---
key: mechanic/detective--family-16
type: mechanic
id: detective--family-16
lang: en
title: Audio-based investigation
summary: >-
  The player extracts information from voices, background events and
  simultaneous conversations.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/detective--family-16/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/detective--family-16.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/detective--family-16.md
aliases: []
tags:
  - Detective games
  - Reconstructing events
sourceIds:
  - source-f40c6ef5f740582d
  - source-89e82de58b603dcb
sources:
  - id: source-f40c6ef5f740582d
    title: Unheard – Voices of Crime
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/942970/Unheard_Voices_of_Crime/'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-89e82de58b603dcb
    title: Unheard - Voices of Crime
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/942970/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: detective
    id: family-16
    title: Detective games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/detective/#family-16'
    categoryIds:
      - reconstruction
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Audio-based investigation
    description: >-
      The player extracts information from voices, background events and
      simultaneous conversations.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/narrative-unheard-05.webp
      width: 1440
      height: 811
      game: Unheard - Voices of Crime
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/942970/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/942970/ss_c790252692cd5dc81e7ffdc2850264b25f54fc29.1920x1080.jpg?t=1728551840
      credit: NEXT Studios / NEXT Studios / 505 Games
      rights: © NEXT Studios / NEXT Studios / 505 Games. All rights reserved.
      caption: 'Voices are linked to people, rooms and time'
      alt: 'Voices are linked to people, rooms and time'
      markers:
        - x: 49
          'y': 61
          label: The Mac sound source occupies a specific room
        - x: 22
          'y': 90
          label: The recording can be played from a chosen point
    tips:
      - 'Let players compare background sounds, speech and simultaneous events.'
    examples:
      - title: Unheard - Voices of Crime
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/942970/'
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
---
# Audio-based investigation

id: detective--family-16
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/detective--family-16
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/detective--family-16/

The player extracts information from voices, background events and simultaneous conversations.

## At a glance

![Voices are linked to people, rooms and time](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/narrative-unheard-05.webp)

[Unheard - Voices of Crime](https://store.steampowered.com/app/942970/) · © NEXT Studios / NEXT Studios / 505 Games. All rights reserved.

1. The Mac sound source occupies a specific room
2. The recording can be played from a chosen point

- Let players compare background sounds, speech and simultaneous events.

- [Unheard - Voices of Crime](https://store.steampowered.com/app/942970/)

## How it works

The player extracts information from voices, background events and simultaneous conversations.

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-16-branch-1"></a>

- Parallel listening: replay a shared interval while following another conversation. <a id="family-16-variant-1"></a>
- Sound event: connect a ring, footsteps or a closing door to an action on the timeline. <a id="family-16-variant-2"></a>
- Audibility context: determine where a participant could hear a line and what they could not know. <a id="family-16-variant-3"></a>

## Design example

The same clock strike is audible in two conversations. It aligns the recordings and helps check a participant’s movement.

## Context and limits

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.

## Connected materials


## Sources and 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.

- [Unheard – Voices of Crime](https://store.steampowered.com/app/942970/Unheard_Voices_of_Crime/) (id: source-f40c6ef5f740582d)
- [Unheard - Voices of Crime](https://store.steampowered.com/app/942970/) (id: source-89e82de58b603dcb)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors