History VideoGame / JennyLeClue

* SelectiveLocalisation: Finklestein is British (like the creators), but the book is set in America. A few British spellings slip into the clues and the dialogue.

-->'''Jenny:''' CJ, I know you're behind the phone booth. I saw you walk over there.\\

* HideTheEvidence: Twice the player has the choice to either remove evidence connecting Jenny's mother to the Dean's death or to leave it at the scene.

* RealityEnsues: As great a detective Jenny is, she's still just a kid, [[spoiler:so after Jenny breaks her mom out of prison, Julie gives her a serious scolding for putting herself and others in danger and not leaving things to the police. Nor does she respond well to Jenny's belief that her father is still alive.]]

* SelectiveLocalisation: Finklestein is British, but the book is set in America. A few British spellings slip into the clues and the dialogue.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler: Dean Strausbery. He worked for the Group of Three in the past, and after being confronted by Julie, he decided to betray them and work with Julie to expose them.]]

* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler: The Group of Three, the architects behind all the mysterious technology Jenny keeps finding, and the ones who covered up the true cause of the mine's collapse. Their identities aren't revealed in-game, but Dean Strausbery worked for them for a time, and Suzie's parents are strongly linked to them.]]

** [[spoiler: The identity of the Man in Black is never revealed, nor are the identities of the Group of Three.]]

* DoubleMeaning: [[spoiler: The message "Trapped on the other side" Jenny discovers led her to presume her father is behind the metallic door, when in actuality, he really on the other dimensional plane where Arthurton used to be.]]

* ExtremeDoormat: Suzie's entire life is controlled by her parents and she's not tough enough to curtail the AlphaBitch tendencies of her GirlPosse. Jenny is similarly quick to push Suzie around when they ally for the investigation.

* HideTheEvidence: Twice, the player has the choice to either remove evidence connecting Jenny's mother to the Dean's death, or to leave it at the scene.
* InsufferableGenius: Jenny's observational skills are far beyond the more straight-forward or dim citizens of Arthurton and ''she knows it''. Even at her kindest, she's incredibly sardonic to everyone around her, and the player as the option to let her say some pretty rude things even to people she likes and respects. In particular, her retorts towards the GirlPosse are agreed by all observers to be [[NerdyBully much crueler than anything they've ever said.]]

* NearDeathExperience: Jenny has so many over the course of the game that she starts keeping track in her journal.

* TakeAThirdOption: Arthur's is faced with having to kill off one of his characters or face the end of his series. [[spoiler:Arthur attempts to appeal to his publisher by ''temporarily'' killing off the Dean before proving he was FakingTheDead. [[SubvertedTrope It doesn't work]] and only angers his publisher more.]]

* YourCheatingHeart:
** If you choose to "Be Really Mean" to Veronica, you can retort that her parents' marriage is on the rocks due to her father having an affair, and additionally note that her father periodically cheating [[EverybodyKnewAlready is common knowledge]].
** There are dialogue options early on that can imply that the Dean is having an affair with Jenny's mother. [[spoiler: They ''are'' meeting in secret, but that isn't why...]]

* CannotSpitItOut: A non-romantic example: Jenny can't admit that she needs Suzie's help for the life of her.

* ChekhovsGun: The Dean's expertise with plants [[spoiler: is crucial to the plot to fake his death and bring him back to life.]]

* MultipleEndings: Depending on the choices the player makes, [[spoiler: the game ends with either Jenny, her mother, or the Dean being zapped into another dimension as the machines beneath Arthurton begin to malfunction.]]

* RealityEnsues: As great a detective Jenny is, she's still just a kid, [[spoiler: so after Jenny breaks her mom out of prison, Julie gives her a serious scolding for putting herself and others in danger and not leaving things to the police. Nor does she respond well to Jenny's belief that her father is still alive.]]

* SmallSecludedWorld: [[spoiler: An experiment gone wrong has sent Arthurton into another plane entirely, separate from the rest of the world.]]

* TakeAThirdOption: Arthur's choice: kill off one of his characters or face the end of his series. [[spoiler: Arthur attempts to appeal to his publisher by ''temporarily'' killing off the Dean before proving he was FakingTheDead. [[SubvertedTrope It doesn't work]] and only angers his publisher more.]]

* TheScapegoat: [[spoiler: The accident that killed numerous miners gets placed on the shoulders of the miners themselves.]]
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: As stated throughout the page, Jenny can be a SnarkKnight at the best of times, but the player has the ability to dial up the abrasiveness from being occasionally bratty to being an outright bitch. You have Jenny insult someone by bringing up their parent's affair, continuously blackmail and verbally abuse Suzie, and refuse to apologize to Keith for [[spoiler:her behavior at his father's funeral]].
* WeUsedToBeFriends: Keith, understandably, doesn't take Jenny [[spoiler: disturbing his father's funeral and knocking his father's body ''out of the coffin'']] very well.

* WhatTheHellHero: This can be Jenny's response to Suzie [[spoiler:trying to get her and Keith to repair their friendship before the graveyard mission]]. Depending on your choice, you can go even further and outright tell her to drop any delusions about Jenny considering her a friend, either.

[[FramingDevice Meanwhile]], less-than-celebrated author Arthur K. Finklestein faces his own problems. After over thirty years of writing stories in the [[ShowWithinAShow Jenny LeClue book series]], his sleepy, cozy mystery tales are wearing out their welcome. Both his critics and his publishers are demanding something different. They want Jenny to face actual danger. They want her to solve a ''murder.'' Facing the cancellation of his beloved characters, Arthur caves to the mounting pressure and sets Jenny onto a new, more dangerous adventure...

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: In-universe. Jenny and Arthur push against each other's wants often, to the point of ''nearly'' outright arguing. However, while Jenny certainly appears to snark and groan at some of the narration, she never goes as far as to fully break the fourth wall or seem aware of each other's conscious existence.

** [[spoiler: One of Jenny, her mother, or the Dean vanishes from reality in the mausoleum.]]

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: As stated throughout the page, Jenny can be a SnarkKnight at the best of this, but the player has the ability to dial up the abrasiveness to the extent that you're left wondering how she even managed to have a single mutual friend at the start of the game. You have Jenny insult someone by bringing up their parent's affair, continuously blackmail and verbally abuse Suzie, and refuse to apologize to Keith for [[spoiler:her behavior at his father's funeral]].

* AllLovingHero: Suzie is a complete sweetheart to everyone she meets.

* StealthHiBye: CJ tries to pull this off while he is briefly off-camera. While it works from the player's perspective, it doesn't work from Jenny's.

* GoodIsNotNice: While Jenny is ultimately on the side of justice, she can definitely be abrasive when it comes to dealing with [[ConspiracyTheorist CJ]] and [[AllLovingHero Suzie]]. The extent of this is up to the player, however.

** If you choose to "Be Really Mean" to one of Suzie's friends, you can retort that her parents' marriage is on the rocks due to her father having an affair, and additionally note that her father periodically cheating [[EverybodyKnewAlready actually be common knowledge]].