---
key: mechanic/puzzle--family-narrative
type: mechanic
id: puzzle--family-narrative
lang: en
title: Investigation and reconstruction
summary: The player reconstructs events from incomplete or conflicting information.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/puzzle--family-narrative/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/puzzle--family-narrative.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/puzzle--family-narrative.md
aliases: []
tags:
  - Puzzles
  - Mechanics catalog
sourceIds:
  - source-248d0f12871f66ae
sources:
  - id: source-248d0f12871f66ae
    title: Return of the Obra Dinn
    url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/653530/'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: puzzle
    id: family-narrative
    title: Puzzles
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/puzzle/#family-narrative'
    categoryIds:
      - section-1
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Investigation and reconstruction
    description: The player reconstructs events from incomplete or conflicting information.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/adventure-obra-dinn-09.webp
      width: 1224
      height: 689
      game: Return of the Obra Dinn
      sourceUrl: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/653530/'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/653530/ss_80149ba9e106d3c4bfe717e280806bc0daa6c5b7.1920x1080.jpg?t=1686697594
      credit: Lucas Pope / 3909
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed
        Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: 'A book entry connects a person, an event and a memory'
      alt: 'A book entry connects a person, an event and a memory'
      markers:
        - x: 61
          'y': 46
          label: A partial explanation requires further evidence
    tips:
      - Keep links from a conclusion to the evidence supporting it.
    examples:
      - title: Return of the Obra Dinn
        url: 'https://store.steampowered.com/app/653530/'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on
  2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are
  preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire
  classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and
  editorial review.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/puzzle
---
# Investigation and reconstruction

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

The player reconstructs events from incomplete or conflicting information.

## At a glance

![A book entry connects a person, an event and a memory](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/adventure-obra-dinn-09.webp)

[Return of the Obra Dinn](https://store.steampowered.com/app/653530/) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. A partial explanation requires further evidence

- Keep links from a conclusion to the evidence supporting it.

- [Return of the Obra Dinn](https://store.steampowered.com/app/653530/)

## How it works

Collect explanations of events from partial and contradictory information.

## Variants

### Variants and applications

<a id="family-narrative-variants"></a>

- Linking evidence. Definition: Establish relationships between the facts found. Conditional example: Connect the trace, tool and damage. <a id="variant-evidence-link"></a>
- Detecting a contradiction. Definition: Compare the claim with independent evidence. Conditional example: Refute the stated time of arrival with camera footage. <a id="variant-contradiction"></a>
- Restoring chronology. Definition: Arrange events according to temporal relationships and causal restrictions. Conditional example: Determine the order of events in a room. <a id="variant-timeline"></a>
- Establishing identity and role. Definition: Match unknown participants with names and actions. Conditional example: Determine who owned the found things. <a id="variant-identity"></a>
- Restoring the event mechanism. Definition: Construct an explanation consistent with all significant traces. Conditional example: Find out how the locked installation worked. <a id="variant-causal-reconstruction"></a>
- Search the information archive. Definition: Select queries and transitions that reveal new relevant fragments. Conditional example: Find the desired record using words from another document. <a id="variant-document-search"></a>
- Filling out the explanation being verified. Definition: Substitute findings into a structure that requires an agreed upon full version. Conditional example: Fill in the names and actions in the description of the incident. <a id="variant-explanation-completion"></a>
- Reconciliation of partial evidence. Definition: Combine several limited points of view into a common model. Notional example: Compare observations from different rooms. <a id="variant-perspective-reconcile"></a>

## Context and limits

A wide catalog of mechanics for digital puzzles, paper logic problems and physical puzzles. Each position contains an action or rule and a conditional example of application.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original editorial design catalog consolidated from project discussions on 2026-10-20. Complete discussion item lists and contextual limitations are preserved; linked primary sources support specific techniques, not the entire classification. English translation was prepared with machine assistance and editorial review.

- [Return of the Obra Dinn](https://store.steampowered.com/app/653530/) (id: source-248d0f12871f66ae)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors