Games with good "Detective Mechanics"

[Don Peste]

221 B Baker St., based on the board game?

Edit: Since the Blackwell games are in, The Shivah should be too?

 

[V_K]

As expected, there are well intentioned people recommending good games that have zero detective mechanics or gameplay whatsoever, turning this into a "mystery" themed adventure game recommendation list instead. Which would be informative if most adventure games weren't mystery themed, so it ends up being a generic adventure game recommendation thread.

That's what I was thinking.

After 3 pages I still have no idea what people are using to separate the distinction between a detective game and an adventure game. I mean, if the Nancy Drew series is just an adventure game series, then what's the exact thing people are defining as 'actual' detective mechanics?

I'd say that the most fundamental distinction is that in a traditional adventure you collect items to use on other items (Mystlikes are a separate subgenre), while in an investigative adventure you collect clues to inform your character's actions. Ideally, that means that you make your own conclusions based on the information you have, and can make a wrong one, but "detective-lite" games could also be interesting if done right.

 

[Zarniwoop]

CSI games? Those were glorified hidden object games with a crime theme, if I remember correctly. Nothing interesting about that.

Most of them yes but there was one where you could actually make the wrong call I think.

 

[Zombra]

As expected, there are well intentioned people recommending good games that have zero detective mechanics or gameplay whatsoever, turning this into a "mystery" themed adventure game recommendation list instead. Which would be informative if most adventure games weren't mystery themed, so it ends up being a generic adventure game recommendation thread.

I am happy to move any games that don't have "detective mechanics" onto the amber list, but somebody has to frickin tell me. I know it's not perfect but would you rather complain or help make it better?

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

I don't see what's the uproar about. Games with detective theme are one thing, games with detective mechanics are another. It's a very clear cut distinction.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

I don't see what's the uproar about. Games with detective theme are one thing, games with detective mechanics are another. It's a very clear cut distinction.

There's no uproar...is there?

What do you prescribe as detective mechanics? By what specific criteria are you excluding Nancy Drew but including Sherlock vs Jack the Ripper?

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Never played Nancy Drew games so I wouldn't know if they fit or not.

 

[Tramboi]

I propose two categories "Sleuth", the one that I described. And "Detective adventure", the rest.

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

Oh right...

In that case, please add:

• Secrets Can Kill (PC 1998) (Discontinued July 31, 2010; Remastered release August 2010)
• Stay Tuned for Danger (PC 1999) (Discontinued November 17, 2011, Re-released August 10, 2016)
• Message in a Haunted Mansion (PC 2000/GBA 2001)
• Treasure in the Royal Tower (PC 2001)
• The Final Scene (PC 2001)
• Secret of the Scarlet Hand (PC 2002)
• Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake (PC 2002)
• The Haunted Carousel (PC 2003)
• Danger on Deception Island (PC 2003)
• The Secret of Shadow Ranch (PC 2004)
• Curse of Blackmoor Manor (PC 2004/DVD 2006)
• Secret of the Old Clock (PC 2005)
• Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon (PC 2005)
• Danger by Design (PC 2006)
• The Creature of Kapu Cave (PC 2006)
• The White Wolf of Icicle Creek (PC 2007/Nintendo Wii 2008)
• Legend of the Crystal Skull (PC 2007)
• The Phantom of Venice (PC 2008)
• The Haunting of Castle Malloy (PC 2008)
• Ransom of the Seven Ships (PC 2009)
• Warnings at Waverly Academy (PC 2009)
• Trail of the Twister (PC/Mac 2010)
• Shadow at the Water's Edge (PC/Mac 2010)
• The Captive Curse (PC/Mac 2011)
• Alibi in Ashes (PC/Mac 2011)
• Tomb of the Lost Queen (PC/Mac 2012)
• The Deadly Device (PC/Mac 2012)
• Ghost of Thornton Hall (PC/Mac 2013)
• The Silent Spy (PC/Mac 2013)
• The Shattered Medallion (PC/Mac 2014)
• Labyrinth of Lies (PC/Mac 2014)
• Sea of Darkness (PC/Mac 2015)
• Midnight in Salem (PC/Mac Release Date Unknown)

 

[Outlander]

I don't know if Gemini Rue fits the bill, its atmosphere is sorta cyberpunk-noire-detective. The most detective-ish stuff you can do is input words in the terminals to search for clues.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Are these actually good? Which one would you recommend?

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm not a huge fan of adventure games, I'm shite at most adventure game puzzles. I've tried a few but never completed one. I saw this one on Youtube a few years back as a sleep aid and it seems to fit the bill pretty well. You have to make use of a calendar, day and night cycles, interviews, clue gathering and a whole load of stuff that people usually rave about.

 

[V_K]

When facing a similar conundrum in the obscure indies thread, someone came up with the idea of tags that worked quite well. Something like that could work in this list too - just briefly note in parenthesis which exactly investigative mechanics/aspects a game has, and that should be enough. Like e.g. "Sherlock Holmes: Crime&Punishment (clue gathering, clue comparison, wrong conclusions)" etc.

 

[Zombra]

I've already said my piece several times above.

Agreed. Now if you don't want to help or do a better job, feel free to put a sock in it.

