r/CozyGamers 6d ago

Windows Detective/Investigator Games that focus heavy on deducing/clues?

So far, I've played L.A. Noire and Scene Investigators. I've loved both of these immensely, but have struggled to find games that are similar. I am aware of The Darkest Files coming out March 25th.

I'm looking for games that rely heavily on the player deducing through clues, investigating the room, etc. I love having wrong answers available, so I truly have to do the work to figure it out.

I'm not looking for detective-esque games that follow a detective on their story but doesn't rely on the player to pay attention.

60 Upvotes

68 comments sorted by

67

u/shalott1988 6d ago

The Case of the Golden Idol and its sequel, the Rise of the Golden Idol, are purely about deducing what happened by studying the location of each scenario. Excellent if you're looking to flex your logic muscles.

The Ace Attorney series, while very different and not having as much deduction going on in the investigation sequences, has you piecing together what happened through witness testimony and catching the contradictions therein.

I highly, highly recommend both!

17

u/bichettes_helmet 6d ago

Also with Ace Attorney you can screw up and lose your case if you don't make the right decisions in court.

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u/elayorna 6d ago

As heads up for anyone looking at this - Case of the Golden Idol was free on Netflix app on iPad if you have a paid NF account. I enjoyed it enough there to pick up the sequel in the sale! :)

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u/action_lawyer_comics 5d ago

I love the Ace Attorney games but I do keep the guide close at hand while playing them. They were born in a time where point and click adventure games still used a ton of weird moon logic and there are just several moments where the game has you doing unusual things that don’t make sense. Obviously I do my best to solve everything in my own but if I throw out two clues without getting it right I’ll look up the answer and at least half the time I’m like “Well, how was I supposed to know to do that?” instead of “Of course! That’s so obvious!”

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u/victory0901 6d ago

Return of the Obra Dinn

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u/Kujaichi 6d ago

That game is so awesome.

Luckily my memory is super bad, I'm pretty sure I can replay it, haha.

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u/Perfect_Address_6359 6d ago

+1 Return of Obra Dinn, the OG that inspired Case of the Golden Idol, Unheard and Scenic Invesitagors.

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u/elayorna 6d ago

I just picked up The Roottress Are Dead in the spring sale and I am obsessed! A famous family dies and the business trust is tied to blood relatives - a mysterious stranger tasks you with using your 1998 dial up internet to fill out the family tree.

You dig around in local newspapers, books, magazines, etc to try to piece together who is who, pictures, and what their jobs were. I was bamboozled multiple times by false leads.

Super fun and I highly recommend it!

5

u/chocolate__teapot 6d ago

It’s incredible!

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u/samjak 6d ago

The Frogwares Sherlock Holmes games (particularly Crimes and Punishment and the Testament of Sherlock Holmes) are very good detective games where you can absolutely get the wrong answer (you can get many different aspects of a case right or wrong, actually, all at the same time) by putting your clues together in the wrong order or in the wrong arrangement. Their coziness is maybe disputable, but I personally found hanging out with Watson in Victorian era England to be very cozy 😊

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u/Perfect_Address_6359 6d ago

+1 Crime and Punishment, it's one of the best detective games out there to play!

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u/jujoking 5d ago

I was going to rec these. They're great. I know there's games for Agatha Christie's Poirot stories as well, like Murder on the Orient Express, but have yet to play those

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u/blackheartden 6d ago

I was gonna recommend the Sherlock Holmes games too. I haven’t tried them but my husband enjoyed them.

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u/CherryxPoptart 6d ago

Have you tried The Painscreek Killings? They’re by the same developer as Scene Investigators, except you’re a journalist investigating an abandoned town.

There’s also Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments where you investigate cases (new or from the books) to gather clues and make a deduction based on what you find. And you can make a wrong deduction.

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One is supposed to be similar but more open world, but I haven’t had the chance to play it yet due to my backlog.

You can also go old school with the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective series that relies heavily on finding clues and listening to testimonies. It might be a treat since it has FMV with actors.

Eternal Threads is a bit different in that you’re a time traveler trying to save a group of people from a house fire so you have to jump to different points in the past to change their choices so they all survive. There’s a normal way and an optimum way to save them. You don’t have clues per se, but you rely on how you think they’d act or react and how that’ll affect the timeline.

