29 Great Detective Games

Over my 15+ years of gaming, I’ve encountered – and fallen in love with – all kinds of genres. Action, fantasy, puzzle, platformer, mystery, strategy, roguelikes, RPG, JRPG … you name it, I’ve probably tried and adored it. But one gaming niche which I’ve taken most fondly to, the genre I keep emptying my Steam wallet for again and again, is the Detective genre.

I’ve played almost all of the big-name titles in the genre – and a whole heap of lesser-known hidden gems as well. I’ve collated my twenty-nine favourite Detective games, in no particular order (in fact, I randomized the order!).

I’ve tried to be open-minded with what constitutes a “Detective” game, but I’m not going to include Puzzle / pure Mystery games (e.g. “Chants of Sennaar” – which I highly recommend) or games where sleuthing is a minor aspect of the overall gameplay (e.g. the “Arkham” series).

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Every Ace Attorney Game Ranked (UPDATED)

Danganronpa – Every Chapter Ranked

“Murders On The Yangtze River” – Every Case Ranked

PARADISE KILLER – Review

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

We’re starting with, by sheer coincidence, what I consider to be the hardest Detective game on this list. Normally I don’t go for excessively difficult games (and believe me, this game gets tough at its climax …) but something about “Lorelei and the Laser Eyes” drew me in so much that I couldn’t put it down. Even if I was tearing my hair out near the end.

It’s mysterious by nature, so much so that for every question answered you’ll be presented with a dozen more. Knowing nothing is half the joy of “Lorelei and the Laser Eyes” – in other words, I can’t explain why this game is so affecting. All I can say, I suppose, is that the style, story and puzzle solving all had moments of genius.

Paradise Killer

This list is in no particular order, but if I was to rank these titles, “Paradise Killer” would no doubt be near the top. It’s one of the best, most engrossing, most stylish games I’ve played – let alone from the Detective genre.

The premise is that you’re an investigator tasked with uncovering the dirty truth behind a mass murder on Island Sequence 24. You have to interrogate zany characters, shed light on dark conspiracies, and – most importantly – vibe with the world.

The bloody, “Vaporwave” aesthetic is what makes this such a unique experience. You can explore the island at your leisure and soak in all the catchy music and the colourful visuals. Other than the grisly murders and blood rituals, this wouldn’t be such a bad place to live …

Murders on the Yangtze River

As will become apparent as the list goes on, I’m a big Ace Attorney fan. I devour anything evenly remotely close to those games – as a result, you’ll see a lot of “Ace Attorney adjacent” games in this list.

By far one of the best titles in this “adjacent” sub-genre is “Murders on the Yangtze River”. At first it seems like a low stakes, slower-paced knock-off set in China, but as the game evolves it goes from strength to strength. The final case in particular was one of the most rousing, gut-wrenching experiences I’ve had in a Detective game.

The clear stand-out here is the writing. Some of the twists and scenes are very affecting – at points, I’d say this game sometimes eclipses the Ace Attorney series.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

“Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective” was written by the same writer of the “Ace Attorney” games – Shu Takumi. Some even consider “Ghost Trick” to be his magnum opus, which is saying something.

You play as a spirit who, in a nutshell, has to solve his own murder. It gets far more complicated than that, and the various poltergeist puzzles are lots of fun.

I guess, now that I think about it, this is far more of a Puzzle game than a Detective one. But you do have to solve a murder, so I think it counts.

Murder by Numbers

I like nonograms. If you don’t like those kinds of logic puzzles, then “Murder by Numbers” won’t be for you. It is quite literally a nonogram collection but with some extra steps.

But, if you’re like me and you don’t mind getting your logic on, this game will be for you. It’s a bubbly, charming Detective game where in order to collect evidence and catch the perp you have to solve lots of nonograms. And I mean lots of nonograms.

The Incident at Galley House

“The Incident at Galley House” is the most recent Detective game on this list, and yet it has instantly skyrocketed up my personal rankings of favourites. I simply could not stop playing it once I started.

