaps bring closures to others as he does so. But can he solve the mystery, before his slowly fraying sanity gets the better of him?

* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Angela Maxwell seems to be an eccentric wacko at first, but she actually correctly describes Miles situation with Bill, meaning there must be at least some truth to her teachings.
* [[DatingWhatDaddyHates Dating What Mommy Hates]]: Juliette very strong implies that one thing she enjoyed about her relationship with Albert Martin, was that Albert is both bi-racial and a "lowly" member of the local university's custodial staff, and dating him made her racist and snobbish upper-class mother very upset.

* HappilyMarried: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]] with Miles and Addy. They start the game off very happy, but run into marital problem as the game continues, result in Addy [[spoiler:throwing Miles out at the end of case 3]]. However, if you get the good ending, the ending implies that they managed to patch things up. It is also possible to have Miles tell Addy the truth about hearing Bill's voice in his head which starts to repair their marriage. Subverted in the bad endings.

* MalignedMixedMarriage: Downplayed. 19th century Vespuccia is on a whole implied to be somewhat more progressive on racial issues than the real world 19th century USA was at the time, presumably as an effect of Vespuccia having been affected by the British Empire's anti-slavery laws, thus ending slavery much earlier than in the real world. That said, racism does in many ways still remain a societal issue, especially amongst the nation's rich elite, and it extends to inter-racial relationships too. When speaking to Albert Martin, who is bi-racial, [[BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama Miles, who is a white man, does heavily imply that his marriage to Addy, who is a black woman, was met with some kind of derision from his more conservative peers]]. Albert also reacts with surprise at the story, further implying that that Miles' marriage is at least somewhat out of the ordinary.

* PhantasySpelling: A variation on the trope anyway. The names of thing and places in Vespuccia is spelled in a more old-fashioned English way to underline that the nation is still a part of the British Empire. Prominent examples includes "jail" being spelled as "gaol" and "Brooklyn" being spelled as "Breuckelen".

** Serafina, the madam of a local brothel, still keeps a lock-box belonging to her old friend and co-worker Lilly, who was killed in a scuffle with an abusive costumer, in a closet, admitting that she has never been able to bring herself to get rid of it.
* TortureTechnician: [[spoiler:Madam [=DuPrée=] would often subject her servants to cruel torture if she felt they disobeyed her or otherwise misbehaved. Her favourite methods was whipping them bloody and locking them in small room, no larger than a coffin without water and food for days.]]
* WhatTheHellPlayer: During the course of investigating Desiree Lathan's murder, Miles needs to contact a lawyer she has spoken to, but runs into the roadblock when he is asked by said lawyer's secretary to bring him evidence of her death, in order to get an appointment. If Miles [[spoiler:previously picked up some of Lathan's ashes]], this gets the player option to show the secretary [[spoiler:said ashes]] as his "proof". Predictably, the poor guy is rather horrified at the sight of [[spoiler:charred human remains]] and tells Miles to leave the office immediately or he will have him arrested, and refuses to speak with him anyone. It nets the player [[AchievementMockery an achievement]] called "[[spoiler:Total Ash-hole]]", and Bill also calls Miles (and the player) on out what he did.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Guy Dumas]] confesses that he attempted to {{invoke|dTrope}} this when he tried to [[spoiler:have Madam [=DuPrée=] BuriedAlive]]. [[spoiler:As one of [=DuPrée=]'s preferred methods of torture to perform on her servants was to lock them into a small, coffin-sized room with out food or water for days, he felt it was only a fitting end for her to die that way.]]

''Lamplight City'' is a PointAndClick AlternateHistory AdventureGame developed by the indie developer Creator/GrundislavGames and published in 2018 for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] by Application Systems Heidelberg.

Following Miles over five different cases, the game is quite open ended. Each case requires the player to gather clues from crime scenes, interrogating suspects, and make deductions based on the evidence available to them. But amongst the clues are also several [[RedHerring false leads]], some more subtle, than others, and the player can freely pursue these too, which can potentially lead Miles to accuse the wrong people or otherwise render the case unsolvable. But a case ending up in failure doesn't result in a GameOver though; the plot advances, whether Miles finds the right answers or not, and the outcomes instead influences the overarching story in different ways.

* TortureTechnician: [[spoiler:Madam DuPrée would often subject her servants to cruel torture if she felt they disobeyed her or otherwise misbehaved. Her favorite methods was whipping them bloody and locking them in small room, no larger than a coffin without water and food for days.]]

** Serafina, the madam of a local brothel, still keeps a lock-box belong to her old friend and co-worker Lilly, who was killed in a scuffle with an abusive costumer, in a closet, admitting that she has never been able to bring herself to get rid of it.

* IfIHadANickel: When Miles asks Ruby, a sex worker, if he could get to see the processions of her deceased colleague, Lilly, she is hesitant, telling him that he isn't sure if Serafina, the madam of the brothel, would approve of that, with how much Lilly meant to her. Miles assures her that Serafina doesn't have to know about it and he promises to just "look, not touch." Ruby mutters "If I had a crown for every time I heard that..." under her breath at that.

* TragicKeepsake: Miles keeps Bill's old bowler hat on the top of his wardrobe. Bill's ghost complains that he should have been buried with it on, but when Miles points out that it would have meant that the hat would have rotten away with his corpse, Bill admits that it was probably good he kept it.

* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: [[spoiler:If Miles decides to come clean to Addy and admit that the reason for his erratic behavior and dark mood is because he has heard Bill's voice talking to him inside his head ever since he died, Bill gets extremely upset at Miles. In the following scene, Bill's usual snarky comments if Miles tries to examining an object will instead either be dismissive or be about how he is convinced that any moment now, men in white coats will show up and take Miles away to be locked up in the local asylum.]]

* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: [[spoiler:If Miles decides to come clean to Addy and admit that the reason for his erratic behavior and dark mood is because he has heard Bill's voice talking to him inside his head ever since he died, Bill gets extremely upset at Miles. In the following scene, Bill's usual snark comments if Miles tries to examining an object will instead either be dismissive or be about how he is convinced that any moment now, men in white coats will show up and take Miles away to be locked up in the local asylum.]]

* MissionControlIsOffItsMeds: [[spoiler:If Miles decides to come clean to Addy and admit that the reason for his erratic behavior and dark mood is because he can hear Bill's voice talking to him inside his head ever since he died, Bill gets extremely upset at Miles. In the following scene, Bill's comments if Miles tries to examining an object will either be dismissive or be about how he is convinced that any moment now, Miles will get grabbed by men in white coats locked up in the local asylum.]]