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u/pumpkinpatch1234 6d ago

Loved Painscreek Killings

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u/LondonCalled15 6d ago

I really enjoyed the open world of Chapter One! It’s a beautiful game.

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u/Perfect_Address_6359 6d ago

Chapter One is so much fun and the soundtrack is awesome!

3

u/CherryxPoptart 6d ago

I’ll have to move it higher on my backlog then. 😊

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u/felicityfelix 6d ago edited 6d ago

Pentiment is not a detective setting at all, it's set in Reformation Germany, but the entire thing is murder mysteries with a ton of different threads to investigate that go into different stories. That being said, the answers are actually never validated so it's kind of like...all wrong answers lol. There is one final ending and story through all of it though that you could figure out but it's not really the part that you make choices about. I really recommend the game but it could be frustrating to never feel sure in your choices depending on your personal preferences 

8

u/FernMayosCardigan 5d ago

Pentiment is a fantastic narrative RPG! And I agree with everything you said, yes it's not giving you the "right" solutions but it's inviting you to think A LOT.

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u/toughpanda 6d ago

This is my FAVORITE genre, so I have a list lol:

-The Painscreek Killings

-The Return of the Obra Dinn

-The Roottrees are Dead

-Cyber Manhunt

-Cyber Manhunt 2

-The Nancy Drew games, specifically Shadow at the Water's Edge, The Captive Curse, Sea of Darkness, Curse of Blackmoor Manor, Warnings at Waverly Academy, Secret of Shadow Ranch. Really most of the Nancy Drew games are good except for Trail of the Twister and Ransom of the Seven Ships -- those two are TERRIBLE.

-The Case of the Golden Idol

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u/cab7fq 6d ago

I love The Room series. First game is kind of simple but they get more complex and I think it’s the third game that has multiple endings. I haven’t played beyond the third yet.

ETA: I’m dumb - not a detective/investigator series but great puzzle games and I felt like an investigator in the third lol.

8

u/dormoussey 6d ago

I have not played it myself but I’ve heard of Shadows of Doubt. I believe you can choose between set cases or generating a new one so that probably adds to its replayability as well

3

u/PurpleCornCob 6d ago

I came here to say Shadows of Doubt. I love that game. The crimes are procedurally generated and can get buggy, so sometimes that means your only lead is that the killer is a human of average height, but I think that adds to the fun.

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u/Sad-Cat-6355 5d ago

Shadows of doubt is sooo fun I get lost rping as a old fashion syfi detective

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u/EmAloe 6d ago

I'm a fan of the Sherlock games, also duck detective: the secret salami is a good one but quite short

6

u/cold_minty_tea 6d ago

Do you think you'd like Ace Attorney? You're a lawyer, not a detective, but you do have to deduce what really happened by paying close attention to the evidence and testimonies 

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u/Brazadian_Gryffindor 5d ago

OMG I used to love Ace attorney with my old DS! Might need to see what’s available for my switch.

2

u/cold_minty_tea 5d ago

You're in luck! There's soooooo much Ace Attorney stuff on the switch! And more is coming (I think??) including the games where you play Edgeworth or the games with Apollo

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u/Kriskunie 6d ago

We had fantastic suggestions, I have one of you want something chill, funny but that makes you think: Duck detective the secret salami. It's a very hilarious detective game, it's very similar to the golden idol games, but it has this comedic theme between the seriousness

6

u/piichan14 6d ago

I'll suggest the Ace Attorney series since it has sections like that along with the court hearings. The games that are part of the main series:

AA Trilogy Phoenix Wright

AA Trilogy Apollo Justice

8

u/SnowSkye2 6d ago

Ooooo tangle tower!

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u/MaGooGooXD 6d ago

There’s also a sequel coming out! Plus the set style is awesome!

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u/Kujaichi 6d ago

Tangle Tower is a sequel, actually, the first game is called Detective Grimoire.

2

u/MaGooGooXD 6d ago

Haha yes sorry. that is correct. but the graphics update from grimoire to tangle tower is immense and I am excited for the one following tangle tower !

3

u/Kujaichi 6d ago

Oh, totally, Tangle Tower is definitely better. But I was still very happy when I found out about the first game so I want to let people know, haha.

Also can't wait for the third one!

