In it, you are a farmer in a vaguely-medieval village who is sent to search for a fellow villager named Julia, who went missing in a nearby cave. While the game looked very simple, it had unusual online features that served its Twist Ending. However, on June 30th, 2016, the developer ended up taking it down.
Due to the short nature of the game, it is recommended that you watch a playthrough of the game
before either reading the trope examples below or the PC Gamer article explaining why the game ended up taken down.
No relation to the Trollhunters fanfic.
Tropes present in Moirai:
- Almost Dead Guy: This is what happens when you find Julia, who lies on the floor of the cave with a self-inflicted stomach wound and asks you to finish her off.
- Big Sleep: If you agree to mercy kill dying Julia at her request, then the dialogue option asks her to close her eyes.
- Blackout Basement: The cave is so dark, you cannot go inside without taking a lantern from the farmer first.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: The ending does this when after you answer the other farmer's three questions, the game says "And this is where this story shall end. At least, for now. It is up to the next player of this game to choose your fate. Just as you chose for the previous player." You then enter a name, which goes into the "Farmers" book you can find earlier in the game, and will also be written on your clothing for the other players to see if they end up killing you. You are then asked to enter an email, which is how you'll find out whether your character got spared or executed by the next person who plays the game.
- Death of a Child: You can find a ribcage in the cave, and looking at it closer gives you the message that it looks like the bones of a child. It's almost certain that this was Julia's child.
- Developer's Foresight: Besides the Twist Ending, which is pretty much built on this, there's also being able to take the knife off the lumberjack and then head back to the village and use it to stab sheep. Talking to the villagers and/or lumberjacks afterwards changes their dialogue, as nearly everyone is terrified of your blood-stained appearance.
- Dialogue Tree: Used sparingly. The first time is when you get to ask three questions when you meet a bloodstained farmer:
- Why do you have blood on your overalls?
- Why do you have a knife?
- I heard moans, what have you done?
- Afterwards, you get to choose whether to attack, and kill him, or let him pass. Then, when you meet dying Julia you also choose whether to honor her request for a Mercy Kill or not through a dialogue tree.
- Driven to Suicide: This is what actually happened to Julia. However, she botched it, and so you find her slowly dying from a stomach wound, and can either finish her like she wishes you to, or refuse and say you are going to get help, which prompts her to berate your cowardice and spit her own blood at you, so that you end up bloodstained either way.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: You get asked to enter your character's name after you have effectively finished the game. It goes into the list of names in the book of "Farmers", and the previous player will see that name when they receive an email about how you've judged their character. The next player will likewise see it in the email summarizing their own judgement of your character. If they choose to kill him, then they'll see that name earlier, written on the nametag of your clothes when given the prompt to interact with your body.
- Ironic Echo: The end of the game mirrors your starting conversation with the bloodstained farmer. This time, you are the bloodstained farmer, and you are being asked the same three questions you had earlier asked the previous bloodstained farmer, and your responses will in turn be seen by the next player.
- Jerkass: Julia's husband was apparently one. The whole reason their family's lives got so screwed up is because instead of retiring when his mining for gold finally paid off, like Julia wanted to, he got so paranoid he chose to bury the nugget somewhere as a screw you to her, and then went missing. This is what prompted their son to go search for him in the cave, and presumably die himself, which then led to her botched suicide.
- Karma Houdini: This is what essentially happens to the players who decided to kill the farmer they meet upon hearing their answers, but whose character was then spared by the following player. the follow-up email comments on such cases with "After hearing your answers X decided to let you pass. This was quite a foolish act considering that you were covered in blood from the killing of the previous farmer."
- Laser-Guided Karma: However, if the player chose to kill and was then killed, or spared and then got spared in turn, then this trope is in play. Even the email letting you know of what happened remarks that "This seems appropriate" in such cases.
- Locked Door: The door of a barn next to the sheep paddock. It'll stay locked no matter what you do. This didn't stop some players from stabbing all the sheep just to see if it'll unlock the door.
- Mercy Kill: This is what Julia asks you to do as she's already dying due to her botched suicide. You can accept or refuse and turn back to get help, but you'll get splattered in blood regardless, as she'll spit blood at you if you refuse to stab her.
- Morton's Fork: Whether you choose to kill Julia like she requests, or refuse and go to get help, your character still ends up covered in blood, and thus looks suspicious to the next player.
- Never Found the Body: The fate of Julia's husband. Thus, even though Julia wants to die so that she can see them in heaven, this may not work because her husband may not be dead yet. Given that his selfish actions are what led to the deaths of the rest of his family, he probably doesn't deserve to go there in the first place.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Choosing to let the bloodstained farmer pass results in him walking through you, and then immediately disappearing. He cannot be found anywhere else afterwards.
- Suicide by Cop: In some of the videos, the previous players essentially go for this once they learn of the twist, writing the most preposterous and/or suspicious responses possible to dare the following player to kill them. Amusing example here.
- Together in Death: This is what Julia hopes for. She says that she wants to see her husband and son in heaven when you first find her, dying from a self-inflicted stomach wound, and asks you to help finish her suicide. Though, while you find her child's bones, it's not entirely clear if her husband is actually dead.
- Video Game Caring Potential: While one can argue whether trusting a suspicious blood-stained farmer who may be saying outright gibberish and/or not mercy killing a suicidal woman who'll probably die slowly anyway is caring, it's still notable that the overwhelming majority of playthroughs of the game on YouTube chose to avoid any killing.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: It is possible to head out of the cave after you get the knife but before you go any further. You are then allowed to stab the poor sheep with said knife.
