Best Mystery Sci-fi Games on PC

The Station: Escape Room

I don’t even know where to start, so let’s go with more technical stuff. Controls are bearable, definitely not enjoyable, but bearable. Glitches here and there, as a lot of people noted, the fastest way to escape is to fall through something, because falling into starry sky is more fun than this. You also can’t save your progress so you have to replay it all over again, but don’t worry, most of the time you spend will be on running the infinite corridors and not solving puzzles.

The worst part is that your partner won’t see things the way you do. And if you get to the last puzzle you won’t be able to finish it properly because of that since even if you do complete it, your partner doesn’t and vice versa. Oh well, the ending consists of “The End.” so either of you won’t be missing much.

– Real player with 2.9 hrs in game

Read More: Best Mystery Atmospheric Games.

Puzzles weren’t awful but the game is terrible. Multiplayer doesn’t work, and some of the functionality is too difficult for use. Don’t buy this game. Sorry.

– Real player with 2.2 hrs in game

The Station: Escape Room on Steam

SIT DOWN, PLEASE

Game is a 1 out of 10 for the sheer fact it’s broken Video here (once it uploads) w/ time stamps to dialogue outside of the ending you can’t reach and the crashes: https://youtu.be/R_UDuAQKmQE

Disclaimer Unlike the other reviewers so far I actually played the full game (that you can play BEFORE making my review)

The first part of the game has the most redundant mechanic and takes sooooooooo long literally like 5-6 minutes a person to max the juice and you’re literally just managing 2 things. The story is really hard to follow the grammar is a bit off and you’re thrust into the world told A B and C and the story doesn’t really give you enough information about the world to draw you in and feel involved in the plot to be honest. I did enjoy the flashback with the grandpa that was probably the highlight of the game and story. (the story is probably the best part of the game by far). THE WORST PART IS you get all the way to the end and the heart crashes your game. I literally tried so many different ways to beat it the mechanic for even playing the ending is terribly hard because your chain move and your single light up move are on the same key and with the BACK TO BACK TO BACK COMBOS it’s almost impossible to get them without erasing your moves plus the heart heals when you make a mistake, so imagine my surprise when the game crashes after I FINALLY brought him to probably his last phase. Hopefully the crash situation will get fixed for future players. The game would have been a 6 out of 10 if it worked the story was interesting even though it’s not told particularly well told and it tries to do some neat things but the first part of the game drags because of redundancy.

– Real player with 8.5 hrs in game

Read More: Best Mystery Dark Games.

I wasn’t expecting a game like this at first, but it drew me in pretty much immediately. The story is really intriguing and well done, so are the characters and the ending was a nice twist. But the spearhead of this game is the atmosphere, the mood that transmits is really powerful, giving me different emotions, from distress to sadness. In a word: dark.

The only flaw, if you’re looking for a game with fast-paced gameplay, fun and dynamic, this game is not for you. In fact, it’s a bit repetitive, but once you understand that the gameplay is functional to the narrative, a simple device to tell a story, it’s something you can live with easily. In addition, there is also a fast game mode that shortens the timing and does not make you lose anything in terms of plot, a mode that I sincerely recommend to anyone who wants to approach the story giving up a little immersiveness. Basically, a game that you do not see every day and that I fully recommend.

– Real player with 3.8 hrs in game

SIT DOWN, PLEASE on Steam

The Secret of Retropolis

Disclaimer: I was given a copy for free as I was involved in the beta testing for the Steam version.

The game was successfully enjoyed with an Oculus Quest 2 headset and Airlink.

The Secret of Retropolis is a classic point & click adventure game in VR that puts you in the pants of a robot detective that is hired by a famous movie star to retrieve a stolen necklace. The story will evolve in unpredicted ways in the classic style of a film noir.

Let’s get the elephant out of the room, it’s a short experience and it will not require more than 1h30 for a first playthrough.

– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game

Read More: Best Mystery Noir Games.

Don’t call it outdated – it’s retro! Point and click adventures are back in the charming, tongue-in-cheek film noir “The Secret of Retropolis.”

The Good:

1. Art/Style – Put simply, Retropolis is a bundle of cel-shaded panache that feels like someone took all the best parts of the artistic styles of Metropolis, Futurama, and the classic LucasArts SCUMM engine point and clicks, brought to life in VR. The “film within a film” cutscenes are a particular standout in terms of presentation.

– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game

The Secret of Retropolis on Steam

The VII Enigma

DYSTOPIAN CONSPIRACY, TIME-TRAVEL & REBELLION

The VII Enigma is a sci-fi mystery visual novel set in the shadows of futuristic dystopian conspiracy. Head down the rabbit hole and uncover the mysteries of a man set against the world, as the player must navigate the path to the true ending and overcome the tyranny of time itself.

