My next case led me into the city proper to try and find out what happened during Albert Throgmorton’s expedition, and I was able to gain a better understanding of how bleak life is in Oakmont. It’s the perfect setting for a Lovecraftian adventure, with large parts of the city still submerged, Reed will need to dust off his boat licence in order to get around and reach parts of the city that are separated by water. Fast travel is available once you activate fast travel points scattered across the city.

Not all clues will be staring Reed in the face – he will need to use the city’s resources at times to make progress, such as to find the name or address of a suspect. Much like in Sherlock Holmes, players will need to search the right criteria in various archives to get a hit.

The more clues I uncovered for the second case the more I discovered about the history of Oakmont and its people. If you’re wondering how Lovecraftian it is don’t worry there are plenty of references here such as Reed’s sanity meter that will decrease whenever something plays with his mental state, secret cults and references to the elder gods themselves (although the names may not be exact).

As my demo came to an end I was left eager to play more and discover more about Oakmont and the source of the hysteria. For a team that has spent so many resources – both physical and mental – while building this dark new world, I wondered what other plans Frogwares has up its sleeve for The Sinking City IP, and whether the world was primed for more than Charles Reed’s story.

‘Well of course we talk about it amongst ourselves. There are still a ton of ideas we have for this world and characters’, says Melnykova.

‘When you spend so long on one game, it’s hard not to just keep coming up with things “we’d love to do”. But right now these are just talks among the team. That said, if we do decide to go forth with DLC or a sequel, the best thing about this is that Frogwares owns The Sinking City IP as a whole so that’s a decision that is entirely in our hands’.