It’s been over a year since we last heard from House of Tales, but the acclaimed developer of The Moment of Silence and Overclocked has been secreted away working on their next project ever since. Despite repeated attempts to covertly crack the heavily-fortified “HoT HQ”, we’ve been unable to discover any information about the upcoming title, but at long last, dtp entertainment simply let us in the front door during this year’s E3, unveiling the first details of a new thriller called 15 Days. I say “during” because the game wasn’t quite ready to be demonstrated in action at the convention. Still, with our foot finally in the door, there was no stopping our inquiries this time, and the German publisher was ready, willing, and able to oblige.

Given the track record of its creators, we expected a mature, intelligent storyline that probes deeper issues than most adventures, perhaps even pushing boundaries with its narrative structure in the process. Not surprisingly, then, by all accounts that appears to be exactly what 15 Days will deliver. The tale centers around the exploits of three political activists who, like modern day Robin Hoods, finance worthy causes by stealing valuable works of art on behalf of wealthy, anonymous benefactors. Their latest heist, unfortunately, has put American Interpol Special Agent Jack Stern on their trail, as the theft may just be linked to the murder of an influential politician.

More specifically, two weeks before the start of the game, the three London-based thieves pulled off a job in Cape Town, South Africa, where they stole the portrait of Cecil Rhodes, the former British Governor of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The trio’s unknown client had declared the theft a test of their abilities, to be followed by more orders if successful. Upon delivery of the painting, he pays them two million British pounds, which they in turn donate to a development project in Central Africa, a charitable contribution that makes newspaper headlines worldwide. Their next assignment is another portrait, this time of Winston Churchill from the London Modern Museum, and plans for the job are already underway in their two-story loft.

Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary James Henston has died suddenly of suspicious causes and assassination is a possibility, leading Stern to investigate a note detailing the transport of the (stolen) portrait from the Secretary’s office to the South African exhibition and back. Stern’s role in the unfolding drama, which will inevitably cross paths with the three thieves before all is said and done, provides a second narrative strand running parallel with the first. Switching between the two slowly-converging plots keeps the pace moving quickly and lets players alternate between the four main characters as they become increasingly entangled in international political affairs.

The sticky-fingered protagonists (if you accept their goodwill as justification of their crimes) each have distinct characteristics and backgrounds. The recognized leader, Cathryn Hope, is a museum guide and skilled rock-climbing teacher. Bernard Dewaele works as an art insurance broker (which makes sense, as you’d figure business would probably be booming), while Mike Mensworth is a programmer for a software giant called Megabase. Another friend of Cathryn’s becomes an occasional fourth member of the team, a former art professor and talented forger named McBride, who is now comfortably retired.

As the game begins in early July, Mike and Bernard have just treated Cathryn to a unique 30th birthday present: a clock hand from Big Ben, stolen during a risky climb in broad daylight. (So okay, maybe not all their thefts are selflessly motivated.) The gang is happy, a new heist awaits, and all seems well in their world. But this is a House of Tales game, remember, so trouble is only a point-and-click away.



We still don’t know much about the storyline itself (make that plural storylines, of course), but the game will feature a traditional third-person, mouse-only presentation and take players to over forty different locations, including the Paris Catacombs, techno clubs, museums, and a James Bond-esque mysterious island. Dialogue always plays a prominent part in HoT games, and will again here, so at first glance all seems relatively straightforward. The gameplay, however, will include at least one intriguing element. While we adventure gamers may be used to picking up everything that isn’t nailed down, we’re going to have to work for our biggest ill-gotten gains in 15 Days, as our prime targets aren’t just laying around waiting to be pilfered. Luckily, we’ll have “interesting gadgets” for our “spectacular coups”, at least according to the early press materials.

What does that mean? Who knows! But we do know someone who might, so as a well-intentioned public service of our own, AG pulled off the spectacular coup of stealing a few minutes of Creative Director Martin Ganteföhr’s time to tell us everything we wanted to know but weren’t even slightly afraid to ask. Read on to hear what he had to say (possibly under duress).