Without delving into too many spoilers, the aim of the game is to deduce the whereabouts of various party guests across the course of an ill-fated evening. There are multiple twists here that left my jaw on the floor – whether you’re a Detective afficionado or a general gamer, this is a title to look out for when you next browse the Steam store.

Strange Horticulture & Antiquities

Maybe you’ll disagree with me, but I’d qualify both “Strange Horticulture” and its sequel “Strange Antiquities” as Detective games. These two games are, after all, built around deductive reasoning and clue gathering. And sometimes murder.

In “Strange Horticulture” you run an exotic plant shop – and by “exotic” I mean that each plant has impossible, magical properties. It’s up to you to identify each plant and give the correct one to customers.

Its sequel, “Strange Antiquities”, is arguably even better. Instead of plants, you now have to parse through magical artefacts. Both games are exceptionally creative, and both could be reasonably challenging in the endgame.

Murdered: Soul Suspect

An underrated classic of the genre. You’d be hard-pressed to find an online forum that, when prompted for Detective game suggestions, doesn’t mention “Murdered: Soul Suspect”.

A ghostly detective solving their own murder may sound cliché, but here it works. It has some solid gameplay elements and a story full of twists.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

“The Vanishing of Ethan Carter” has a very different vibe to the other Detective games on this list. In fact, it wouldn’t be wrong to call this game a “Walking Simulator”.

You explore a semi-open world at your own pace, piecing together what ends up being an unsettling mystery. And if you enjoy this, something like “The Painscreek Killings” might be up your alley as well.

The Seance of Blake Manor

Out of all the games on this list, “The Seance of Blake Manor” was the one that made me feel like a detective the most. Compared to the twenty-eight other excellent titles in this ranking, that’s a compliment of the highest order.

You’re a detective hired to investigate the disappearance of a hotel guest, and time is not on your side. You have complete freedom to interrogate suspects and investigate rooms – but the catch is that time flows with each action you take. That means you have to be very tactical with the lines of logic you pursue.

AI: The Somnium Files

I almost included the “ZeroEscape” series, but decided against it. They’re lots of fun and I recommend them … but they’re not Detective games by any stretch of the imagination.

Luckily, its writer made a ZeroEscape-esque Detective game with “AI: The Somnium Files”. It’s a futuristic, batshit insane mystery with kooky characters, silliness galore and yet a dark and twist-heavy plot at its core.

The two sequels – “Nirvana Initiative” and “No Sleep For Kaname Date” – are sadly not as good, but they might be worth a try if you really loved this original.

Raging Loop

I’m going to be upfront and honest with you all – I didn’t like the ending / final few hours of “Raging Loop”. It’s not without merit, however, and I’m sure another player would find it to be a harmless resolution … but it definitely put a damper on my overall experience.

The beginning and middle, on the other hand, had some of the best, most engrossing Visual Novel gameplay I’ve ever seen. The premise and mind-bending execution alone are enough for me to give it an emphatic recommendation.

“Raging Loop” is essentially a VN-ified game of “Werewolf”, except there are also some timeline / looping shenanigans going on. If you’re wondering how a social deduction game could possibly work if time-jumping is involved, then this is the game for you!

Detective Grimoire Series

Most of the Detective games I play are high-stakes, mind-bending, bloody affairs. Every once in a while it’s nice to play a game which is more on the “cosy” side.

The “Detective Grimoire” series is all about the silly charm of the characters. The games have surprisingly tight and humorous writing, and the deduction mechanic – where you have to select the right words to complete a hypothesis – has inspired many other Detective games.

Whether it’s the “Secret of the Swamp” original, “Tangle Tower” or “The Mermaid’s Mask”, there’s some low-intensity, point-and-click sleuthing to be had with any title.

Daemon Masquerade

I’d bet “Daemon Masquerade” is one of the lesser-known titles on this list. As a Detective game connoisseur myself, even I had a hard time discovering it. But now I can sing its praises to all of you!

Without giving too much away, you have to solve a series of supernatural crimes that are all connected by the titular masquerade. You, and all of the suspects you need to identify, have all been granted magical powers for one week only.

Though the game was shorter than I would have wished, I was still impressed by the clever writing and the way things tied together by the end. There’s so much sequel potential!

Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane

Have you ever played the Ace Attorney series and thought to yourself “This is great, but I wish it had magic in it!“. If you answered “No” to that question, you’re officially insane.

“Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane” is essentially an Ace Attorney game set in a DnD world, and a lot of the offending spells / magic types are familiar as a result. What starts as a fairly innocent, bog-standard homage soon blossoms into a crazy and unpredictable finale.

Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments

I couldn’t talk about the best Detective games without paying homage to the big dog himself, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. I’ve played every Frogwares Sherlock game released since 2010 and … well. At least they made one great game.

“Crimes and Punishments” is one of the best, most quintessential Detective games that money can buy. There are six (!!!) challenging cases to unpack here and all of them have great moments. The quality across the board, especially when compared to other Detective games that have multiple cases, is staggering.

My favourite thing about these Sherlock games – and the reason I keep coming back to this series despite every entry after this title being disappointing – is the core deduction mechanic. There’s hardly any hand-holding, and there are multiple ways your deduction can go (and therefore multiple “bad” endings if you haven’t got your deerstalker on right!)

The Forgotten City

Alright … calling “The Forgotten City” a Detective game is a bit of a stretch. It’s much more like a Mystery game, and so should’ve been disqualified as per my own rules. But, at the end of the day, you’re trying to solve a murder. The sorta-kinda-maybe murder of an entire civilization, in fact.

You have to save a hidden city from succumbing to the “Golden Rule”, where if one person breaks a law the whole populace pays the price. Don’t worry, though – you’re stuck in a Groundhog Day-esque loop where you can try again and again to break the curse. This game is all about doing a run, learning some key facts and then using them in the next run.

Danganronpa Series

Sometimes, it can be really satisfying to tuck into a tightly-written yet by-the-books Detective story, collecting evidence and putting the perp behind bars. And other times it’s the deranged, hyper-stimulating stuff which hits the spot.

In each entry of the “Danganronpa” trilogy you take part in a deadly killing game with one simple rule – kill a classmate and get away with it in order to escape. There’s a fun balance of courtroom and life sim elements to really get you ingratiated with the cast of eclectic characters.

What I love most about this trilogy is how unpredictable it is. This is a game all about the shocks and twists, and there were dozens of times where my jaw was on the floor … whether that was thanks to absurdity or genius is up for debate.

The Roottrees Are Dead

“The Roottrees Are Dead” should’ve been a dud. You sit at a computer and read pages upon pages of news articles, all while trying to sort out a large family’s messy lineage. Why did anyone think this would make for an interesting Detective game?

Luckily, this game was designed by people smarter and wiser than me. I got addicted to scouring the web and identifying the many members of this mysterious family, and you have to be a proper genius to reach some of the conclusions.

Unheard – Voices of Crime

“Unheard – Voices of Crime” has a fantastic central gimmick – can you solve a variety of crimes if the only evidence at your disposal is the audio picked up on the day?

You replay the scene of the crime multiple times, following every suspect’s perspective and inferring what they were up to. There are multiple questions to be answered in each scene, and some of the later levels can be almost overwhelming with their size and complexity.

One of the sad yet funny things about this game is that you can only play it once. All of the time-stamped notes you write during your investigations are tied to your profile – in other words, I tried booting this game up the other day and all of the killers’ names and big twists blared across the screen. So take that information as you will.

The Sinking City

Frogwares are known for making the Sherlock Holmes games, but they also dipped their toes into survival horror. Luckily for us (and the sake of this list), the Detective elements they’re known for are also still prominent.

“The Sinking City” is a Lovecraftian Detective game with some action / gunplay in between. You have to solve a series of crimes in a dark and dreary city – it’s the setting and the gloomy vibe which make this game unique.

I haven’t played the recent sequel yet, but I’d bet it’s more of the same Lovecraftian mystery.

Paranormasight Series

I’m not a horror game fan. When “Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo” made waves a few years ago, I reluctantly gave it a go. It ended up being one of my favourite Visual Novels ever.

This game, and the series in general, is all about curses and other such spooky phenomena. In fact, in “The Seven Mysteries of Honjo” you actually get to use the curses at certain points, resulting in multiple endings.

