Baldur's Gate 3 gets surprise murder mystery prequel that puts everyone in the detective seat

Ahead of the game's release in August, Baldur's Gate 3 has received a prequel murder mystery game that lets you vote on how things unfold. Playable for free in your browser, it's titled Blood in Baldur's Gate, and is set 15 years before the events of Baldur's Gate 3. Developer Larian Studios revealed the project yesterday. In it, you play as a detective tasked with solving a murder, and by you, I quite literally mean all of you, as this one will take a bit of collaboration.

You see, the game is running in real time, with a timer counting down until the next day arrives, and new content unlocks. The game sees you looking at a map of the titular city, starting you off in a place called Sailor's Crossing. Currently the only thing you can do is read the flavour text attached to Sailor's Crossing that act as clues, and then choose a couple of other locations to head to next. That's where the collaborative element comes in, as you can vote for which place to head to next - either Fisher's Wharf or Admiral's Way right now. Whichever has the most votes at the end of the 24 hour clock will be where we all head to next.

By the looks of things, the whole thing will take about 35 days to complete, judging by a series of markers at the bottom, with the first showing the in-game version of that day's date. While all you can do is vote to head to one of two locations right now, it seems like you'll be doing a lot more over that time period, as you're also equipped with a satchel, presumably for storing clues and items you come across.

You will need to make a Larian Account to play the game, but it does seem like a fun thing to dip into once a day, especially if you're excited for the full release of Baldur's Gate 3. And if you're wondering when that 1.0 release is specifically, it's August 31st, just over a couple of months away.