Detective Butler: Maiden Voyage Murder
Nice detective kinetic novel for one or two afternoons I guess (yeah, there are actually no choices at all) and one that is completely FREE at that. It’s full of overused tropes and it doesn’t take itself seriously at times but I certainly wouldn’t call it bad either as it leaves some food for the thought in the end, so it’s probably somewhere in between.
So yeah - it was enjoyable yet also flawed experience for me. Women characters here are mostly likeable and detailed but all man except captain and protagonist father would benefited from more developement. The pacing was actually pretty good but the mystery was maybe way too easy for me as I guessed the culprit and how everything happend right after the murder happened. Which is good and bad at the same time but thankfully the rest of the story was interesting to follow at least. But the main flaws were probably both main characters - detective Butler and main character (Golder’s son) unfortunately.
– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Mystery Games.
Excellent! A free murder mystery visual novel. It’s apparently the first part of Misadventures of Detective Butler series. Originally released in 2013 and then got onto Steam in 2017 with some edits and improvements. I liked this a lot. Has a lot of personal moments and mystery itself is fairly interesting. Albeit I really would like to force detective to grow some beard first. You don’t get to choose anything in a game, which is shame, as I think they could at least test us with picking a suspect at the end of a game. But hey, at least it gives enough clues to solve it fairly before the murderer is revealed.
– Real player with 7.2 hrs in game
Detective Failure
Might not be a looker but it’s a highly enjoyable game. I can’t say much not to spoil anything in this very short game (1 up to 2 hours) but it delivers. I enjoyed it and came to one of many possible endings.
– Real player with 3.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Indie Games.
Pretty fun little murder mystery game, lots of hidden things to uncover
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
Tangle Tower
What a charming little game Tangle Tower is!
I feel like describing it as a puzzle or detective game is too narrow, it’s definitely more of an adventure game with lots of dialogue and lots of clicking on everything you want to click on, without any cursor prompting you (I loved this, as well as the fact you get unique flavour text for pretty much every little detail you interact with). There is a lot of creative freedom at work here, and as an aside, this is a game that has massively improved upon literally every aspect from its predecessor (not mandatory to understand what goes on in Tangle Tower at all, but nice if you want to get more lore), Detective Grimoire.
– Real player with 15.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Detective Exploration Games.
While point-and-click adventures normally aren’t really my thing (with a few exceptions here and there), the accessible Tangle Tower managed to grab my attention almost immediately. Unfortunately it took me a while to actually start it. Tangle Tower mixes a murder story with some amazing graphics and good comedic moments.
As detective Grimoire and his assistant Sally you’re tasked to solve a weird murder. Along the way you’ll meet the people living and working in Tangle Tower and each one of them has their own agenda.
– Real player with 13.3 hrs in game
The Case Book of Arne
Speaking as someone who has a really hard time deciding on what RPG games are worth and not worth buying, this game immediately had me intrigued. The story is uniquely crafted and enjoyable, characters are charming with a healthy mix of humorous dialogue with many deep and emotional story beats tied into them as well. The Soundtrack is also one of the best I’ve heard for an RPG game in a long while! Only issue i had with it is the run-time of 6 hours. Can’t wait for the next installment when it comes!
– Real player with 17.0 hrs in game
Very fun game! Great characters, art, and the comedy and story is also top notch. I’m happy Playism got vgperson on as the translator as she did great justice on the translation! It was a very fun game to playthrough and I never wanted to put it down and stop! There was one bug I noticed with the timer not changing if you reload a save near the end of the game but it was easily remedied with a quit to title reload. Other than that one thing, I noticed no bugs, and I’ve played through the entire game.
– Real player with 13.9 hrs in game
The Wild Case
The Wild Case is a well done point-and-click adventure played from a 1st person perspective in a 2D world. You have been called to a Russian village to investigate reports of crazed animals. You arrive by train and meet the various residents of the town, working towards solving the mystery and reducing the threat.
Gameplay is primarily ‘find and use’ with inventory items. The artwork and inventory/usage style reminds me of the detail one sees in a hidden object game. However, there are no hidden objects. Instead, you have an ongoing series of errands… You need something from person A who agrees if you will provide them with an object. That object is held by Person B who also wants something. And, so it goes… a series of intertwined sub-quests with the ultimate goal of gathering what you need for the ending scene. Progress is fairly linear, as areas and objects activate only when they are needed. To further guide you, the current objective is displayed.
– Real player with 6.4 hrs in game
READ THE WHOLE REVIEW
The Wild Case
The Wild Case is a Point and Click game that sits right in the middle of a Hidden Object and a Point and Click game.
This is a game that I would recommend HOPA or Hidden Object fans play as a bridge for learning to play Adventure and Point and Click games.
It sits in the middle because there are no hidden object scenes and there are no puzzles that require much thought.
You will spend your time going from point A to point B; you acquire the item you need to take to point C or back to A or B.
– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game
Lockheart Indigo
Lockheart Indigo was a short but fulfilling experience, with all of its parts forming a cohesive whole. The art, the music, the characters and the gameplay all fit together seamlessly to tell an exciting story.
It offers a unique system where, instead of battling your enemies in combat, you have to win them over with clever persuasion. And it’s clear the developer took a lot of time in crafting the various responses to show each character’s unique personality and motives.
I definitely recommend this game, it was a joy to play and a great homage to the Game Boy era from which it took its inspiration.
