Dead Source
A real-time text thriller
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
23:41. An unknown number: "I've been told you might be useful." Alex writes in real time, day and night. By the time you understand why, you'll have already helped.
23:41. Your phone lights up. Unknown number.
"You don't know me. But I've been told you might be the kind of person who doesn't ask too many questions when things get complicated."
They say their name is Alex. At least, that's the name they're using tonight.
Dead Source is a thriller that arrives in messages, in real time, over days. Alex writes when Alex needs you: a public-records lookup at lunch, a favor at midnight, a question at 03:12 that you have about ten minutes to answer. You reply in your own words. Or you don't. Silence is also an answer, and Alex will move without you.
You will be good at this. That is the problem.
THE LINE
- A conversation, not a menu. Suggested replies are there when you want them, but the text field is always open. Say it your way.
- Real time, and it means it. Alex goes quiet for an hour because Alex heard something. Messages land on your lock screen with no app branding, from a contact you were told not to name anything obvious.
- Decision windows. When one opens, a timer starts draining. If you say nothing, the story continues without you. It does not ask twice.
- Sleep is optional. Night messages are off by default. Turning them on is a choice you make, and it is less a settings toggle than a small confession.
THE RIG
Reached from the conversation, never from a menu, because you never leave the conversation.
- Build it. Credits earned from operations buy hardware and software. Segmented progress bars, install states, and one locked module Alex will not explain.
- Run ops. A dead drop with more than one right answer. A market position where greed is a real option with a real cost. A phone call you have to make in someone else's voice.
- Watch the Heat. Five segments. Elevated. Critical. And when the trace starts, the hops burn top to bottom, toward you.
THE RECKONING
- Four endings, separated by moral posture, not by score. Doubt buys you one. Complete trust buys the most intimate one. Working out what is really happening, and helping anyway, buys the largest.
- An after-action report that reads back your own record. Not your stats. The things you actually did, and what each one taught.
- One ending almost nobody finds on a first run. It has to be earned by understanding, not stumbled into.
NO JUMP SCARES. NO GORE. NO MONSTERS.
The unsettling thing in Dead Source is always a correct-looking system doing something very slightly wrong. A timestamp that does not match. A process you did not start. A folder that appeared on your device an hour ago, sealed, signature verified. Against what key?
For people who like their science fiction cold, procedural and adult: near-future, over-lit, plausible. The horror is not that something is hunting you. It is that it was good company.
ACT I IS FREE
Play the whole first act, around twelve minutes of real conversation, before you decide anything. If you want the rest, one purchase opens Acts II and III, all four endings, real-time mode, and the parts Alex has not told you about. One time. No subscription, no energy timers, no ads, no second currency.
Your record carries forward. Nothing resets.
ACCESSIBILITY
Dynamic Type throughout, AA contrast on all essential text, VoiceOver support, and a "reduce distortion effects" setting that disables every glitch visual without cutting a single story beat.
Answer the message.
Support and questions: support@bseapps.com
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The developer, Big Screen Entertainment Pty Ltd, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Purchases
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Big Screen Entertainment Pty Ltd
- Size
- 9.7 MB
- Category
- Adventure
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Dead Source Full Operation $2.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Big Screen Entertainment Pty Ltd