The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
Words can’t describe how much of a masterpiece this “game” is, but I’ll give it shot.
I put game in quotes, because you can’t really call this a game, its more of a vivid memory of your distant self who is a frog detective. The instant I clicked on the “New Game” button I became Frog Detective.
Thanks to the innovative key bindings my keyboard and mouse could truly become an extension of my body, which only resulted in letting this experience become more real. Even though I only have 50 min in this “game” it felt like I went through an entire life of pure joy.
– Real player with 83.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Short Mystery Games.
Short game and with childish art style but somehow unique and charming!
Developed by Grace Bruxner and Thomas Bowke, The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game is a short (~1h) by enjoyable adventure that puts you in the role of a lovely froggy detective, who is phoned by his supervisor to investigate a strange case. On an island ruled by Martin, a sloth who crowned himself king, unexplained noises can be heard from crevices. The sloth’s first reaction is to call in a group of ghost scientists, who spend the next two weeks trying to figure out what is going on. Trying, but certainly not succeeding. That is where the Frog Detective, come in.
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6hkJGDzOUA
First Impressions
Having recently played and reviewed the first game, which really disappointed me, I’m not at all looking forward to Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard (FD2). Considering how well received the first game was, I don’t see the developers changing up what they did the first time, as there’s no reason to fix something that’s not broken. Knowing I’d knock it out quickly enough, I decided to play it sooner than later to find out whether I was right or wrong. To spare any potential mystery, I wasn’t off the mark in my prediction.
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Short Mystery Games.
Frog Detective is back! A delightful sequel to the original game
Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard picks up right after the events of the original game, The Haunted Island: A Frog Detective Game. In a lot of ways, the games are very similar, both are a short and easy point & click adventure game, where you play as the titular Frog Detective, who need to gather clues and figure out who the culprit is within the case. This time, you are aimed to solve a new mystery. You need to figure out who wrecked the parade the townsfolk of Warlock Woods were preparing to surprise their new neighbor, an invisible wizard?!
– Real player with 2.6 hrs in game
Singled Out
This game is the perfect arcade game. I haven’t gotten to a boss so I can’t comment about that. It’s also really easy to get onto the leader board. There’s not much to the game but I think that’s how most arcade games are. For it being made in a game jam its great! I didn’t even realize it was made for a game jam at first. It want more games like this! It doesn’t require to much thought so its easy to watch a movie and play it at the same time.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Short Score Attack Games.
This is a simple and fun little game with a distinctive pixel art style, that’s best enjoyed with a few friends, especially if you’re all a little drunk. You’re given three clues as to what the target galactic super-criminal looks like, and a crowd of faces milling around. You need to identify the criminal and shoot them to get points and move to the next round. If you shoot an innocent bystander by mistake then it’s game over, and you start again from the first round.
It starts out simple, with the target criminal usually being easily spotted at a glance, but quickly starts to build up in difficulty as the faces in the crowd all start to share similar looking features that forces you to start to check and double-check and even triple-check before you pull the trigger. The ten second time limit for each round is accompanied by the ticking of the clock which only adds to the pressure. Taking turns playing it with friends and trying to talk them into shooting the wrong target so they don’t beat your score is almost the best part.
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story
‘‘Our prime purpose in life is to help others and if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them’’ - Dalai Lama
Accidental Queens have followed up A Normal Lost Phone over 6 months later with a similar UI mobile interface but with a different, yet vital, informative theme for the player to uncover clues to solve the recent dilemma.
In this continuation of the Lost Phone theme it is centered around the female protagonist, Laura, who has an active social life & is a lively confident woman who starts a relationship with Ben who she encounters on a night out. Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story has you acting detective with her phone to uncover the reasons why the phone was ‘lost’.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
Another Lost Phone is similar in concept as the developer’s previous game A Normal Lost Phone . This one, however, has a deeper story which I enjoyed more than the previous one. You’ll find a phone belonged to a woman named Laura and learn how her life used to be before this phone was lost. She has many friends who care about her and has a nice job too. But there are things people don’t know until they pry into other people’s life. The story is intriguing, some people may relate to her problem as it is very common but no one actually speaks about it.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
The White Door
EDIT: This game becomes an ARG that is simply mind-blowing and makes the whole thing really worthwhile, so I might have been a little severe with my review. The real game begins after you finish the “basic” game. So give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
TL;DR: Recommended, yes, but not their best.
Sure, I will recommend this game just as I would any other Rusty Lake game, cos they’re awesome. This particular game, however, left me a bit disappointed. Firstly, it’s awfully short, shorter than any of the previous paid games and even shorter than some of the free ones, I think. Now, I understand that making games requires a lot of time and effort, so I’m not really complaining about the price, which is more than fair, but it still feels a little out of proportion relative to their other games.
– Real player with 15.8 hrs in game
Prof.Vaharrak’s Curator Group - Almost 30 years of gaming experience at your service
A very solid point-and-click adventure from Rusty Lake, creators of the Cube Escape and Rusty Lake series, this one is it’s own self-contained tale with your usual references and nods to other games in the series.
With a different tone and a full-fledged story, play as Robert Hill as you struggle to recover your memories and make sense out of the surreal world around you, adhering to your routine as a patient of the titular White Door institute for mental health and fishing.
