Sanfu is a Chinese mystery and puzzle game that begins in 2000, when an old advertisement unexpectedly interrupts a city television news broadcast. Its featured performer is a supposedly psychic boy who has died, prompting rumors that his spirit has taken over the signal. An investigation follows the broadcast and gradually uncovers a criminal group operating out of sight.
Players take the roles of two characters, moving between different eras and perspectives as the investigation unfolds. Puzzles are closely connected to the story, while the two-protagonist structure broadens the possibilities for solving them. The narrative also gives weight to a wider cast: its central crime concerns how a group gradually turns a boy into an object of reverence, against a backdrop of people with conflicting beliefs and circumstances.
Sanfu’s visual identity draws on the look of twentieth-century Chinese propaganda posters, shifting between eerie, uncanny scenes and vivid colors. Detailed poster-like imagery, hazy textures, shop signs, abundant plants, stepped paths, and tightly clustered buildings shape a fictional mountain city with a strong sense of period atmosphere. The result frames its investigation as both a puzzle-driven mystery and a portrait of a particular time and place.