 

[Zombra]

I saw this one on Youtube a few years back as a sleep aid and it seems to fit the bill pretty well.

I went ahead and listed Water's Edge separately, and then simply linked your Nancy Drew megapost.

 

[Alex]

I should add The witness and Suspect by Infocom but I only played Deadline.

Deadline is awesome. It is pretty ridiculous how the best detective games are all so old...

Latest text games added, moved them all to the amber section since they can't really have "detective mechanics".

What are you talking about? You go around and investigate, like a detective. Those text games are probably more of a detective game than anything released after the 80s.

 

[Zombra]

Latest text games added, moved them all to the amber section since they can't really have "detective mechanics".

What are you talking about? You go around and investigate, like a detective. Those text games are probably more of a detective game than anything released after the 80s.

Sure, they're "detective games", but that's not the question here. The question is whether they have interesting and specific mechanics to fit the genre. Text adventures all have the same mechanics: type sentence, read results. That's not "detective mechanics".

 

[Alex]

Latest text games added, moved them all to the amber section since they can't really have "detective mechanics".

What are you talking about? You go around and investigate, like a detective. Those text games are probably more of a detective game than anything released after the 80s.

Sure, they're "detective games", but that's not the question here. The question is whether they have interesting and specific mechanics to fit the genre. Text adventures all have the same mechanics: type sentence, read results. That's not "detective mechanics".

Besides having a mystery you need to solve, what exactly do you call "detective mechanics"?

 

[Lithium Flower]

Besides having a mystery you need to solve, what exactly do you call "detective mechanics"?

An example of a detective mechanic

Look, he has a pipe and everything.

 

[Explorerbc]

I think the only way to make a reliable list is for someone/s to play through everything and decide for themselves. That's why I said these shouldn't count as codex recommendations but as suggestions for further research. The top post is already too bloated tbh.

Here are some examples of detective mechanics from the ones I've played:

Darkness Within

Spoiler

Sinking Island

Spoiler

The testament of Sherlock Holmes

Spoiler

 

[Zombra]

Besides having a mystery you need to solve, what exactly do you call "detective mechanics"?

Stuff like having an investigation board, a clue matching interface, lab work, things like this.

EDIT: Ninjad, Explorerbc gave great examples.

Explorerbc, I agree the OP is getting a bit fat. Maybe I can break it down more into categories or separate posts, and cut off some of the stuff that's unlikely people will ever play. Personally I'm not interested in anything more than about 10 years old. Maybe the amber section should go altogether ... except it has some cool looking stuff I want to check out sooooo ... I don't know. Suggestions appreciated but I'll have to think about it.

 

[Tramboi]

Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder ?

Your hero keeps a notebook with a list of observations, thoughts and conversations. You can combine them along with items to deduct what's going on. You find a lot of documents in the game like letters, police reports etc and you can underline words and phrases to highlight some clues. There are two modes, the standard one that tells you which documents are important and gives you a clue counter, and the free one that lets you try to highlight every document if you want. There are "hidden" clues and a lot of optional observations to make, that help you understand things a bit better. At the end of the game it tells you how much hidden stuff you managed to uncover. You play a police detective hunting down a private investigator assosiated with a lovecraftian cult.

But the implementation is a bit weak, lots and lots of failed opportunites at reactivity when combining info.

 

[ghostdog]

Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder ?

Your hero keeps a notebook with a list of observations, thoughts and conversations. You can combine them along with items to deduct what's going on. You find a lot of documents in the game like letters, police reports etc and you can underline words and phrases to highlight some clues. There are two modes, the standard one that tells you which documents are important and gives you a clue counter, and the free one that lets you try to highlight every document if you want. There are "hidden" clues and a lot of optional observations to make, that help you understand things a bit better. At the end of the game it tells you how much hidden stuff you managed to uncover. You play a police detective hunting down a private investigator assosiated with a lovecraftian cult.

But the implementation is a bit weak, lots and lots of failed opportunites at reactivity when combining info.

Yeah but I forgive them since they tried to do something new and nailed the atmosphere.

But anyway, in 99% of all the games with detective mechanics, the specific mechanic in the end feels kinda weak with lots of failed opportunities.

 

[CryptRat]

This reminds me I played an early demo of an incoming investigation game recently : https://komilll.itch.io/mystery-game-demo.
A big part of the game consists in sorting, combining and using clues. For example the talks from the persons you're interrogating are cut into small parts, and each part can be used as a clue (everything, even what's obviously irrelevant, it's up to you to sort the information and to add the parts you want to your list of clues).
In the demo you're solving a very small case, and I think I had some (mostly displaying) bugs but if it's really going to be a bigger game then it could be fun.

 

[Tramboi]

Yeah but I forgive them since they tried to do something new and nailed the atmosphere.

Yes, lots of things are done right in this game. I loved it, but with a walkthrough at hand.
Didn't play the second one yet.

But anyway, in 99% of all the games with detective mechanics, the specific mechanic in the end feels kinda weak with lots of failed opportunities.

I think that Deadline and Maupiti Island, barring their limited "grammar", are really successful at making you feel like a detective. KGB was something very interesting too.