{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/detective--family-12","type":"mechanic","id":"detective--family-12","lang":"en","title":"Timelines and alibis","summary":"The player establishes event order and duration, then checks whether claimed actions can coexist.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/detective--family-12/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/detective--family-12.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/detective--family-12.md","aliases":[],"tags":["Detective games","Reconstructing events"],"sourceIds":["source-090ee83445744667"],"sources":[{"id":"source-090ee83445744667","title":"The Operator","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1771980/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"The player establishes event order and duration, then checks whether claimed actions can coexist."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Variants\n\n<a id=\"family-12-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Event ordering: arrange episodes using timestamps and causal constraints. <a id=\"family-12-variant-1\"></a>\n- Alibi checking: compare available time, travel duration and independent observations. <a id=\"family-12-variant-2\"></a>\n- Clock synchronization: identify time offsets between records before constructing a shared timeline. <a id=\"family-12-variant-3\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"Travel between two stations takes ten minutes. Timestamps four minutes apart do not support the claimed route."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A working map of detective design: 32 families and 96 variants. The core loop is to find information, form a hypothesis, test it and explain a conclusion. Answer formats, hints and investigation structure are treated separately. Families overlap, design examples are hypothetical, and released-game examples cite primary sources without revealing case solutions."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"detective","id":"family-12","title":"Detective games","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/detective/#family-12","categoryIds":["reconstruction"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Timelines and alibis","description":"The player establishes event order and duration, then checks whether claimed actions can coexist.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/narrative-the-operator-03.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"The Operator","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1771980/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/1771980/ss_5f9f8137d263ed2142a81c055aa785a08695e4cf.1920x1080.jpg?t=1778485297","credit":"Bureau 81 / Bureau 81 / indienova","rights":"© Bureau 81 / Bureau 81 / indienova. All rights reserved.","caption":"Time markers on a route and photograph","alt":"Time markers on a route and photograph","markers":[{"x":29,"y":48,"label":"Timestamps allow checking the sequence of movements"}]},"tips":["Let players compare travel duration with independently recorded times."],"examples":[{"title":"The Operator","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/1771980/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original editorial taxonomy authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-19. Primary developer and publisher sources support specific released-game examples, not the whole classification; design examples are hypothetical.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/detective"}}