Solve this single-player murder mystery using the power of gossip.

Wisps of smoke rise from the butt of a dying cigarette. Moonlight streams in through the blinds, interrupted by a half-broken neon sign that reads: Stellar Motel. You sit behind a plexiglass wall and check in guests from all walks of life, until no one checks out anymore. There was a murder last night and no one seems to care who did it or why except you. In No-Tell Motela solo role-playing game from Ken Lowery, it’s up to you to filter through the labyrinth of gossip, observe the comings and goings of the motel’s patrons and solve this single-player murder mystery.

Played over the course of multiple in-game nights, No-Tell Motel uses a deck of playing cards and dice to randomly determine the mystery you need to solve. Each day consists of multiple shifts (or, in other words, each round has three turns) – the night shift, the graveyard shift, and the morning shift. Guests check in and out each turn, based on the results of each dice roll. Face cards determine who occupies the motel’s six rooms, and the game comes with 16 pre-made non-player character files that give you background information on who these temporary residents are. Number cards reveal what juicy secrets they’re hiding from themselves and each other, while each suit offers a different kind of clue and insight into why this dark character could be the killer.

As the day goes by, the motives grow bigger and bigger, but the story becomes more complicated than it first seemed, leaving you to question your instincts as the inner lives of these questionable motel residents become as tangled as a message board with red threads. The game comes with a prologue and epilogue system to generate the victim, but also what happens if you accuse the wrong person of the ultimate crime. If you stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, an innocent person could go to jail and a real killer could target you next.

Delivered in the form of a thick comic, the paperback zine is written by Ken Lowery with art by Shawn McGuan and layout by Kelsea Zwerneman that’s reminiscent of a grungy hotel lobby magazine, complete with in-universe ads and the best noir mystery vibes. Bundles for No-Tell Moteljust like the review copy we received earlier this year, come with motel-themed paraphernalia, such as a No-Tell Motel key ring, matchbook and metal axle, dice tray.