The Lost Art of Innkeeping
My plea for good indie adventures with peaceful exploration and point & click controls* has been heard!
This one combines exploration, combat-free quests, funny NPCs and a mysterious backstory with simulation/management mechanics to let you fix up and develop an Inn (as the name would suggest). There are no elaborate character studies or anything particularly “deep”, it’s all lighthearted and relaxing.
TL;DR: I’d say if you can stand RPG Maker aesthetics for one more game (and can’t be convinced of the even more underappreciated Looking Back ) then let it be this one.
– Real player with 21.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Indie Games.
It’s a great little RPG that doesn’t require combat or dungeon-crawling. Your choices matter in this game where you need to save a family manor. You can play in relaxed mode without time constraints or in the challenging mode where time is limited. It completely pulled me in and I had a great time playing it on a weekend when I downloaded it.
Even though I finished it, I came back to play it more because I like it so much! I almost didn’t buy it because I thought it would be boring, but it really pulled me in. It has a nice story and the atmosphere and music make it a relaxing experience. The only thing I didn’t like was that I wasn’t able to figure out how to leave the village to explore. I would really like to see this concept by the developer but maybe where you can go from town to town and help save struggling inns.
– Real player with 18.8 hrs in game
Cyber Manhunt
For an indie developer’s first game, I’m impressed. Definitely give this game a try. I believe that they’ll improve over time.
The good
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The story is very pertinent to how the internet is today. Data breaches, cyber bullying, abuse, cover-ups, flame wars. There’s a lot of despicable things that we don’t want to acknowledge. We know that the fathomless depths of depravity exist. This game delivers on reminding people that nothing is ever truly ‘gone’ from the internet.
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Generally, the puzzles are manageable with a bit of critical thinking. It’s quite a bit of fun seeing different puzzles and piecing data together.
– Real player with 23.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery RPG Games.
Dear Developers,
You should’ve taken another MONTH at most and hired a journalist or copywriter fluent in English. This game has so much potential but a lot of it falls short due to the English grammar and poor translating. It needs A LOT of work. But I can see this game being an absolute GEM if the grammatical errors are all fixed.
Find someone who speaks Fluent English, and let them help you polish this game’s grammar. At least the English portion. I cannot speak for any other translations.
– Real player with 18.0 hrs in game
Euphoria: Supreme Mechanics
Euphoria: Supreme Mechanics - a first-person puzzle in space, many mechanics as a weapon to carry objects resemble portal and garrys mod, in fact, a very interesting time killer, graphics at the level of the above games and even better somewhere, the music is calm in the background
– Real player with 7.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Mystery Indie Games.
Euphoria: Supreme Mechanics is a good puzzle game with wonderful visual effects. The game resembles a portal and an anti-cube, and the environment is from a stranger and a catfish. The puzzles are not children’s, and can’t be solved on the go; you have to come up with various methods to solve them repeatedly. There is also a plot that unfolds gradually. Excellent sound, only the noise of steps strained. A little refine the management and everything will be gorgeous. But it is excusable for wounded access. We are waiting for the development of the game!
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
Hang Up
Okay, so there need to be more reviews on this game cause without em I would have given up because I’m not that smart.
So Listen Here:
First off, if you can’t figure out how the game works you’re going to have a bad time. I had a bad time. At first.
Second, once you figure it out, it makes so much more sense and is actually a pretty cool concept.
But that’s all I’m gonna say it is. A concept. Because at no point after it ended did I feel like I succeeded in solving any mystery. Maybe I missed something, but I still feel like something was missing.
– Real player with 5.5 hrs in game
I’d give it 6/10.
Pros:
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Pretty cool/unique concept.
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Engaging story-line.
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Creepy atmosphere.
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Free.
Cons:
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Buggy (menu bugs, plug sometimes clips through panel, don’t drop important stuff).
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Shoddy voice acting.
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Storyline did not have closure imo. Why am I in the room? Who am I? Why am I listening? Why are these events happening in town? I couldn’t read the note at the end through my rift on LQ graphics, so I took a screen shot and decoded it in paint. Even with the note, the intent of the game is still not obvious.
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
QR Code Killer
Interrogate and investigate with a dialogue system built around real world detective techniques, experience the grit and character of New York City and delve deep into a mystery that harnesses the power of Augmented Reality.
The fresh-faced detective and the four oddballs.
This narrative-driven experience follows the story of Edward, a fresh-faced detective, as he pursues the unsettling story behind his mentor’s death and the four oddball suspects in question.
True-to-life dialogue.
QR Code Killer uses a never-before-seen dialogue system that utilizes a keyword system to put you in full control of solving the case. Interrogate suspects about evidence, put the pressure on them about their alibis, and expose their lies. Are you the good cop or the bad cop?
Hold the evidence in your own two hands.
The game comes with a companion app which through Augmented Reality allows you to hold and inspect evidence as though it was literally right in front of you. The app also comes with a variety of other features!
Download the companion app on Google Play now!
There is a link provided via the steam announcement page above or through QR code scan on the main menu of game
Dead Letter Dept.
After moving to the big city, you got yourself an apartment, and secured a temp data entry job- just to keep you afloat till something better comes along. Your official title is a Data Conversion Operator, but you’re really more like a warm body who types up all the junk computers still can’t read.
DAY TO DAY, you go to work & process the images displayed on your terminal, and type up whatever text is in front of you. Whatever can be made out, that is. Letters and lost mail, some mangled and twisted, that have travelled from place to place with nowhere else to go. Sometimes the mail you receive is a little strange. Sometimes, it feels like it’s talking to you directly through the screen.
