Ministry of Order

Ministry of Order is a 1920s dystopian inspection puzzle: read the parents’ medical record, weigh what a child could inherit from them, and name the one newborn who can be theirs. A fire destroyed Victory Harbor’s birth records, and the Ministry does not consider restoring them a difficult task.

Decide who belongs to whom

You work from inherited traits — blood type, Rh factor, eye and hair color, skin tone, freckles — and which of them are legible changes from day to day. Match the record to the child, and the lamp on your desk turns green.

Not every trait is legible

The reference book on your desk holds the rules of inheritance, and you will need it: a father in glasses has no readable eye color, a gray-haired mother tells you nothing about her hair color. Get it wrong and a report lands on your desk, naming the traits you ignored and the size of the fine.

Talk carefully

Before the shift you meet people in the hospital canteen; after it you go home and answer the door. Colleagues, inspectors and neighbors all want something, and not all of them say what. Branching dialogue lets you earn trust, make enemies, take a risky favor, or stay out of it. Say the wrong thing and the answer arrives later — a letter in the door, or a heavy knock after dark. Be careful what you say, and to whom.

The system is watching

The New Albion Times prints the official version of events. Some evenings the radio gives you static instead of the evening news, and a letter follows to say the new broadcast-compliance filters are working as intended. Read enough of both and the contradictions start to show — between what the state announces, what your neighbors tell you, and what you saw at your own desk.

Live inside the machine

Accuracy is income, and income is safety. A correct placement pays £5. Rent is £40. The levy for the exiled leaders of friendly nations is voluntary in name only, and the Office of Voluntary Levies keeps a record of who found it inconvenient. A day takes minutes to play, and the decisions in it decide which ending you reach.

Report to the maternity ward archive of Victory Harbor. The reference book will be provided. Decisions you make there are not subject to reconsideration.

— Office of Hereditary Clarity