The Printed Secret · Case archivesThe Keeper's Log — Flannan Isles case file
Case file / Flannan Isles / December 1900
The Keeper's Log — Flannan Isles
Difficulty: LayeredIn development
Play time
To be confirmed
Players
To be confirmed
Format
Book + browser
Status
In development
In development
Story originBased on the true Flannan Isles disappearance. The present-day communication is fictional.
The briefing
Three keepers. A deserted lighthouse. An unanswered question.
Three lighthouse keepers disappeared from Eilean Mòr in December 1900. Examine the surviving accounts, compare the traces, and decide what the evidence can honestly support. At your desk, an unexplained pattern begins to return.
Follow what the evidence can support.
Read contemporary accounts, compare observations and revisit the records as your investigation develops. The historical case remains uncertain; the unexplained pattern at your present-day desk is fictional dramatic framing.
Imagined settings
Exhibit A
The island and the light
Exhibit B
Your inquiry desk
Artwork depicts imagined settings, not archival photographs.
A relief party reaches the lighthouse and finds the station deserted. Its first task is to establish what has happened.
Begin with the record of the arrival.
The accounts
What was recorded
Contemporary letters and inquiry
The surviving accounts describe observations and the investigators’ reasoning. Read them carefully, and keep their limits in view.
Distinguish an observation from an explanation.
At your desk
A pattern returns
Fictional present-day framing
As you examine the case, an unexplained pattern begins to recur. Its meaning belongs to your experience, rather than the historical record.
What will you make of the echo?
The Printed Secret · Case archivesThe experience and preparation
The experience
An inquiry at your own table.
The planned edition will bring the inquiry to your table through a 3D-printed book and objects alongside the browser. Its physical parts and preparation guide are still being developed; the case is not yet available to play.
Read the accounts.
Examine what the surviving records actually say.
Compare the traces.
Follow the investigations in your chosen order and return to earlier evidence when you need it.
Make your finding.
Build an account the evidence can support, and consider what remains unknown.
Preparation / Before you begin
Make room for the mystery.
This case is in development. Its final preparation instructions and files are not released yet.
Files to prepare
Reuse your Codex, then prepare this game’s book and any separate pieces listed in your edition’s instructions. Required files will be listed together when released.
The reusable Codex
Single-colour STLsNot releasedMulticolour 3MFsNot released
The Keeper's Log — Flannan Isles — game book and required pieces
Single-colour STLsNot releasedMulticolour 3MFsNot released
Read the instructions
Use a browser with an internet connection, paper for notes and a clear playing space. Check your edition’s books, required pieces, assembly and print guidance. Physical printing and game access are separate.
Team setup opens here when this case is available.
Not available to play or buy yet.
Case classification
A real loss. An uncertain account.
A historical maritime investigation with restrained, fictional supernatural suggestion.
Puzzle difficulty is separate from emotional intensity and an age rating. Final suitability guidance awaits playtesting.
Genre
Historical maritime investigation
Tone
Sombre, investigative, quietly uncanny
Audience
For players comfortable with sustained reading, a real disappearance and uncertainty. Final suitability guidance awaits playtesting.
Intensity and themes
Actual loss and disappearance, isolation, danger at sea and restrained supernatural suggestion. The present-day communication is fictional; the game does not claim a witnessed historical resolution.
A printed book, objects and browser investigation are in development. This case is not yet available to play or buy.
Book & objects
The final parts and print files are not available yet. Wait for the released preparation guide before making a kit.
Release details
No release date, final price, playing time or group-size promise has been made.
The Printed Secret · Case archivesQuestions and field notes
A few useful answers
Before you open the case.
Is this based on a true story?
Yes. The game examines the actual Flannan Isles disappearance. The present-day communication is fictional, and the experience does not claim a witnessed solution to the historical case.
Do I need to print anything?
The planned edition requires 3D-printed parts and a browser. The final parts list and files are still in development; do not arrange a print from this preview.
Can I keep my progress?
Account progress will be explained when this case is released. This public case file does not start a game.
What kind of mystery is it?
A sombre investigation into an actual disappearance, with uncertainty and restrained supernatural suggestion. Read the case classification before beginning.
File 01 · The Apprentice’s Test
While the next mystery takes shape
Your first case is waiting.
Start with The Apprentice’s Test. A free browser mystery, with nothing to print.