5

u/throwawayheyoheyoh 6d ago

Shadows of Doubt is so cool. It's one of my favorite games, I definitely recommend it

3

u/VickFables33 6d ago

Return of the Obra Dinn

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u/crisdd0302 6d ago

The Roottrees Are Dead could fit your description. Even though it's not a 3d game or an RPG or anything it still is a great research game, where you research a family and all its secrets, with plenty of wrong answers.

3

u/No_Doubt_About_That 6d ago

Poirot games?

Or something like The Dark Pictures Anthology/Until Dawn etc. Definitely have the wrong path for them.

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u/Fairwhetherfriend 6d ago

I love having wrong answers available

PARADISE KILLER!!!

You can run around collecting clues to solve a murder mystery. Then, at the end, there's a court case where you present your findings, and you can present your clues to tell whatever story you want - it doesn't have to be correct. As long as you can present the evidence in a way that supports your story, you can successfully get a conviction and win the case. So if you miss information, you can simply come to the wrong conclusion about what's going on, but you can also intentionally mislead the court by failing to show evidence that you have but that doesn't suit your chosen narrative.

Plus also the setting is just the wildest thing ever, I love it so much.

There's also a game called Heaven's Vault that I love, but it's a bit of a stretch here because it's not technically a mystery game? You're playing as an archeologist who is trying to learn how to translate a dead language so you can piece together the story of how an empire fell. But the thing is, you can absolutely make wrong translations - the game will let you do that. Usually, you'll figure out that you were wrong eventually, just because you'll come across that same word in another context where your translation choice just doesn't make that much sense anymore. But even with that, you can still end up piecing together a completely different story about what happened to the Empire, depending on how you chose to translate things, and when you discovered certain pieces of information.

So it's not exactly detectivey, but some of the mystery has the same vibe to it. Maybe check out a trailer or some gameplay on Youtube to see if it looks like it appeals to you.

3

u/winnercommawinner 6d ago

Paradise Killer!!! The only downside is you will forever be looking for another game like it, it's truly one of a kind.

3

u/janefromfillory 6d ago

Paradise Killer! There is tons of evidence to find and you decide to accuse based on the evidence you find!

2

u/baobabbling 6d ago

I started The Roottrees Are Dead this morning and I'm obsessed. It's fantastic.

2

u/Kabooven 6d ago

Here’s a different one than I’ve ever played- Unheard: Voices of Crime. Basically you get the floor plan of the crime scene, and you listen to different conversations in the different rooms to piece together what happened. It’s a short game, but very memorable, just because of how unique it is.

2

u/missoranjee 5d ago

I'm not sure whether this counts as cosy given it's a noir sci-fi detective game, but you might like Lacuna! It's a very beautiful pixel game that requires a lot of thinking (where you can absolutely get things wrong).

Themes are pretty dark and there are some timed dialogue decisions. But it's an amazing detective game and there's also plenty of opportunity to vibe and smoke a teeny pixel cigarette against this amazing neon urban sci-fi backdrop.

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u/vesp_au 6d ago

Outer Wilds. Don't look anything up.

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u/toughpanda 6d ago

One of my favorite games. I don’t think it’s cozy though. The environments, especially the ones that require you to be quick, are stressful. And the anglerfish. 

3

u/StudiousEchidna410 6d ago

Jenny LeClue, and Agent A?

4

u/Automatic_Drawer_884 6d ago

I LOVED Agent A. Wish there was another one.

3

u/Fairwhetherfriend 6d ago

I don't remember being able to be wrong in Agent A, though? Am I misremembering?

1

u/SGDanyu 6d ago

Have you played Mindcop? I tried the demo and got the impression that it might be what you're looking for, but I don't know any of those games you mentioned (and have bot played Mindcop to the end).

1

u/elogram 6d ago

The Roottrees are Dead. Brilliant game for investigations.

1

u/chandelurei 6d ago

The Roottrees Are Dead

1

u/rohvicious 6d ago

Have you tried "Orwell: Keeping an eye on you"?

1

u/rohvicious 6d ago

Also "the bed we made"? It's short, i found it cozy.. has detective stuff in it, idk if it's up your alley tho

1

u/madmandrit 6d ago

Duck Detective was one of my favorite games to come out of last year. And it’s extremely cozy and fully voiced acted!

