Games with good "Detective Mechanics"

[Jenkem]

I was under the impression Blue Prince was a standard puzzle adventure game, not so much a "detective" game

 

[Tweed]

You do a lot of detective work in The Crimson Diamond and have to fill in the clues at the end during an investigation. It's like a more intense version of the bequest at the end of Amon Ra.

But why am I helping out in Zombra threads?

 

[spookyheart]

I would save another code defiently that one such a huge slept on game imo.

 

[Zombra]

I would save another code defiently that one such a huge slept on game imo.

Checked it out and it looks like it's a puzzle game, not a detective game. The player doesn't use detective mechanics (such as clue matching or an information corkboard) to solve the mystery, it just gets solved along the way while the player puts candles in the right places and organizes books into the right sequence. But thanks for the contribution anyway.

 

[Zombra]

I was under the impression Blue Prince was a standard puzzle adventure game, not so much a "detective" game

Confirmed. Blue Prince is not a detective game in any way. It's not even really a puzzle game. I'd describe it as more of a roguelite card game, where you draw cards at random and hope you can fit them all together, over and over to build a huge house. Draw the wrong cards and it's time to reshuffle and start over. Fun, but not what I was expecting at all.

 

[pakoito]

The "puzzle" is not reaching the final door, I did it on day 1 and it's locked. As the days advance, you get cryptic hints that explain the inner workings of the mansion. It feels like a big puzzlebox where the cyclical aspect will help you build certain layouts and such that would be required for later puzzles. For example, on day 2 I learned that

mechanic

each room has two drawings that are one letter apart, i.e. pine and pin -> letter e. So every room has also a letter assigned.

. On day 3 I got told the

another mechanic

inner workings of the VAC

. I have compiled several factoids and maps that guide how to layout the mansion. Now I need to figure out how to peel another layer, which I imagine will happen in another cycle or when I get another eureka moment.

 

[JarlFrank]

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I was under the impression Blue Prince was a standard puzzle adventure game, not so much a "detective" game

Confirmed. Blue Prince is not a detective game in any way. It's not even really a puzzle game. I'd describe it as more of a roguelite card game, where you draw cards at random and hope you can fit them all together, over and over to build a huge house. Draw the wrong cards and it's time to reshuffle and start over. Fun, but not what I was expecting at all.

Reading Steam reviews, I'm baffled that such a game with obvious design flaws is getting nothing but praise from anybody. At a certain point, you need to get two rooms in a certain way in order to solve them. Really, we're adding luck back into the adventure genre? They'll probably fix the spawn rate at some point, but that sounds like the further you go in the more tedious it gets.

 

[pakoito]

I've just finished the main story and in 20h in and I've only found one instance where that was necessary, and the game tilts the scale so it happens.

 

[Zombra]

I was under the impression Blue Prince was a standard puzzle adventure game, not so much a "detective" game

Confirmed. Blue Prince is not a detective game in any way. It's not even really a puzzle game. I'd describe it as more of a roguelite card game, where you draw cards at random and hope you can fit them all together, over and over to build a huge house. Draw the wrong cards and it's time to reshuffle and start over. Fun, but not what I was expecting at all.

Reading Steam reviews, I'm baffled that such a game with obvious design flaws is getting nothing but praise from anybody. At a certain point, you need to get two rooms in a certain way in order to solve them. Really, we're adding luck back into the adventure genre? They'll probably fix the spawn rate at some point, but that sounds like the further you go in the more tedious it gets.

It's not an adventure game either. It's a card game with puzzles. Let's move discussion of this irrelevant title to the thread where it belongs thank you @pakoito >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[Sweeper]

The Shivah (2013)

 

[Raghar]

I was under the impression Blue Prince was a standard puzzle adventure game, not so much a "detective" game

Confirmed. Blue Prince is not a detective game in any way. It's not even really a puzzle game. I'd describe it as more of a roguelite card game, where you draw cards at random and hope you can fit them all together, over and over to build a huge house. Draw the wrong cards and it's time to reshuffle and start over. Fun, but not what I was expecting at all.

It's logical puzzle game. some rooms have puzzle inside, like that room with pain tings.

But, it's also dependent if you are native english speaker because some stuff is too hard for non native speakers. I was wondering where is thread about that game, but. Well it's rather easy puzzle game, which should be freeware.

Plot is well, it's a plot. It could be a lot better.

 

[NJClaw]

I was under the impression Blue Prince was a standard puzzle adventure game, not so much a "detective" game

Confirmed. Blue Prince is not a detective game in any way. It's not even really a puzzle game. I'd describe it as more of a roguelite card game, where you draw cards at random and hope you can fit them all together, over and over to build a huge house. Draw the wrong cards and it's time to reshuffle and start over. Fun, but not what I was expecting at all.

