Last Updated on May 30, 2024 by Jhonni Jets

Mystery and detective games have long been a popular genre for tapping into our inner sleuth. Whether playing alone or with others, these story-driven experiences allow us to explore intriguing plots, uncover hidden clues, and solve puzzling crimes. In this article, we’ll explore 6 of the best mystery games for channeling your inner detective and putting observation and deduction skills to the test.

1. Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

As one of literature’s most famous detectives, Sherlock Holmes is the perfect protagonist for an investigative mystery game. Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments places players in the renowned detective’s shoes as he tackles an assortment of criminal cases across Victorian-era London. Combining strong narrative with challenging deduction puzzles, the game tasks players with gathering evidence, interrogating suspects, and piecing together clues to find the culprit. With in-depth crime scenes to explore and multiple solutions to each mystery, it makes for an engrossing detective experience that taps into what makes Sherlock such an iconic fictional sleuth.

2. Detective Grimoire

For fans of more occult-themed mysteries, Detective Grimoire delivers an engrossing supernatural detective story. Set in a fictional Japanese town, players take on the role of a young detective who joins forces with a mysterious spirit to solve bizarre crimes that seem to have magical or demonic explanations. Blending Japanese folklore with intricate murder mysteries, each case requires carefully examining clues both physical and supernatural to deduce what really happened. Its beautiful anime-inspired art style and compelling character-driven narrative give the game’s mystical mysteries plenty of atmosphere. Piecing together clues both tangible and esoteric makes for engaging paranormal puzzle-solving.

3. Return of the Obra Dinn

Return of the Obra Dinn is lauded for pioneering a novel approach to the mystery genre with its death-propagation puzzle mechanic. Players take on the role of an insurance adjustor investigating the fates of the crew and passengers of the seemingly ill-fated Obra Dinn ship. Unique to this mystery is that players can touch any corpse aboard the ship to “rewind time” and view snippets of how each individual met their demise. It then falls to players to deduce from these temporally displaced vignettes exactly who each person is and how they died. Its captivating first-person perspective and haunting soundtrack pull you deep into this challenging historical maritime mystery.

4. Ace Attorney Series

As one of the most beloved mystery franchises in gaming, the Ace Attorney series is a must for any detective game lover. Taking place in the stylized courtroom dramas of the Phoenix Wright universe, players represent clients accused of crimes. It’s up to players to gather evidence, interrogate witnesses, and find contradictions that will crack open each case. The games excel at presenting grippingcourtroom thriller plots with lovable characters. What makes them such gems is how they ingeniously merge law-based problem-solving with equal parts drama and comedy. With a truly memorable cast of characters and cleverly constructed “objection!” moments, Ace Attorney remains the gold standard for mysteryvisual novels.

5. Disco Elysium

While investigations take a backseat to role-playing elements in Disco Elysium, its open-world mystery still delivers compelling detective work. Players take on the role of a amnesiac detective in a dystopian city as he tries to solve a brutal murder case. Unique thought-based dialogue and skill choices push the boundaries of story-driven RPGs. Careful examination of crime scenes and conversations with eccentric citizens provide deeper understanding of the mystery. But what makes Disco Elysium truly shine is how your skills and attributes influence approach, from logical deduction to outlandish ideas. Its engaging writing and ability to approach the same case in many styles makes for one of gaming’s most thoughtful detective experiences.

6. Heavy Rain

As one of the pioneers of the interactive drama genre, Heavy Rain immerses players in a harrowing child abduction case. Players control several protagonists in the hunt for the mysterious “Origami Killer,” each progressing the plot through their own fully-realized story arcs. What makes Heavy Rain such a compelling mystery is how consequence-based its choices truly are – decisions directly impact survival and can lead to multiple endings. Realistic crime scene exploration and interrogation sequences put your investigative nous to the test. Though somewhat dated graphically now, Heavy Rain still delivers one of gaming’s most suspenseful and emotionally-evocative murder mysteries due to how consequence and character drive its multilayered narrative.

Conclusion

Whether set in realistic police investigations or fantastical steampunk worlds, these 6 mystery games represent some of the most compelling and creatively-told detective experiences in the medium. From courtroom thrillers and police procedurals to more supernatural-tinged occult mysteries, each title delivers memorable murder mysteries and missing person cases for players to dig into. By tapping into deduction, exploration, environment intricacies, and more, they showcase the many successful ways gaming can pull us deeply into investigative storytelling. For anyone craving to channel their inner sleuth, these detective adventures will keep you engrossed with their memorably-crafted whodunits.