Detective Game Recommendations?

December 9, 2017 4:14 PM

Please share with me your recommendations for good detective games to get caught up in! Details under the fold.

I enjoy games of the detective, adventure, puzzle, mystery, and character-based single-player variety. I used to enjoy them a lot and would like to play good games like this again.

Similar games I have enjoyed in the distant past and would like to find more of are:

• Hotel Dusk: Room 215 for Nintendo DS - such a unique visual style well-suited to the gameplay, interesting story and puzzles
• Heavy Rain for Sony PS3 - interesting characters and setting with reasonable gameplay
• Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None for Nintendo Wii - I really enjoyed the solving and discovery aspect of piecing together the story
• Sherlock Holmes:The Mystery of the Mummy for Nintendo Wii - I got hooked on the setting and solving the puzzles
• Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst for PC - A Hidden Object Game with a strong narrative component
• (the first few of) The Phoenix Wright series for Nintendo DS - Clever and well-written, plus a little wacky fun

Other games less explicitly in the detective genre that I have played recently and enjoy:

• Life is Strange - I enjoyed the stories and gameplay and setting, I appreciate the diversity of the characters
• Night in the Woods - Good writing
• Kentucky Route Zero - Just fantastic and engaging in nearly every way
• Hidden Folks - so lovely!

Games I might like but have not played:

• L.A. Noire
• The Stanley Parable

There are some games that I thought would fit the bill but ended up a real disappointment. These games generally lacked the charm, cohesiveness, and pacing of the experiences above.

Games I have played and did not enjoy:

• Crimes & Punishments: Sherlock Holmes for PS3 - Immersive 3D spaces and realism at the expense of quick load times and an easily-navigable world.
• Dear Esther - Graphics over actual gameplay puzzles. Really slow.
• What Remains of Edith Finch - I couldn't handle the first-person camera.
• Her Story - It’s biggest downfall was not making it clear when the game was “over”.
• Gone Home - The real story seemed to be about the parents, which was sidelined for the kids’ stories. The playable character was laughably out of touch. Gameplay was tedious. First person camera was extremely uncomfortable.
• Antichamber - Too much abstract puzzle designed to be clever, too little narrative engagement.
• The Witness - to be fair, I haven’t played The Witness. It was described to me as a cold puzzle game which does not appeal to me.
• Firewatch - I also have not played Firewatch. It’s seeming lack of meaningful player choice does not appeal to me.

I am also looking to avoid anything explicitly gory/horrific. Mild spooks are fine. I stay away from “Action” and “Action-Adventure” because I enjoy focusing on exploration and discovery over dexterity and fast response times.

I have easy access to a PS3, PS4, Mac, Android phone, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. Also a Windows machine and an iPhone in a pinch, but those are less easily-accessible to me.

Thank you for your recommendations!

posted by Goblin Barbarian to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

You might be interested in Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. It's really more of a puzzle game than a detective game, but if you enjoyed Phoenix Wright you will probably enjoy it, too. It also has a sequel which I have not played but which I've heard might actually be better than the original.

A series I've never played but which is a cult favorite and might interest you: the Danganronpa games.

You might be interested in Analogue: A Hate Story- I generally like Christine Love's work but for some reason have never been able to finish Analogue. There's a trial so you can see if it's your thing before buying.

All of these are 'anime' to varying degrees, but that's because you've pretty much already listed all the Western recommendations I had in mind, hah.

I agree that you will probably like LA Noire and The Stanley Parable.
posted by perplexion at 4:28 PM on December 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Ghost Trick? (DS and IOS, unless it's no longer supported)
posted by lmfsilva at 4:54 PM on December 9, 2017

The Blackwell Chronicles games are classics, and have great pixel art.
posted by ohkay at 8:38 PM on December 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

The Turing Test is a PC game where the player is entering a mining station on Jupiter's moon, Europa, to investigate the loss of contact with the researchers there. The player-character discovers quickly that she's being tested by the puzzles that someone designed into the station, and that it's a Turing Test, which would allow a human to get through the puzzles, but not Tom, the AI assistant that guides the player-character into the maze. As the story is revealed, there's some low-grade existential horror that comes in, but no gore. It's comparable to "Portal," perhaps without quite the polish.

It's primarily a puzzle game, but set in the midst of an SF mystery.
posted by Sunburnt at 8:38 PM on December 9, 2017

Broken Sword
posted by KateViolet at 11:09 PM on December 9, 2017

Are you open to something not digital? The Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective reprints are amazing, and can be played by yourself or with other people. A review.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:00 AM on December 10, 2017 [3 favorites]

There are FMV versions of some of the same Sherlock Holmes cases on Steam for PC - some of the world's hammiest acting, but good fun, if you're not looking for the paper version. (I have both and still enjoyed playing the PC version second.)

Contradiction is weird and funny - a series of video 'interviews' where you work to spot the lies and inconsistencies in order to solve the murder. It was pretty satisfying and I've craved more mysteries like that since finishing it, so don't let some of the goofy acting put you off initially. I think it's available for Mac and PC.
posted by carbide at 1:09 AM on December 10, 2017

I came in to say Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. I've played a ton of video and board games, and nothing else has come closer to capturing the feeling of being a classic detective-fiction detective.
posted by Ted Maul at 6:05 AM on December 10, 2017

Oh yeah absolutely play Ghost Trick. It's by the creator of Phoenix Wright! Lovely animation, too.
posted by perplexion at 10:25 AM on December 10, 2017