FR
Vauclair at night: the harbour, the tightly packed houses and the lighthouse beam over the sea.

Vauclair, 10:47 pm. A lamp is still on at the Vauclair Express.

Detective game · iPhone and iPad

Traces

He says he was at home. His phone says otherwise.

Twelve short cases, one suspect each, and one question: does the alibi hold? You investigate on a fake Internet, in a made-up town.

Coming soon to the App StoreTry it on this page

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iOS 17 or later · French and English interface, cases written in French

  1. Search

    Photos and metadata, receipts, messages, records.

  2. Tie

    A red thread between each “He says…” and its evidence.

  3. Seal

    Alibi holds or broken. You get three seals, no more.

Inès's desk

Twelve files on the table

She hands them over one by one, from easy to hard: four of 10 minutes, four of 12, four of 15. Each has its pin on the map of Vauclair. And not every alibi is false: don't stamp too fast.

The Traces home screen: the drawn map of Vauclair, with one pin per case.
The map of Vauclair, on the home screen.

Easy · 10 min

  • Case no. 1

    La caisse de la kermesse

    The village fête cash box is empty. The treasurer says he was in bed, ill.

  • Case no. 2

    Le carnet de croquis

    An old sketchbook vanishes from the photo club's studio. The suspect posts a “quiet night in” photo.

  • Case no. 3

    Une étoile de trop

    A shower of one-star reviews hits Lou's new bakery. The neighbour swears he never posted anything.

  • Case no. 4

    Les partitions envolées

    The choir's sheet music disappears an hour before rehearsal. A rumour points at one singer.

Medium · 12 min

  • Case no. 5

    Les amarres défaites

    In a gale, four sailboats drift off. The suspect has a sunny beach photo.

  • Case no. 6

    Partie perdue

    The library's games console vanishes on a Saturday afternoon. The suspect posts proof he was in his room… was he?

  • Case no. 7

    Le fraisier salé

    At the baking contest, the favourite cake tastes of the sea. The rival is the obvious culprit.

  • Case no. 8

    Le ticket du dimanche

    The winning raffle ticket is claimed two days after the draw. A bank statement tells another story.

Hard · 15 min

  • Case no. 9

    Les tags de la capitainerie

    The harbour office is tagged around 11 pm. Everyone blames Ayo, the local graffiti artist. But 11 pm on whose clock?

  • Case no. 10

    L'heure de l'ombre

    A cheese seller's change box disappears at the covered market. The suspect has a photo “taken at noon sharp”. Shadows don't lie.

  • Case no. 11

    Le refuge qui n'existait pas

    An online fundraiser for an animal shelter nobody can find. The suspect swears he has no link to the organiser. The web archives remember.

  • Case no. 12

    La fuite du bac blanc

    The day before the mock exam, the maths paper is going round. The file remembers where it came from.

Everyday misdemeanours, no violence shown. Season 1 cases are written in French, so their titles stay in French here.

Internet tab

A fake Internet, just for the investigation

You search on Fouinard, the in-house search engine, and open the documents: profiles, posts, classifieds, web archives, messages, records. On a photo, tap “Metadata”: when and where it was taken. Whatever matters, you pin.

Browser history

  • piaf.fictShort messages
  • declic.fictPhotos and metadata
  • bonplan.fictClassifieds
  • lecomptoir.fictForum
  • rediff.fictVideos and live streams
  • retroviseur.fictWeb archives
  • meteo-vauclair.fictHour-by-hour weather
  • velibus.fictBuses and card taps
  • vauclair-express.fictLocal newspaper
  • mairie-vauclair.fictTown website
A document open in the Traces Internet tab: a post with its photo, the Pin button and access to the metadata.
A document open: “Pin” at the top, “Metadata” under the photo.
  • Vauclair's red-and-white striped lighthouse at sunset, a seagull on the railing.
  • A wet pontoon under a stormy sky, a man in an orange raincoat leaning over a sailboat.
  • A school room with rows of computers and students at work.

Photos like these await you in the files. It's up to you to see what they say.

45.8° N · 3.2° W Vauclair doesn't exist. Even its GPS coordinates fall in the open sea, off the Bay of Biscay: no metadata can ever point to a real home.

Try it: training case

Pull the threads, then seal.

This mini-case was written for this page: it isn't one of the twelve, and Malo doesn't exist. Tie each “He says…” to the evidence that contradicts it, pick your stamp, then seal. Just like in the app.