SYNOPSIS:

In the year 2060, Dr Elijah Shaw awakens in a state of confusion, the only clue to his past a mysterious orb clutched in his hand. After being hauled in for interrogation by an agent of the totalitarian ruling faction known as ‘The Bureau’; Elijah is rescued by a small band of rebel fighters. Join Elijah and the rebels as they seek to untangle the web of deceit behind ‘The Bureau’s control and to discover the secrets of Elijah’s past.

Can you overcome the tyranny of time itself? Will you crack ‘The VII Enigma’?

FEATURES:

Sci-fi and time-travel elements integrated with action, psychological themes, plot twists and impacting character moments.
Dynamic kinetic action sequences.
A broad cast of complex characters set in an intricate world.
Bad endings, normal endings, and one ‘true’ ending; all reached based upon your choices.
Over 30+ songs on the soundtrack, written and recorded by composer ‘Caleb Coles’.
Over 250+ background images sporting a diverse amount of scenes and locations; alongside detailed character designs by head artist Garbiel Weisz.
Utilizes the third-person limited perspective along with side-imaging, the combination a first for the visual novel medium, to give a larger world feel.
15-25 hours worth of gameplay with full 1080 HD for all assets and visuals.
A unique in-game encyclopaedia called ‘The Enigma Files’, to help you piece together the clues.
A truly stunning ending, where all the threads of mystery come together.

WISHLIST NOW!

The VII Enigma on Steam

Lapso: NIMBO

Nimbo: “flat circular device that emits some kind of light."

Lapso: NIMBO is the prologue to a beautiful exploration puzzle game that will hopefully be released later this year.

Following the tracks of a hiker who mysteriously disappeared, we explore mysterious caves where we find strange drawings and constructs. We also have to solve a few puzzles to progress but nothing too hard as all the solutions can be found in the environment.

The least we can say is that the game is stunning and meticulous care was taken in its design as in the lights and sounds effects.

– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game

Nimbo is the project of two Spanish developers, if I’m not mistaken. For now, it’s a short prologue with a sci-fi mystery narrative. The story takes place in Rockrose about the mystery of some lights that haunt on the place. Our character Kali Müller decides to go to the place to investigate about the nature of the enigmatic lights. He will be surprised to find a cavern with strange objects, out-of-this-world artefacts, and writing that he has never seen before. In the game there are some documents and photographs with an interesting text as clues to unveil the mystery of the appeared lights. Well, —I confess that I really liked the narrative of the game in Spanish. It has been a long time since I read or played anything in Spanish—. Despite being a short game, it offers a promising atmosphere of mystery throughout. That reminds me a bit of game in the part of the caverns: The Forest. The aesthetics of the game play on a harmonious combination of chiaroscuro between the nature of the earth with the technology and alien writing. That can be seen with the waterfall or the caverns and the luminous writing in various parts of the place. The development of the plot appears to be linear, because sometimes it teleports us from one place to another in the shape of the branches of a tree. There will always be a node connection between each branch of our journey. Not only attracts the storytelling and aesthetic aspect of the game. Those logical nodes of the narrative occur in the teleport jump. The effect of that: an almost filmic showing of the game. What unites these jumps or scene changes is the solution of a puzzle within the game. The puzzles are simple, but interesting, with the appearance of interacting with strange technology. All that is in our way will be the clues to solve the mystery locked in Rockrose. That combination of modest phosphorescence, a minimalist-ambient music and the dark colour of earthly nature, the developers offer an interesting and promising game proposition. With simple and affordable game mechanics, as well as a visual design that captures our attention at all times. We hope to know more about this interesting game.

– Real player with 1.5 hrs in game

Lapso: NIMBO on Steam

Lifeless Planet Premier Edition

EDIT: There is a Premium Edition FREE upgrade for current owners in 2015 so buy now!

TL;DR at the bottom.

Lifeless Planet is an incredible game filled with atmospheric joy and a story that only gives you just enough to figure out what is going on. You play as an American astronaut that is sent to explore a planet that your readings suggest is brimming with life. Upon arrival you find that this planet is nothing like you expected. It houses strange secrets of past explorers and a nation trying to find the perfect life away from Earth only to find that meddling with things they don’t understand almost never ends happily. An interesting mix of casual exploration and platforming, it keeps things relatively fresh most of the time. You should feel the want to get to the end to see how everything pans out and what the mysteries of this Lifeless Planet are, but at the same time your feeling of eerie isolation and the ambient sounds of the world make you want to take your time looking at the planet and chilling out as well. I became lost in the isolationist atmosphere and didn’t want it to end.

