It's been a long development journey full of challenges and triumphs, but after a year of hard work, the demo for Burden of Truth is finally available for everyone to play! This early preview of the game is meant to showcase the story and gameplay, and act as just a taste for the full game which will release later this year. So if you haven't already checked it out, please take a look at the Steam page for Burden of Truth to download the demo now!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2923050/Burden_of_Truth/
During the demo, you'll get to play the first chapter of the game, which challenges you to solve the mystery of a seemingly impossible murder in a robotics lab. As prosecutor Conrad Cross, your goal is to find the defendant guilty using evidence and logic. You'll be tasked with presenting your case to the court, objecting to false statements, and finding contradictions within witness testimony. Your opponent, Kate Flocking, will do anything to get an acquittal, so it's up to you to cut through the lies and find the truth.
If you have any questions about the demo, please refer to this Q&A:
Q: Will I need to play Burden of Proof before playing this new chapter?
A: Nope! This demo works perfectly fine as an introduction to the world and characters. In fact, you can complete the Prologue Demo first and then go back to play Burden of Proof without worry. The only thing this demo gives away is some events from Burden of Proof Chapter 1, which is the very start of the game.
Q: Wait, is Conrad a prosecutor again? I thought he became a defense attorney!
A: As mentioned in the original announcement, Burden of Truth covers the missing Chapter 3 that was left out of the original game. This Prologue Chapter takes place before the true Chapter 3 begins, at which point Conrad becomes a defense attorney to help his friend Sarah.
Q: Okay, now I'm confused. Where does this fit chronologically?
A: First we have BOP Chapter 1, then the Prologue Chapter a year later followed by the full Chapter 3 where Cross becomes a defense attorney, then a year after that we have chapters 2, 4, and 5 from BOP. Confusing? A little. How did we get here? The order was decided in BOP to lay out information as it became relevant and explain changes in characters, but when Chapter 3 became part of its own experience, it only made sense to expand it further and build up to it. Actually, you will be able to find a big reference to the Prologue Chapter if you play the original "abridged" Chapter 3 in BOP :)
Q: How long is the demo? What's included in the demo?
A: Roughly speaking, you should get 3-4 hours worth of play out of it depending on how fast you solve puzzles, which is more than I expected to include for this! This chapter throws you straight into a trial to explain the fundamentals, so there's no investigation sequence and only a little bit of free roam exploration. But the quality of the puzzles, graphics, and music should demonstrate all of the improvements that have been made for this sequel and should clearly show what you can expect in the full game!
Q: Should I skip the demo and just wait to play the full game?
A: I'm not quite sure how I'll be handling demo saves for the full release, so you may need to replay the first sections of the game when the complete story is released. This is partially intentional because I want players to have the first chapter fresh in their minds (it will be relevant for the rest of the game), but I also don't want to waste anyone's time. So if this sounds tedious, feel free to just wait until the full game drops! That said, there will be surely improvements made over the coming months that might make the experience a bit more fresh when played a second time.
I'll leave the rest up to you to figure out for yourself when you try out the demo! There's a ton of easter eggs, references, and content to chew into in this first chapter, so I'm excited to seeing everyone's reaction and theories! That's all for now, so if you'd like to hear about news as soon as it happens, be sure to follow me on Bluesky, Twitter, or join the Discord server! And I'll post the link to the game page one last time ;)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2923050/Burden_of_Truth/
Thank you all so much for supporting me through development. The work can finally start to pay off now, and next week is when the "big push" for promotion will really begin, because Burden of Truth is participating in the Steam Next Fest 2025! For those of you in the future that are already in the fest and reading this, welcome! I hope you enjoy the demo and will look forward to the full release later this year :) That's all for now, so feel free to let me know what you thought of the game and thanks again for playing!
-Matt