Shipwrecked 64 Has an Upcoming Sequel

Did the success of a horror ARG made by one college student surprise you in 2024? That one person who looked at the genre of mascot horror and grounded it in a plausible time period? It surprised me pleasantly. As an animation nerd, I appreciated a game that understood how important research is for immersive meta-fiction. Shipwrecked 64 supplemented its story-within-a-story, of a company overworking employees it exploits in unusual ways, with jumpscares and gorgeous animation. Now the world of Broadside Animation is back with hotels! We don't know if it has men with axes or twin girls since all the characters in-game are anthropomorphized creatures, but we know the hype is real.

Note that the ARG isn't over; Broadside Animation's shenanigans will unfold over a series of website updates before releasing a Steam game titled Hotel Investigation 09. The updates, titled "Phases," will crack the Easter eggs, revealing what happened to Broadside after the CEO engaged in unethical deeds, and not to improve stock options for investors or to fuel his ego.

While we have to wait for the full HI-09, as creator Squeaks d'Corgeh abbreviates it, a preview game is available online. Go to https://hi-09.com/ to play a demo nicknamed The Waiting Room. If you would rather get the Cliff Notes, there are playthroughs and streams online.

What To Know About Squeaks d'Corgeh

Squeaks d'Corgeh has worked on Shipwrecked 64 for three to five years, first releasing the game in 2022. Squeaks then retooled the game and reintroduced it to the world in January 2024.

Full disclosure: Squeaks and I both support the YouTuber Nightmind through Patreon, and thus know each other in a social Discord. In fact, Discord was how I first found out about Shipwrecked 64 when Nightmind started streaming and analyzing it. He's also shared some progress with little spoilers, and I may have the twenty-second song stuck in my head for a while (I hope it becomes a meme with the full release). Squeaks also offered to read this draft and fact-check it, and he has permission to modify anything that seems too spoiler-y.

If you want a detailed recap of what happened in Shipwrecked 64, my thoughts are here. But to make a long story short, a cutesy video game paying homage to the Nintendo 64 era had evidence of murder. Not just murder, but also rich people trying to emulate Victor Frankenstein while adding cute mascots to the mix. One heir to corporate corruption mixed with generational trauma wants to find the truth, but releasing it to the world may have dire consequences.

The Hotel Update

In line with Broadside Animation attempting to prove it could compete with Disney during its 1980s flop era, they opened nine hotels to host Studiogrounds theme park guests. Only eight opened, while the ninth one became a ghost-hunting spot. The new game, where we literally have to wait for the next round of horrors, is set inside this mystery hotel.

In the Waiting Room demo on the H09 website, Stumbler comes back for an encore from Shipwrecked 64. He serves as our introductory narrator, though Chief Wulf also makes audio cameos. An artist who lost his hands but has great dreams, Stumbler gives random facts about Leonardo da Vinci and discusses procrastination. He shows more awareness of his plight and the reasons behind his creation, both inside and outside the Broadside canon.

Tragically, Stumbler knows there's nothing we can do to fix his situation. He knows he was created for the developer to vent about a real person. The player has to either follow the rules or break boundaries, which hurts the NPCs; we don't have a compromise or a means to help Stumbler. Stumbler uses his narration to vent about his plight and provide necessary exposition.

Meanwhile, the player is a new animal, Officer Howlz. Howlz has to explore this recreation of Hotel 09 to rescue a hostage. He seems to take Stumbler's monologuing and warnings in stride despite Stumbler's occasional nihilism. So far, Howlz and the player can use his camera to uncover secrets. The rooms, however, don't yet allow for progression beyond that.

The Waiting Room hints at a meta-narrative that covers crossover episodes. Howlz isn't part of the original Shipwrecked 64 crew, instead hailing from another Cogware Game, Blundercover. It makes me wonder why he's game jumping to solve this mystery. A real-life Nintendo equivalent would be Mario tunneling into the Castlevania world to stomp on vampires, while in edutainment, it would be Reader Rabbit running to help the Cluefinders. Some fans have theorized that the Waiting Room and the Hotel 09 ARG are preparing players for a Blundercover "recreation".

If the secrets of Shipwrecked 64 involved murder and necromancy, what could Blundercover reveal that would be even worse or more dramatic? What is worse than murder?

Come Play With Howlz and Chief Wulf

That Squeaks has been able to keep spoilers under wraps is amazing. He has an audience that wants to uncover more Broadside Animation secrets. One video game has linked the company to workplace abuse and murder. We aren't going into the theme park, but Hotel 09 may have its own secrets without needing the Disney or Universal analogy.

It's going to be a long wait for the whole game to be released and for the next Broadside chapter to be revealed. Still, the community is waiting patiently, carefully viewing every update and Easter Egg. Saving Bucky was not an option, but maybe the other NPCs still have a chance.