Both “The Seven Mysteries of Honjo” and the sequel “The Mermaid’s Curse” are excellent horror Visual Novels with intriguing Detective elements. You just have to brace yourself for some slow, methodical pacing – but it’s all worth it by the end!

Utter a Name

“Utter a Name” might be the most obscure game on this list. It only has a couple hundred reviews on Steam, and I never see it mentioned anywhere.

It’s clearly inspired by “Return of the Obra Dinn” in that you’re investigating the site of a mass murder, and you have to figure out identities and who killed whom. I can’t give much else away, however – just know that if you enjoyed Obra Dinn you’ll probably like “Utter a Name” too.

Contradiction

No, your eyes don’t deceive you. And no, the graphics aren’t that good. “Contradiction” is an FMV Detective game – which means that real people are acting out the mystery in real scenes.

It’s up to Frederick Jenks to solve a peculiar murder in a quaint English town. The acting could be a bit hit-or-miss, but the mystery was ultimately satisfying.

L.A. Noire

“L.A. Noire” is one of the oldest Detective games on this list, but I think it still holds up as a ground-breaking classic.

You work a series of cases, getting promoted through the various police divisions as you do (think thefts, homicides and drug busts), all while investigating scenes, chasing and interrogating suspects, and sometimes even getting into full-blown shoot-outs.

For better or worse, this game’s legacy will always be its facial acting. The performance capture was revolutionary at the time … and it has to be seen to be believed. It’s quite something when you catch a suspect out on a lie based on their facial expressions alone.

Return of the Obra Dinn

Lucas Pope took the Indie world by storm with “Papers Please”, but it wasn’t until “Return of the Obra Dinn” that I personally took note of his talents.

You play as an insurance investigator who has to work out why an entire ship’s crew has disappeared. To solve the case you have to figure out portraits, names and the methods of death – all while trudging through gory scenes of the past.

“Return of the Obra Dinn” is widely heralded as a masterpiece in the genre, and for good reason. This is a supremely intelligent game that respects the player’s deductive abilities – you’ll feel like a genius if you can piece this mystery together.

Staffer Case & Retro

The “Staffer” series is one of the lesser known Detective series on this list, but its writing packs a helluva punch. The core gameplay involves spotting contradictions between documents – you have to collate two pieces of information together and point out discrepancies between them.

The first game, “Staffer Case”, is a great introduction to this world of magical Pheno-mana. You’re a detective from a branch who specializes in magical crimes, and every case is packed full of twists and turns you’d never expect.

Its recent sequel, “Staffer Retro”, isn’t as exceptional but it’s still a fun time. It follows a different cast of characters in a different city, and some of the reveals completely blew my socks off.

Ace Attorney Series

If you thought I was going to rave about Detective games without glazing my beloved “Ace Attorney” series, think again!

It’s quite hard to summarize what makes this series great … but I’ll give it a go. In a nutshell, you play as a defence lawyer who needs to collect evidence at crime scenes and use that evidence to point out contradictions in witness testimony. A legal drama may sound run-of-the-mill and boring, but that couldn’t be further from the truth – this series has some of the best, most charming, most surprising writing money can buy.

All ten entries in the series are good in their own ways, but if I had to recommend the two best ones I’d say the Original Trilogy and the Great Ace Attorney Duology are the cream of the crop – and the best jumping-on points for newcomers.

The Golden Idol Series

This randomized list started with the hardest game of the bunch, and it just so happens to end on a tough-as-nails series as well. Both “The Case of the Golden Idol” and “The Rise of the Golden Idol” will test your deductive capabilities to the max.

In both games you investigate a series of still scenes – snapshots in time – to find clues and piece together the strange goings-on. The “Golden Idol” itself is a mystical object with unfathomable power … but it’s up to you to work out its full potential.

Aaaand that’s my list! If you liked this post and want to support me, please consider giving me a one-time donation. Even a few pence (or whatever currency you use) is fantastic! I’ve never monetized this blog before, but it would be great if I could do this comfortably and not have to worry about the yearly website domain costs. Thank you so much!