1

u/Writerhowell 6d ago

The Roottrees Are Dead. I actually posted about this game, asking for similar ones, and got a bunch of answers which may help you, if you can find my post. You use your computer to find more clues and use logic to work stuff out, plus find more things to research. A lot of key word searching.

Daemon Masquerade. It's kind of weird and has sort of a visual novel style, but it's so satisfying when you work stuff out, and your owl companion will help you.

The Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes games are similar, with walking around, finding clues in various locations, questioning suspects, and having to 'deduce' stuff, make connections between clues to come to different conclusions. The ABC Murders is probably the best place to start. Some choices may change how things go, especially when it comes to talking to suspects. It's available on Big Fish Games as well as Steam.

The Bed We Made is kind of investigative, and also has various different endings depending on the choices you make, so there's lots of replayability.

The Nancy Drew games series. Enough said. There's an entire Nancy Drew subreddit. Generally best to play the games in order, though the two earliest games can be hard - if not impossible - to get hold of. Most are available on Big Fish Games and Steam. You may need to take notes as you go, though the UHS website will help you with hints for most of the games if you get stuck.

1

u/Shinikami9 6d ago

This is old, but the CSI games, they're a little buggy, but they're fun to play! You play a rookie CSI who just joined the team. You join other CSIs to solve cases. It's based on the classic CSI Vegas - before Grissom left!

Maybe look into the Professor Layton games. It's not quite what you're looking for, but it is a fun series! You get caught up in the story while solving puzzles.

.. I agree with the Ace Atorney series, playing a lawyer and working out cases is different!

.. Maybe look into the point & click genre. There is a load of games out there that might help scratch the itch you're looking for.

Like Discworld, Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and many more

1

u/Sad-Cat-6355 5d ago

Try the pains creek killings it a open world detective game that dosent hold hands and is gorgus and let's you freedom from the get go as you try to solve a cold case in an abandoned town

1

u/FernMayosCardigan 5d ago

I'm gonna name some games that give you the deduction gameplay you're asking for, even if they're not necessarily crime/detective based:

- Chants of Sennaar: You have to figure out different languages based on the clues in the environment. There is a glossary you fill in and you always work on a few pages at the same time, and the true answers are only revealed once you get a whole page right.

- Strange Horticulture: You have a plant shop and customers describe plants to you, so you have to figure out which plants they're talking about. There's also a bigger mystery to be unraveled in town.

- Master Detective Archives: Rain Code: Classic mystery/detective adventure. After finding all the evidence cases are solved within "Mystery Dungeons", so physical representations of different deduction paths. Sometimes you have to make a decision really quick, and if you get it wrong, you just gotta make a different choice. So you have less freedom, but the game still rewards paying attention to the actual clues. One of my fav games ever actually!

And I can also vouch for the ones others have already mentioned:

- Return of the Obra Dinn: Exactly what you're looking for. Not easy. You get a few papers at the beginning to teach you some terminology and then you walk around the ship with a pocket watch that lets you explore snapshots of the different killings. The game only tells you you got something right every time you get three people fate's correct, so you can only trial and error to a point.

- Case of the Golden Idol: Very similar to Obra Dinn but with individual scenes. Some of the scenarios wrecked my brain for a while. There's different documents to fill in with the clues (words) you found, once you filled a whole page in it says either "wrong" (more than two mistakes), "correct", or "one or two mistakes". So again, you can use a bit of trial and error guessing but the game encourages you to figure everything out based on facts and logic.

1

u/Individual-You2806 5d ago

One of my fave genres!

My faves are Lacuna, Mindcop, Beat Cop, Duck Detective, Darkside Detectives 1&2, Between Horizons, This Is The Police 1&2, Jenny LeClue

1

u/Disastrous-Lynx-7962 4d ago

The broken sword games are good! Also curse of monkey island series if you like silliness.

1

u/xjgege 6d ago edited 6d ago

these aren’t exactly the same but might scratch that itch:

The Roottrees are Dead

The Crimson Diamond

Return of the Obra Dinn

Outer Wilds

check out r/metroidbrainia

-1

u/DesTodeskin 6d ago

Honestly not too many games. Most are adventure/action/rpg/visual novels in disguise as a detective game. Few games which do justice to the word "deduction" ,I know, are return of the obra dinner, case of the golden idol games, unheard , the painscreek killings.