I can't disagree more. Blue Prince IS a detective game. If you stop at the roguelite card part, you've barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. I reached the end of that part in around 8 hours and, after having played 20 more hours, I'm still discovering riddles and hints that have been under my eyes this whole time. I'm starting to think there won't be a big payoff in the end, because the reward for every puzzle is always a new hint for another puzzle (that you probably haven't even found so far), but it's great if you're fine with solving riddles for the sake of it.

I mean, at one point I solved a major riddle perfectly entwined with the game's core mechanics, then I solved an unrelated puzzle that gave me a clue to discover a side-riddle inside the first major one. I solved that one too and I was rewarded with... 8 easy puzzles, each one containing a clue for something I still haven't found. THEN, while minding my own business and exploring the house, I realized I had found many different clues related to YET ANOTHER side puzzle inside the major one.

Well it's rather easy puzzle game

Most puzzles are indeed on the easier side, but there are many hidden clues that require unprecedented amounts of awareness, exploration, and deduction, at least compared to most modern releases.

I mean, when a game has me learning an invented foreign language to solve a single riddle, I can't find in me the strength to complain.

 

[Zombra]

Yeah, I've heard elsewhere that Blue Prince is an interesting game disguised as a boring one. After 5 hours of boredom I can't bring myself to click on the icon any more.
(I did get out of the garage and onto the grounds, my mind was blown a little but what I found out there turned out to be ... still boring. No no, you don't have to tell me to keep going, I get it )
Maybe someday. And sure, I'm happy to concede this title may well deserve to be called a true detective game. I trust you, you have proven good taste NJClaw.

 

[Jenkem]

Yeah, I've heard elsewhere that Blue Prince is an interesting game disguised as a boring one. After 5 hours of boredom I can't bring myself to click on the icon any more.
(I did get out of the garage and onto the grounds, my mind was blown a little but what I found out there turned out to be ... still boring. No no, you don't have to tell me to keep going, I get it )
Maybe someday. And sure, I'm happy to concede this title may well deserve to be called a true detective game. I trust you, you have proven good taste NJClaw.

the west garden rooms do a lot to advance certain puzzles or has rooms that let you extend your run quite a bit... personally I enjoyed the game and stopped after I reached room 46, I'll probably pick it up again at a later date when it gets updated. I think it does have elements of a detective game but it's very abstract in that regard and not necessarily like most of the games discussed in here. Feels more like myst/riven with intrinsic deduction needed rather than a game where you are a detective and everything is laid out like a case to solve. it's very esoteric and that moves it more towards the myst/riven like to me..

good game though (though the roguelite nature can be annoying at times, it's the kind of game where it's best to have multiple goals at a time so you can pivot if needed)

 

[Doktor Best]

https://youtu.be/lKI7DVrhWL8?si=7R7S4VsY2v0LDHLO

This one could be interesting. It has time a management mechanic. Downloading the demo right now.


How well does Strange Horticulture measure up against the Golden Idol series? Its on sale on GOG currently.

 

[Zombra]

In case anyone else doesn't just like clicking random links and hoping for the best, Doktor Best is talking about this game:



EDIT: at a glance, I like what I see, although we don't see whether there are information management mechanics or even a good journal.

 

[Modron]

Missed the demo, dang I liked their previous games so was interested in seeing how this foray into a different style of game played.

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

I'm surprised Sid Meier's Covert Action is not on the list. You wiretap offices, break into them, do a little primitive Tactical Espionage Action while looking for evidence, arrest suspects, name double agents, among other stuff. It's pretty involved. If I weren't such an ADHD tard I would've played it more.

 

[havelock]

Anyone give Inspector Schmidt - A Bavarian Tale a try?

 

[NoSoup4you]

Watching this thread for my own purposes. The only contribution I can think of is La-Mulana, oddly enough. Those puzzles are hard as shit.

 

[HoboForEternity]

In case anyone else doesn't just like clicking random links and hoping for the best, Doktor Best is talking about this game:



EDIT: at a glance, I like what I see, although we don't see whether there are information management mechanics or even a good journal.

Cool. This os by the darkside detective devs. They arent actually detective games , but the Humor clicked with me and i enjoyed them.

 

[NJClaw]

I haven't been able to play anything else for the last two weeks. The game is chock-full of diverse and complex enigmas and really expects the player to explore and understand its world and mechanics. For me, the fun part of the whole roguelite thing was finding ways to completely break things and bend the house to my will, but what kept me interested for almost 100 hours was the constant influx of clues, riddles, and inputs that the game throws at you. The final puzzle was kinda lame; which is a pity, because I had a lot of fun finding it.