– Real player with 7.9 hrs in game
Riddlord: The Consequence
Yes, it’s interesting, but also exasperating in many ways. Bunch of woo-woo puzzles based on mystic concepts like I-ching trigrams, but no logic to them whatsoever. Somehow the mysticism of the puzzles relates to the deeds of the four fictional-real serial murderers whose lives and careers this game tries to connect in a fictional plot. Premise possibly of interest, but what the actual puzzles and clunky execution of same have to do with the premise is hardly convincing. Some puzzles were relatively straightforward; others like the I-ching trigrams were totally arbitrary as far as this player could tell. I would recommend with reservations.
– Real player with 28.4 hrs in game
if you like the room series, pick this up, it’s very similar, but longer and a lot more difficult, and unlike the room games, it’s priced fairly in euros and isn’t insanely overpriced like certain clones ported lazily from mobile. it was a bit buggy on release, nothing that going back to the main menu couldn’t fix, but now you can take screenshots without it messing up the inventory.
– Real player with 10.9 hrs in game
The Monster Inside
This review was written in English and Russian in purpose to save your money and time.
_“I don’t believe in coincidences."
“Neither do I. That’s a coincidence, isn’t it?”
― Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair_
The Monster Inside is a short visual novel made in noir style.
In the game you play as a detective Jack (I’m not surprised he’s named like this), so you’re going to investigate crime scenes (three) searching for clues (two in each scene). But keep it in mind The Monster Inside is more a narrative than а game.
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Another supernaturally-themed detective thriller. Given that my last review was for Adam Wolfe, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking I’m on some sort of binge here…but it’s all just coincidence yer honour, I swear. And while this is definitely the inferior of the two, it’s also the more inexpensive of the two (i.e. free!), so I’m gonna go easy on it. But only this one time. Capeesh?
There’s three main things people tend to expect from “visual novels”. The first is a nice visual style, and this game most certainly has that (with nice sound design and dandy music, to boot). The second is a good story, and while there’s the hint of something potentially noteworthy here, it’s all too brief and half-baked to carry much weight (the narrative feels like it wraps up just as it starts to get going).
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
Alt-Frequencies
I’d give it 10 of 10 - but it deals with some difficult topics, people disappear, are shot without any remorse by police - pretty tough on the youngest generation of players. Excellent spelling and voice quality.
Your’re forced to think. The conspiracy theories by goverment officials denying everything? Young adults can understand the game with some adult guidance.
The game is like an audiobook; with 6 chapters. It’s made in a similar way to visual novels; permitting one of two paths, with pretty good voice actors and music. The achievements 23 vary in difficulty, and yes, can be pretty frustrating at times, simply because you’re forced to actually think a little.
– Real player with 7.0 hrs in game
2021 Update: I just wanted to say that after gaining a job in retail and being forced to listen to a radio I think about this game almost every day, which is no small feat for a tiny french indie game. I didn’t understand not only how realistic this game is, but just how bone chilling listening to the radio can be in the world of today. The VA do a brilliant job at capturing the voices on every station. If you’re a nightshift worker or someone who has to listen to the radio a lot. Give this game a shot. It’s got fantasy elements and it’s made me more introspective about my own time spent listening to the radio at work.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
Sam Glyph: Private Eye!
I won this game, so got it without spending anything for it. Still, I’m trying to take it’s price into consideration.
The game is about Sam Glyph, a private inspector, who’s having problems with getting cases in the past months. Typical noir scene: private eye, whiskey, cigarette, rasping voice. Then suddenly the phone rings - murder. Finally something happens!
Well, I don’t want to spoiler the upcoming ~ 5 minute of the game… yes, you head me right. If you just got lucky and do what the game thinks you’ll do, the story won’t last more than 5 minutes from this point. If you take your time and look around, maybe 15 minutes.
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game
I tried to enjoy this game… twice.
-Pros-
*Could be interesting the future
*Has it’s own feel to it
-Cons-
*Very short with only 1 episode
*Humor is very hit or miss
*Very expensive for the 15-30 minutes you will play it
*Seems like it will not be finished
*No real puzzles or interesting gameplay
Sam Glyph is a fairly standard type of first person point and click adventure game. Except it is missing most of what makes these types of games great. Altho it does have it’s own little sense of humor it really isn’t for everyone.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Puzzle Agent
First off, let me say: I come from a Professor Layton and Ace Attorney background. I live and breathe puzzles, but that’s not to say that I’ll take whatever I can get. My feelings towards the core factor of the game, puzzles, in Puzzle Agent are a bit mixed, but lean way more towards the positive end than the negative.
Let’s start with the negative. First off, some puzzle instructions are a bit difficult to understand or are surprisingly vague. However, this only happened to me a few times, and was far from the majority. Secondly, there were some jigsaw puzzles that, if you’ve played the Professor Layton games, are like the ones where you have to fit items into an area without them overlapping. There are a few here too, but it’s odd in pieces automatically click together when placed correctly, and they STAY together, which greatly lessens the challenge. Those puzzles could definitely benefit from a better system, especially one where the general shape of objects were outlined and could snap together even if they weren’t placed correctly.
– Real player with 14.0 hrs in game
It’s like Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick and Professor Layton sat down at a dinner table at Twin Peaks and said “let’s make a game!”
This creepy little animated puzzle game is made by Tell Tale games ( https://telltale.com/ ) and seems to be in the transition period when they went from comedy story board games to overly adult themed games. The game’s story is heavily inspired by the ‘Grickle’ Comic series which I had heard nothing about til playing this game. ( https://www.grickle.com/ ) You can imagine my further surprise when I discovered that the game and comic is loosely based on a real folk lore tale of the Icelandic huldufolk aka ‘The Hidden People’.
– Real player with 10.2 hrs in game