Motel 51: Papers, Keys & Aliens

Your uncle left you a motel by Area 51. Prescott Bank left you a deadline.

Motel 51 is a story-driven desk and motel management game about the people, and other beings, who stop at a lonely exit after dark. You owe the bank for your uncle Marek's motel. Every room you fill can help. Every call at the counter has a consequence. Some guests arrive with a suitcase; others bring a story that does not quite fit their papers.

Read the guest, then read the documents

Start with an ID. Check the portrait and expiry date. As the nights unfold, compare transit permits, Bureau rules, reservations, wanted notices and the details your guests reveal in conversation. New tools can expose a forged seal or show what an unfamiliar face really looks like. When you have made up your mind, press AUTH or DENY. If a wanted visitor stands at your desk, the police are one button away. A mistake may follow you into the morning report.

Give them the right room

A key is only half the decision. Your guests have needs, budgets and
neighbors. One may need a bathtub; another may dread sunrise or the
noisy ice machine. Study the floor plan before assigning a room, then
see how the stay turns out in the morning ledger. Happy guests leave
better reviews and tips. Poor matches, damage and Bureau fines eat
into the money you owe the bank.

Keep the place running

Between nights, inspect the ledger, repair damaged rooms and spend carefully in the back office. Buy an inspection tool or improve a room, knowing the bank is still waiting. Each night adds new faces, rules and calls that make the routine a little less routine. The choices you make at the counter and in the register shape what happens next.

A strange road has regulars, too

Behind the suspicious paperwork are travelers with jokes, worries,
families and reasons to be on this road. Some remember Marek. Some
know more about the motel than they say. Learn who they are while
deciding whether you can afford to let them stay.
Check the papers. Hand over the key. Make it to morning.