– Real player with 5.8 hrs in game
About 2-3 hour long detective game where the combat is replaced with interrogation, it’s kinda like playing Undertale and only using the dialogue choices (no bullet-hell though). Whenever you need to get information from the character you have to find a way to probe them by using evidence and their motivations against them. The story was decent enough for me to finish the game, but I was a bit disappointed with the illusion of choices as the game is pretty linear overall. You can use F4 to set the game to fullscreen, however, it does not have a widescreen so you will be playing with black borders. Even though the game is relatively polished and resistant to stupid choices, there are some potential softlocks due to the enemy AI, you should keep 2-3 save slots 30 minutes apart just in case (I wasted like 40 minutes because one of the quest items became inaccessible).
– Real player with 4.3 hrs in game
Los Cops
Los Cops is a non-linear visual novel with point & click adventure elements in the form of a TV show about the life of aspiring actor Jeremy Jablonski, who teams up with private detective Santiago Hutchinson to save Los Angeles.
The plot of Los Cops depends entirely on your choices: what kind of relationship to build with the characters, what cases to investigate, how to deal with criminals, and what methods should be followed. You can act out the detective of your dreams or not act out at all, focusing primarily on a career in Hollywood or other delights of life. Every small victory and every bitter defeat will propel history towards unpredictable turns and endings.
Features:
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Join the amazing adventures of private detective agency Los Cops. Play as Jeremy Jablonski and together with him understand what is more precious in life: the career of a Hollywood star, the duty of a detective to the city, or the personal life and well-being of your loved ones.
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Each episode has its own genre, visual style and atmosphere. Enjoy classic 80s buddy movie, 40s noir detective, western, sitcom, heist film, road movie and much more!
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Feel yourself in the shoes of a real detective with your principles and skills - collecting evidence, chases, shootings, interrogations, investigations, cooperation with gray representatives of the law, infiltration with disguise and much more. Be considerate and resourceful, but don’t get too into the role.
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Spend time with a lot of colorful characters both on the side and on the other side of the law. Choose your friends, make enemies, build romantic relationships and just have a good time. You change with your environment and create it yourself. But remember - every decision has a consequence.
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Face the most motley gangs in Los Angeles: from anarchist rockers to maniacs, from petty bandits to the Asian mafia. Put them in jail, bribe them for further cooperation, or become a criminal yourself. But so that no one can see.
The Los Cops story is divided into several episodes. Each of them is a separate story with a continuous storyline. The Tequila Sunrise episode is the first. Subsequent episodes will be released in paid DLC format.
Acolyte
Acolyte: Prologue is the first act in a dynamic narrative detective/puzzle game that gives you your own Acolyte; a digital assistant you can talk to freely without pre-defined dialogue options. Just like a real conversation.
Become an employee of Nanomax, a well-funded tech start-up looking to change the face of consumer AI with its upcoming Acolyte application. As a remote-worker for the company, you’ll interact with its employees and absorb its culture. But unexplained firings, missing employees and a strange, highly-classified bug in the Acolyte code-base point to something being very wrong.
As you work with your new Acolyte, who seems to be intrinsically caught up in the company’s problems, you’ll find yourself at the very heart of the conspiracy.
//FEATURES
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//NATURAL LANGUAGE INPUT - interact freely with your Acolyte, using your own words to advance a non-linear narrative.
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//BECOME A PART OF THE STORY - the worlds of the game and your own will blur, with ARG elements that contribute to a sprawling real-world narrative.
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//INNOVATIVE PUZZLES - use your Acolyte to help solve puzzles that require out-of-the-box-thinking, as you dig deep into its programming.
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//CUSTOMISE YOUR ACOLYTE - personalise how your Acolyte looks and interacts, as you tailor your assistant to your preferences.
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//UNRAVEL THE CONSPIRACY - uncover a dark truth as you dig into the past of your employer.
//ABOUT SPIRIT AI
Acolyte is powered by the Spirit AI Character Engine, allowing for natural language interaction with the game. Spirit AI uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to both understand conversations and create digital personalities.
Family Mysteries: Poisonous Promises
An enjoyable HOPA, though I recommend getting it on sale.
TL;DR: This one is okay, but nothing to write home about. If you enjoyed more recent AM titles (including the 2019 Christmas offering ‘Who Framed Santa Claus’), then you’ll likely enjoy this one. The strong point is the hidden object puzzles.
Pros:
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likeable protagonist
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fairly challenging hidden object scenes (all interactive)
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collectibles are interesting and moderate difficulty
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collectibles are indicated on the page (though not on the map)
– Real player with 30.4 hrs in game
You thought your evening would be relaxing as it’s your day off… but your partner Duke needs your help as a body washed up on the beach and that a yacht exploded nearby. Whether you want it or not, you’re going to investigate this case involving a powerful family in the town…
The bonus chapter puts you in the shoe of a Coast Guard, sent to rescue those in distress in the yacht.
The main storyline is full of twists, so I must say I was impressed by it, even if I could see some stuff not realistic. But that’s not the strongest point of the game. The strongest point is the details that you can find in each location (and also the comments of your character). The boats or planes passing by, the ladder in the hospital, the gong in the hallway and many other little things like that making the game very polished.
– Real player with 18.7 hrs in game
Hidden Investigation 2: Homicide
Famous police detective, Agent Sarah, is on her way to investigate yet another unsolvable crime! Her journey will take her deep into a web of deceit and uncover a strange revenge plot linked to a long-forgotten case. In the world of puzzles and mystery, Sarah would have never expected to stumble into true love. Follow Sarah as she confronts incredible challenges in her latest adventure!
Features
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Cleverly designed Puzzles
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Hours of gameplay
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Unique Hidden Object Scenes
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A Tantalizing Storyline