Sarah Signs Off

Sarah Signs Off is a nostalgic mystery game set in May 1999. It features a late-90s inspired Windows 98 desktop aesthetic and AOL-era chat and email mechanics.

Your friend Sarah has gone missing. You've gained access to her desktop and must piece together what happened. Use AmeriWeb Online, or AWOL (an America Online parody), to chat with her friends, browse the early internet, read her emails, and solve puzzles to uncover the truth behind a deadly cover-up.

About a year before the game begins, Brandon Cole (18) died on the side of the road after a high school party. The official ruling was an accident. Sarah was Brandon's girlfriend. Consumed by grief, she began privately investigating his death and got close to the truth before she vanished. Now someone is sending anonymous threatening emails to everyone connected to that night. And one by one, the people involved are disappearing.

Inspired by The Roottrees Are Dead, Her Story, and numerous young adult novels, the core gameplay has you exploring Sarah's desktop (files, emails, browser history), chatting with her friends on AWOL, searching a late-90s inspired Internet, and deducing what happened by connecting clues across multiple sources. Your choices affect relationships and what characters reveal.

I've had a retro-OS game in my head for quite some time. Playing The Roottrees Are Dead gave me the push I needed to start working on it. This is by far the most ambitious game I've ever worked on, and the one I'm most passionate about. Built with React, Electron, and Tailwind CSS.