Training case0 threads pulled

The gym keys

On Saturday, between 3 and 4 pm, the keys to the Dunes gym vanish from the caretaker's office. Malo Rivière, 17, was seen nearby. He has an alibi.

Malo Rivière · @malo.rivFictional character

Pinned evidence

Your stamp
Seals

Tap a “He says…”, then the evidence that contradicts it. Tap again to cut the thread.

The sealed file

A refusal costs a seal

Your stamp and your evidence go to the editor-in-chief together. If the file is refused, you're not told which of the two is wrong, and you lose one of your three credibility seals. So the verdict can't be guessed with a coin toss.

Three challenges per case

  • Without any hint
  • File sealed on the first try
  • Within the stated time

One rank across the season

Every challenge you complete brings the next rank closer, out of 36.

  1. Intern0 challenges
  2. Stringer4 challenges
  3. Investigator10 challenges
  4. Sleuth18 challenges
  5. Master sleuth28 challenges
The Traces Verdict tab: Inès's questions, to solve before sealing the file.
The Verdict tab: Inès's questions first, then the file to seal.

Stuck?

Inès helps, in three steps

On every question, you ask for what you need and no more. Each step counts in your report, and the first one costs you the “no hint” challenge.

  1. Where to lookThe document to reopen.
  2. Inès's reasoningHow she would go about it.
  3. The answerSo you never stay stuck.

The reflex

Every closed case teaches you a technique

A card simply explains the technique used, with its ethical or practical limit. All twelve get pinned in “My investigations”, to reread whenever you like.

  • A document's metadata
  • A post's geolocation
  • A profile's history
  • Cross-checking timestamps
  • EXIF metadata
  • Shadow and time of day
  • The bank statement
  • The reflection in the photo
  • The reused username
  • The timestamped receipt
  • The weather that day
  • Time zones
The darkroom: photos hanging from a line under red light, a cyan screen on the table.

Mini-game · Inès's darkroom

The snapshot

A photo with no metadata. Work out where it was taken and at what time, from the landmarks and the shadow.

  1. Study the landmarks and the shadow.
  2. Drop your pin on the map.
  3. Set the time.

500 points for the place, 500 for the time.

  • Snapshot school

    Ten progressive snapshots. Inès teaches you to date a photo from its shadows and place it from its landmarks.

  • The daily snapshot

    The same one for everyone, no hints, a single attempt. Come back each day to grow your streak.

  • Free snapshots

    Once school is over: a place, a day and a time drawn at random. No compass, no hints.

Your score can be shared without giving anything away

  • The home of the Snapshot mini-game: the darkroom, the three steps and the daily snapshot.
  • A photo to place in The snapshot: the drawn scene, the map for the pin and the time setting.

Attachments

Traces, screen by screen

Vauclair Express

Morning edition · An entirely fictional newspaper

File sealed, the lamp can go off

The rest of the investigation, for those who come back the next day.

  • My investigations

    Your analyst's record: closed cases, times, hints, rank, stamps, and all twelve “The reflex” cards.

  • “Pinned card” widget

    The case in progress and its threads on your Home Screen, or the next one to open. One tap reopens the board.

  • Siri and Shortcuts

    “Resume the case” or “New case”, by voice or from the Shortcuts app.

  • Cards to share

    A case's report (seals, challenges, time, rank), without the verdict, so nothing is spoiled for others.

  • Sounds and haptics

    Pin, taut thread, typewriter, stamp, the bell of the resolution. Each can be turned off in the settings.

  • Picks up at every move

    Close the app and you pick up where you left off. The clock only runs while the case is on screen. It all plays in airplane mode.

  • Game Center, if you like

    Eight achievements to unlock once signed in. No leaderboard, no pop-up at launch.

  • VoiceOver

    “Tie to…” and “Cut the thread…” actions, and every photo described in full.

Fiction

The rule

A game. Never a manhunt.

  • Made-up characters, declared fictional in every case.
  • .fict websites, phone numbers reserved for fiction, no real brand or address.
  • No link to the real Internet: a case containing a real web address cannot get into the app.
  • No tool that works on real people: the app runs no search, anywhere.

The reflexes you learn help you check a piece of information, spot a recycled photo or a fake review. Never to watch someone: digging into a real person's life without their consent invades their privacy.

The next alibi is waiting.

Twelve cases, one corkboard, one snapshot a day, no real suspect. Free, no ads, no account.

Coming soon to the App Store

Everything is made up. People, profiles, .fict websites, phone numbers, places: none of it exists. No real person is ever searched for or identifiable, and the cases never open the real Internet. Traces is not a people-search tool.