DEAD LETTER DEPT. is a short horror game mystery experience, where you use your computer keyboard to type in various prompts, and attempt to decipher damaged images as oddities begin to appear.
Mouse & Keyboard are REQUIRED.
A keyboard with Function Keys and Control Keys (Insert, Page Up/Page Down) is strongly recommended.
M̶O̶R̶E̶ ̶T̶O̶ ̶C̶O̶M̶E̶…
Earth Analog
I’ve completed the game. I’m not sure how long it took, maybe 30 hours, although I made some planets more difficult than they needed to be.
You play this game for the bizzare worlds that you visit. Some really are spectacular including a giant torus, a pulsating neutron star, an asteroid that is repeatedly expanding and contracting and a spherical fractal generated landscape.
I saw many people complaining about the control system and yes it did take a bit of time to be used to. But once I got my head round it, it was fine. Although I still found landing a bit awkward. A better tutorial would certainly help which I read is on the way (Q2 2021). I also see that the same update will include mod support so I’m looking forward to seeing what crazyness people come up with.
– Real player with 51.1 hrs in game
About 13 hours in I finished the main story and I gotta say this game is definitely more about the journey than the destination, but man the journey is pretty. Game play mainly consists of exploration, resource gathering, and simple puzzle solving. The main attraction here are the worlds you’ll be visiting, you’ll see everything from mars like rocky barren worlds to endless fields of cubes to things straight of a psychadelic fever dream. On your journey through the story you’ll find upgrades for your ship (HIGHLY recommended you do these), strange artifacts, and the occasional planetary anomaly (think of the ocean planet from interstellar). Movement is newtonian physics based but with the latest patches it’s incredibly forgiving if you misjudge your distance to an object or speed since retro thrusters are so powerful. All in all it’s an ambitious little indie game that offers a bevy of strange new worlds to explore, if you’re into that sort of thing then this game might just be for you.
– Real player with 16.2 hrs in game
Murderous Pursuits
Despite negative reviews, there really isn’t much here to hate. Sure, the game had a bit of a rocky start with bugs and server hosting, but it’s grown to be much more than that. It’s a great game by design, an action murder mystery arcade game of cat and mouse; only difference is you’re not only the cat, but also the mouse.
The only faults with this game can be summarized in three different categories: Minor bugs, population, and neglect. First point is bugs, there aren’t very many in 2020 aside from a guard bug that freezes the player when too many actions are preformed. However, this bug isn’t very common, out of 120 games, it may only happen 10 times, and only if the players are rowdy enough to cause it to happen. Among bot players, it is far more common, but I don’t believe they count towards my point. Another bug would be the visual bug when assassinating someone from a vignette that contains any holdable entity like a pie or a tankard. Once a kill is executed from one of these vignettes, the entity in your hands has a chance to despawn since it is replaced with the murder weapon for a few seconds. Moving an inch will fix this however.
– Real player with 56.0 hrs in game
I was quite excited while installing Murderous Pursuits, after having played The Ship beforehand, expecting an improved, polished version of it. After the first few minutes however, it became obvious that wasn’t the case: except for the base concept, this game is almost completely different and not for the better unfortunately. It’s still an all right game, but being more simplistic it’s nowhere near as good as its spiritual predecessor. It speaks for itself that not long after its release it was available for free through the Steam store for a couple of days to boost the player base…
– Real player with 53.3 hrs in game
Nicole
(Please read review before taking the thumb’s up at face value.)
I wasn’t sure about getting this game at first because of all the negative reviews, but I got it when it was on sale and I was pleasently surprised how much I enjoyed it. Though I can see why there would be quite a few thumbs down on this game, especially at it’s full price.
Pros:
- The art and backgrounds are nicely done, and appealing to look at through the whole game.
(The Chibis of the characters are freakin' adorable!!!)
– Real player with 46.9 hrs in game
It’s hard to know where to start with this game. Most of what follows is negatives. ‘So why are you recommending it?’ Because I like stories and characters and ‘getting to know’ the characters. I have seen all endings, it took me 5 play throughs. I have spent more than 30 hrs in this game according to Steam. I am surprised how much I like this game given how many things I didn’t like.
Play Order:
Kurt
Darren
BAD END
Ted
Jeff
Favorites
Ted
Jeff
Kurt
Darren
If all you want to know is ‘Should I buy this game?’
– Real player with 32.0 hrs in game
Night Call
Perfect job to hear all the drama.
After dropping off the latest passenger, you decide that it was high time to take a smoke break. However, before you can step towards a wall to lean against, a lurking figure makes themselves known. Before you can see more than a hint of a dead body, everything goes dark. Next thing you know, you’re staring up at a hospital’s ceiling. It turns out that you were in an induced coma due to being attacked by Paris’ new serial killer. Luckily for you, the serial killer wasn’t aiming to make you one of their newest victims as you’re the only one to survive an attack. A month goes by before you’re back to work, despite your wound yet to heal and that night still fresh on your mind.
– Real player with 26.1 hrs in game
The meat of the game is talking to your passengers and enjoying their interactive stories. The three different mysteries you can choose to play provide a narrative structure to the game, but mystery-solving is not the core of the game by a long shot. A lot of the specifics/details of the murder mysteries will be left out of your understanding completely. If you go in expecting a taut thriller with deep, mind-bending mystery, you will be disappointed. But if you like a noir aesthetic and non-linear narratives (as advertised) this is definitely a game for you.
– Real player with 15.7 hrs in game