– Real player with 21.8 hrs in game

81 / 100

Lifeless Planet is a beautifully atomspheric adventure game, throwing you in the space suit of an astronaut who, after a long journey through space, reaches a mysterious planet in search of life & potentially a new home for humanity. On arrival, you discover you are alone, isolated on a planet seemingly devoid of life, yet strangely there is a Soviet town abandoned long ago. How can this be & what has happened here? As the story unfolds, & you explore more of this intriguing alien world, you soon realise there is a much more going on than meets the eye. The planet is not as lifeless as it seems…

– Real player with 14.3 hrs in game

Lifeless Planet Premier Edition on Steam

Machinika Museum

A sci-fi adventure that scratches the Myst itch, if only for a short time.

Inspired by the classic game Myst, Littlefield Studio’s attention to detail keeps this short game grounded yet engaging. The puzzles are enjoyable, and the well-crafted narrative builds towards a solid mystery that never feels rushed or out of place. Although Machinika Museum offers a brief experience, it is a satisfying and reasonably-priced one.

Game Universe

The game is set in the future, and the player takes on the role of a researcher in a museum. The narrative takes place during one shift of work and unfolds over seven chapters. The researcher has received a shipment of alien technology to investigate from the field, and each chapter basically consists of solving puzzles to open a container with a machine in it, and then solving puzzles to examine and get the piece of machinery working. Hopefully by the end the player is able to put all of the pieces of the machine together and solve the mystery.

– Real player with 5.4 hrs in game

I Really enjoyed this game. The puzzles are ‘basically’ given to you one at a time so you won’t be looking all over the place for this or that and that VERY ANNOYING backtracking is eliminated completely,

Thank You Developers!

The graphics are fine and render without a hitch. I found one little bug but it is SO small it isn’t even worth mentioning….I just left the game and started again and it always Remembers where you left off so you don’t have to Remember to save, etc.

The inventory and movement was a ‘little’ quirky but you will SOON be able to navigate through the game easily.

– Real player with 4.2 hrs in game

Machinika Museum on Steam

Exo One: Prologue

It’s a demo/prologue. Runs/sessions are 7 1/2 minutes each maximum.

If you pause the game and restart the level before that time limit you can keep the game running forever.

Put your own music on with songs less than 7 1/2 minutes and restart after every song and you’ll be at it for a while.

Grab a wireless controller. Get up, move with the ball, qigong it. (somebody else mentioned smoke: Double Plus Recommend for Double Plus Good time)

I have actually played that many hours. (That could be the review itself.)

– Real player with 176.2 hrs in game

Easter egg alert:

! Press the F9 key in-game a couple times, wink wink.

Actual review:

The creativity and absolutely incredible graphics of this game are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s one of those demo games you simply must try in order to understand their thrill and appeal. The scattered elements of an intriguing storyline give me hope for a deeper meaning to the game, apart from admirable beauty and fun mechanics. If you’re considering installing this art piece, go for it as soon as possible. I guarantee you, you will not regret it. Kudos to the developers for making such an eye-catching yet undemanding masterpiece, looking forward to the full version.

– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game

Exo One: Prologue on Steam

Heaven’s Vault

Imaginative, innovative, and very immersive

Heaven’s Vault is a narrative game with meaningful choices that lets you explore a fascinating and beautiful original world and its history. One of its main mechanics involves deciphering words and sentences in a foreign script, which is implemented in the best way I’ve ever encountered in 35 years of gaming - find details below.

Let’s first talk about the setting though. The game takes place in a unique world where humans live on a couple of small “moons”, which are connected by “rivers” that defy our laws of physics, but can be sailed nonetheless. You play as Aliya, a young archaeologist who has found a working age-old ship and explores this strange universe, trying to uncover its forgotten history.

– Real player with 115.2 hrs in game

Introduction

I love Heaven’s Vault. I love this game so much that I replayed the game in the New Game+ mode, which I rarely do. Playing the game brought back memories of my days studying the Classics – translating text, learning word etymology, reading Roman and Ancient Greek mythology and history, and so on. Given that, I was easily convinced to play Heaven’s Vault again, just so that I could learn more about the in-game history, further explore the game’s world, and solve its central mystery by approaching it from different angles.

– Real player with 59.3 hrs in game

Heaven's Vault on Steam

Wrath Of The Mad King

Wrath Of The Mad King is a top-down action RPG set in the year 2042. In Wrath Of The Mad King, you are a B.E.C. A Bionically Enhanced Collector, searching the world for mechanical scrap to sell for credits at Collector Corp. You have one hobby, creating all kinds of gadgets and contraptions.

Little do you know, your talents will be needed in the upcoming battle against an unknown species from outer space.